First Things First
Would you like to hear a little secret about DBA Silencing? The secret is this: we rarely hear from our customers. They place orders, we ship the components, and then those units perform commendably in the field. Once in a blue moon we receive feedback about a difficulty of some description, and of course we always address those issues immediately. But our designs have been refined over decades and the parts we send out are hand-crafted from high-quality materials by expert welders. So, as mentioned, it’s extremely rare that customers need to reach out to us.
That said, we do – on occasion – receive inquiries of various sorts. In today’s mailbag blog post, we’re going to share with you some of the things that customers {both existing and potential} have been asking us about. We’ll start with the mine site supplier side of things and then venture a little further afield.
Mine Site Supplier Queries
If you’re reading this piece, you’re almost certainly aware that DBA Silencing manufactures OEM and aftermarket components for mining trucks. Some of the parts we produce are sent to vehicle assembly plants like Liebherr’s truck manufacturing facility in Newport News. Other units go to companies that specialize in the rebuilding and refurbishing of haul trucks, excavation equipment, and similar mobile assets.
In some situations, the parts we make are rushed to mine sites so that trucks with mechanical issues can be repaired and returned to their rounds. As you can see, although the exact route varies, almost all the components we ship out eventually find their way to a mine site. Here are some questions we’ve fielded recently that relate to our role as a mine site supplier.
Q. Could you make our coolant components out of stainless steel rather than aluminized steel?
A. Absolutely! As we explained in our blog post entitled “Stainless Steel Exhaust vs Aluminized Steel Exhaust“, we work with a number of types of tubing here at DBA Silencing. We utilize black steel for some applications. The vast majority of our parts, however, are fashioned from aluminized steel. We like its resistance to corrosion. We like the way it handles heat. We like its strength-to-weight ratio. We like its durability. And we like its cost-effectiveness. That said, there are some situations where stainless steel may be preferable, and we do keep large quantities of SS pipe on hand {primarily 8″, 10″, and 12″}.
We should point out, though, that people usually employ stainless steel rather than aluminized steel because they wish to maximize corrosion resistance. In our experience, corrosion isn’t a significant issue for coolant components. And switching from aluminized steel to stainless steel bumps up the price substantially. There are several reasons for this. The first is that SS is simply more expensive. At DBA, we use a water jet table to cut flanges out of thick sheets of steel. Stainless steel sheets cost about four times as much as aluminized steel equivalents. The second reason is that SS is far more difficult to weld than aluminized; it’s prone to warping and the techniques needed to counteract this are time-consuming.
Q. Do your exhaust parts have to come with composite shells?
A. Nope, not necessarily. We are extremely proud of our rigid composite shells. They’re manufactured using proprietary technology, and so we’re the only mine site supplier that can offer them. And we do think our shells are worth using. As mentioned in our blog post “DBA & Mining Haul Truck Safety“, our composite shells have prevented a lot of mining truck fires in the last several decades. We do recognize, having said all of that, that there may be scenarios where specialty blankets are the ideal option for thermal management.
And we do have a few clients who prefer to receive their exhaust components raw. There’s one company, for instance, that loves the robustness of our multi-ply bellows, but has asked us to ship them without shells. Since the customer is always right, we’re happy to oblige!
Q. Are you able to make me an exhaust system that isn’t in your catalogue or on your website?
A. You betcha! We’re always looking to add arrows to our quiver. If you’re able to send us your old components, we can either make you a set of aftermarket equivalents to the OEM units you supplied, or build you a kit that will fit your truck the same way but offer some additional advantages.
And what, you ask, might those advantages be? Well, as an example, DBA aftermarket systems tend to be more segmented than their OEM counterparts. We favour this approach because, when you have a larger number of lighter individual parts, it becomes easier to install components and to replace them. Exhaust arrays divided in this manner can also be mounted so that they flex with the movement of the vehicle, making them less likely to fail in the field. If you’d like us to make you a new exhaust kit, we’re happy to let you try it out free of charge. You only need to pay for it if you love it and want to keep it!
Other Types Of Questions
As mentioned above, DBA Silencing is primarily a mine site supplier. But we also provide other services. This next set of inquiries is related to those other offerings.
Q. Can you make me an exhaust system for my boat?
A. We sure can. We actually have an extensive inventory of mufflers and other exhaust parts. We may have something on hand that would be suitable for your vessel. If not, we can definitely build you something new. We’ll need drawings with dimensions, of course. Or, better yet, your old components for us to copy and possibly improve. If you’re interested in learning more about our made-to-order options, you can always check out our blog post “Custom Truck Parts & Other Tailor-Made Solutions“.
Q. What about powder coating some car parts?
A. We can do that also. We have a powder coating booth at our satellite location, and we use it to powder coat some of the composite shells we mentioned earlier. This makes them even tougher, even better able to withstand the harsh conditions found at many mine sites. So by all means bring us your rims. We’ll put them through in between batches of shells, and have your ride looking cherry in no time.
Q. Does DBA ever have sales?
A. Negative. We keep our prices low year-round. If you compare the cost of our parts to OEM units, you’ll see that you can save a tremendous amount of money by utilizing DBA components. The same thing is true, even without any discounts, if you go with DBA parts rather than comparable offerings from other aftermarket mine site suppliers.
Last Things Last
And that about does it for today. We’ve covered half a dozen questions from our customers and from members of the public, and we hope you found the exercise informative. If you have a query of your own, please do send it along. Perhaps we’ll be able to include it next time we do a mailbag article like this one.