Transparency

As part of our commitment to trust and transparency, we're making available a transparency report for our product catalogue. At HRD we believe that transparency is critical to the future of the aftermarket automotive space. Enthusiasts should know what they're buying, and manufactures should be proud of their supply chain. Any good relationship is built on trust, and we deeply believe that trust begins with transparency.

HRD Damper Kits

Our Street Performance Damper lineup begins its life at our ISO-certified damper manufacturing partner in Taiwan. Over the last 30 years, Taiwan has developed itself into the leading location for suspension component manufacturing. This means consistent sourcing of materials, precision machine work, and expertise in manufacturing performance suspension products.

By partnering with an experienced suspension manufacture, we are able to bring the HRD ethos of creating true dual duty use components to life with confidence. Over the last two years we've conducted tremendous research and development to fine tune what makes an HRD damper, an HRD damper, in conjunction with our manufacturing partner.

All HRD dampers are manufactured to our original specification and design with components unique to us. The individual components that make up our damper have their origins in Taiwan, Japan, and the United States. Our damper kits are valved to match within 5% corner to corner on a Roehrig shock dyno by technicians that specialize in crafting performance suspension.

We utilize the highest integrity raw materials for our 6061-T6 aluminum, Ti-6Al-4V titanium, and steel alloys used on our damper kits for individual components. Part of our machine work requirements include additional time for enhanced face smoothness  and softer edges on aluminum components, which is followed by a Type II anodize. Our outer steel components are treated with an EDP coating (Electrophoretically Deposited Paint) for enhanced corrosion resistance over time.

Our quality-assurance undergoes its first round at our manufacturing partner, and damper kits are subsequently shipped unassembled to our facility. We have a dedicated product manager and lead technician at our manufacturing partner who have worked closely alongside our engineering team over the last two years to build a set of requirements, procedures, and standards that are unique to HRD. We've undergone a significant amount of iterations of our damper kits both in terms of the product itself as well as the creation of our stringent quality assurance standards.

All final assembly is conducted in the United States by our engineering team, where a second quality-assurance process is conducted before the damper kit is signed off as ready to go.

Our quality-assurance process covers many aspects of our suspension including (but not limited to):

  • Variation of less than 5% between corners
  • Adhesion, uniformity, thickness of EDP coating
  • Strength and visual quality of welded components
  • Smoothness of machined aluminum components
  • Perfection of pressed components such as top-hat studs
  • Ensure all hardware has been torqued to spec

At HRD we believe that transparency is critical to the future of the aftermarket automotive space. Enthusiasts should know what they're buying, and manufactures should be proud of their supply chain.

We believe in our damper kits so much that they come with an industry leading five-year limited manufacture's warranty.

HRD Machined Components

Our mainshaft thrust tool, throttle body adapters, and modular vacuum block are machined at our ISO-certified machine-work partner in China. All of our machined components start their life as CAD models that are engineered in-house. For all of these components, we have the actual chassis its built for on-hand for research and development. From here, we rapid 3D print prototypes to confirm fitment and to test our designs. After this stage, we CNC components in-house to serve as our functional prototype to undergo real world testing.

Once designs have been thoroughly validated, our machine-work partner handles our production scale runs. All of our aluminum machined components are crafted from the finest 6061-T6 or 7075-T6 depending on application and finished in a Type II anodize for corrosion resistance and a finish that stands out. We require extra machine time for softer edges and face smoothness on our machined aluminum components.

We believe in our machined components so much that they come with an industry leading lifetime limited manufacture's warranty.

Fast Response IAT Sensor

Our Fast Response IAT Sensor was engineered in-house by our team. We've partnered with an ISO-certified semi-conductor factory in China to produce the proprietary thermistors used in our sensors.

Only the thermistors are sourced internationally, with our engineering team handling hand soldering and potting in-house in the United States. All of our sensors undergo rigorous quality-assurance by our engineering team.

We believe in our Fast Response IAT Sensors so much that they come with an industry leading lifetime limited manufacture's warranty.

How it Really Works

If you're looking for insight in our industry, you've come to the right place. Part insight, part business lesson.

Enthusiast aftermarket automotive is a pretty small industry. While the "aftermarket automotive industry" is projected to do $400B of revenue, this figure is really referring to "regular people parts." Think of everybody buying replacement tires, brake pads, doing oil changes, or replacing worn parts with aftermarket OE equivalent parts. Every car on the road, at some point, is going to be a part of what economists would call the "aftermarket automotive industry." But for all intents and purposes of this discussion, it's important to do so with the context that the enthusiast aftermarket automotive segment of this industry is incredibly tiny. We are barely a blip on the radar. Think of parts like exhausts, tuning devices, fuel systems, coilovers, big brake kits, you name it. Stuff that people in our little world are really into.

Economies of scale is a real thing. The truth of the matter is, economies of scale cannot be ignored. It's no secret that the vast majority of coilover kits on the market come from either China or Taiwan. Why? Because OEM factories for suspension have had entire supply chains built upon the logistics of these two countries. It's hard to explain how deep this goes, but this article is a pretty good metaphor. It's also not a secret that secret that a lot of machined components also come from machinists in either China or Taiwan as well. But once again, that previous metaphor rings true.

Bad parts can come from anywhere. Components that are 100% domestically made are not inherently good, while components that are sourced internationally are not inherently bad. At the end of the day there are both good and bad manufacturing partners no matter where you look on the globe. What should be most important is the stringency of quality-assurance processes as well as how good of a relationship a given brand has with their manufacturing partners and material suppliers. Just like any business, it's largely who you know. People with very high standards often have referrals for likeminded operators, and so on. 

China and Taiwan does not mean copy paste. All of our machined components, electronics, gaskets, and suspension linkage products are our original design created by our engineering team. Our damper kits were designed in conjunction with our ISO-certified manufacturing partner who specializes in advisory and assembly of performance suspension kits to our proprietary HRD specifications. Like many brands, we have great relationships with partners overseas who specialize in categories of our catalogues. It once again comes back to "who you know." While some factories may churn out generic products overseas, it would be a great disservice to brands that engineer original designs that are produced at scale by true manufacturing partners to be considered even remotely similar. This nuance matters and helps bifurcate the market into how it is really split up.

Specialization does matter. Think back to the economies of scale discussion just a bit earlier. We really love titanium at HRD. We think you do too, at least if you're a fan of our brand. But there is no world (sadly) that we would ever know as much about titanium as our titanium plug who has connections across partnered mines, processors, and ultimately his machine shop. Titanium is this guys world and entire career. The city he is from is dedicated to the titanium market. He eats, sleeps, drinks titanium. I think you get the point. While our engineering team may design a product to incorporate titanium components, it makes much more sense to go to "our guy" for those pieces, manufactured to our design and specification, versus "make it in-house." This same concept applies to all parts in the industry, really.

Almost no one does it all in-house. Building upon the above, the actual count of brands that fully conduct their manufacturing in-house is incredibly small. The vast majority of brands partner with third parties to create their products. The best way to think of it is a sliding scale. How much research and development was really done? What requirements were set specific to each product? How involved is the brand in the standards and procedures of their partners? All of this can sway one way or another. You've got your straight copy paste brands who don't have any real mission and are really just commoditizing products off a catalogue shelf. Then you have some really amazing teams with original designs and stringent standards and expectations. And everything inbetween.

Perception matters. It comes back to us being proud of our supply chain and chosen partners at HRD. We engineer our products in-house, conduct rigorous research and development, and have partnered with people we've known and trusted for years. No matter how small a detail may seem we try to anticipate it, and we know we've poured our hearts and souls into creating our brand. Some might see our open transparency as a risk, but to us it's about doing what we think is right. Enthusiasts deserve to know where there parts are coming from, and the more insight they have to the industry the better.

Your mission matters. You can read more about our mission here. Perhaps most important of all, is asking why a brand is doing what they do. We know that when your heart is in the right place, you can pull off incredible feats and make amazing memories along the way.