The Travelling PartsPimp

So the PartsPimp went on a trip. The travel agent booked me to Grand Rapids. So I'm in the airport and they are calling out, "PartsPimp, PartsPimp" from the ticket desk. I thought, "What are the odds. Someone else has the PartsPimp name..." Also, I didn't think too much of it because the ticket desk said Grand Rapids, MN not Grand Rapids, MI (where I was going.) Just to make sure, I went up and verified indeed I was booked on the WRONG flight.

I explained this is the wrong flight. I can't fly up there, how would I get to Michigan? The ticket agent said, come with me. He walked up to the small turbo prop plane, climbed onto the wing and opened the cargo hatch. "Come up here and tell me which bag is yours!?!?!" he shouted over the airport noise. So I climb up, in my fine PartsPimp garb. Its 95 degrees and 90% humidity while I'm pulling my suitcase out of the cargo hold of the plane. Meanwhile, everyone on the plane and in the terminal is staring out wondering why I'm out there.

The air conditioned terminal was a welcome relief. The PartsPimp doesn't sweat under pressure but in hot sunlight, yours truly was melting. It was also a relief to have the other ticket agent offer to take my bag. "Don't worry sir, we'll get this on the right flight." He said. When I get to Grand Rapids, MI guess what? My bag is sitting in Grand Rapids, MN. It took 3 days for me to get my clothes. The old PartsPimp was pretty ripe to say the least.

Onto the parts! Going through my tickle truck of knowledge, I ran into this nugget. For medium duty truck parts, check out http://http://www.activetruckparts.com/. Its tough finding Isuzu and Fuso parts but these guy have 'em. They also have pickup and semi truck parts too.

East Coast

Well the PartsPimp went fishing in the Keys. He sunk the line out with a pin fish. The pin fish was taking my line out when ALL of a SUDDEN, boom, the line hit. As usual, I was in my PartsPimp 'calm, cool and collected' stance. Had I been prepared, I would have been in my '200lb monster hitting my line' stance. Anyhow, the boys snagged my feet as I was rapidly being pulled out of the boat. They kept shouting, "Let go of the rod! Let go of the rod!" The line ended up snapping but I'll tell you this, the PartsPimp doesn't let go of the rod until the job is done.

Now onto the parts...
If you need mechanical parts (transmissions, differentials) in the Northeast go visit my friend: John at A&A Truck Parts.

Letters

BOY, I'm sick of getting these Nigeria scams claiming they will give me 10% of $34 million for my help. I get at least 5 of these a day. Can't they find something better to do??

Anyway, onto my favorite subject: truck parts. We get hundreds of calls a month for chrome and stainless products. Sometimes salvage yards have good used but I usually steer them to www.4statetrucks.com. Its the best site for finding what you're looking for.

Gettin' ir Done

Well the PartsPimp is getting an education on landscaping. The outside of my house looked like a garbage dump so I thought I'd make look better. Holy smokes its expensive! Try buying some rock. They charge you by the pound! Anyway I'm getting it done. I'll be glad when the holes in my pocket can be used for something USEFUL instead of a leak for money.

I added a widget called Blogrush today. Check it out. It's a neat concept.

What I Do

I was over at the neighbor's house the other day and he asked me, "So what is it exactly that you do?" I told him I find heavy duty truck parts for truckers, insurance adjusters, repair shops, etc. Either people don't understand what I'm doing or I'm not quite as glamorous because I work in the transportation field. Oh well, in any case, I love what I do.

I'm still on the hunt for trucker blogs and ran across this guy: http://lyndon001.blogspot.com/
Interesting story.

New to Blogging

I'm new to blogging so I decided to check out how other people blog. There isn't a whole lot of truck parts bloggers but there are a few truckers blogging. I ran into a cool one today: http://truckdriverblog.blogspot.com/

Hilarious Video

Ok, for all you in the truck repair business this may not be that funny but for truckers this will be hilarious. Take a look at this funny video:
http://www.partseek.com/fred.aspx

Or this different funny video:
http://www.partseek.com/fred1.aspx

Best Websites to Find Heavy Duty Truck Parts

As a PartsPimp, you need sources and to find them you need resources. It depends on what type of parts you are looking for: recycled/used, new, aftermarket? I broke it down below.

New Parts
New and aftermarket are fairly straightforward because you can buy it right from the dealer. Anything you are trying to find new, you should have a part number.
1. Search the part number right in a Google search.
2. Search the part number on www.TruckPartSurplus.com

Recycled - Used Parts
When looking for used parts, it depends on whether the part is an assembly (cab or engine) or a small piece (speedo or cam shaft).
1. www.TruckPartsInventory.com - I use this first because it tells you right away who has the complete assemblies. Sometimes if the assembly is common, the company will have core units you can pull smaller parts off.
2. www.PartSeek.com - If the part is smaller or I can't find it on TruckPartsInventory, I'll fill out a request on this site. The companies call you back shockingly fast.

Important Point: Something to keep in mind. If the part is not worth much, go to someone you know to get the part. These companies are not going to send a $20/hr guy to pull a $5 part off a truck.

Sourcing Parts

Finding parts is easy for the PartsPimp. The reason: I know who has what and who specializes in what. Huh?? I'll break it down. Let's say I'm looking for an aftermarket International 9300 Series hood? I know my friend Rick Goodenough in Wisconsin has tons of good quality truck hoods. So there it is, I'll be giving up my secrets here. If you're looking for heavy duty truck parts, email me. We WILL find it.