I have held back on new advertising until rates are lower. Now is the time.

Performance Parts have not increase for us and have actually decreased at the same percentage as all other truck accessories.

However, now that advertising rates are lower (special sections, A section newspaper at C section prices, etc..) I am launching an advertising campaign to promote performance parts and tonneau covers. I wish I had coop monies but it seems that everyone is afraid to help.

I would like to give you results now but I cannot. The reason I am responding to you at this point is because of the extreme frustration I have with the lack of support by Mfgs, WDs, and frankly (I really do love them), SEMA.

I want and need marketing collateral from any and all legitimate sources. The best source so far is the EPA but their testing of gas savings devices is very old with the most recent being done in 2003.

I have contacted several R&D groups in the area of air intakes and received the identical responses about not “insuring” mileage increase claims. There seems to be a fear about releasing mileage claims and I can understand why in this lawsuit happy environment.

The tonneau cover testing was done years ago by a couple of college students. The report has been used over and over again as a de facto standard but has not been validated on other vehicles or on actual road tests. I am sure that the EPA would cooperate in their testing labs with TAG (Centry, Leer, Raider, etc.), A.R.E., Vista, Snugtop, etc… on generating real results.

By the way, those college students designed an aerodynamic topper that was to increase mileage by 30%. I have tried to contact the former students, and I have contacted several individuals and departments within that University and I have never received any responses from anyone. So what happened to their design? What happen to them? Why doesn’t anyone respond?

So back to the advertising. The ads will appear in local papers and auto trade magazines and will be as professional as I can make them with my limited budget. I have one WD, Keystone, which is helping me with a package deal of a Chip/Cold Air Intake/exhaust system. Other then that, there has been NO help of any kind from any other entities.

We need help. We need good graphic designs. We need pre-packaged deals. We need radio and TV ads by the Mfgs. We need real facts about gas savings devices that the EPA or MythBusters cannot misconstrue. We need for an organization to say that certain devices really save gas and do not increase pollution nor does not have a long term detrimental effect on the vehicles. No one is doing this and the snake oil salesmen are running rampant which in turn gives us all bad names.

Help.