How Bendix Helps Busy Family Workshop Avoid Costly Comebacks

As a small family-run workshop, no two days are ever the same for the father-and-son duo, David and Josh Mastroianni, operators of Dr Shocks Suspension and Brakes in Brookvale on Sydney's Northern Beaches.

Whether a general service on a Tiguan, a brake job on a Rodeo or a GVM upgrade on a 200 Series Land Cruiser, the workshop's three hoists are always occupied, and a full work schedule means the pair simply can't afford comebacks.

David spent 20 years working in dealerships before purchasing the workshop in 2010, and since owning Dr Shocks has used Bendix products almost exclusively.

"Bendix has been in the game for a very long time, and they really know what they're doing," David explained.

"We've never had any issues or comebacks with the Bendix range; everything fits perfectly, unlike some other brake brands we've come across."

More recently, the workshop has begun fitting Bendix's new General CT™ Disc Brake Rotors, which make an ideal pairing with General CT™ Brake Pads. One of the many benefits of the rotors is their visual wear indicator, which allows technicians to quickly identify rotor thickness 'at a glance', without the need to physically measure it.

"The wear indicator is definitely a feature that will save us some time in the future when customer cars return for a service," David said.

Suspension and GVM upgrades form a major portion of Dr Shock's work, and David said that he always recommends pairing Bendix Ultimate 4WD™ Brake Upgrade Kits with any GVM upgrade.

"Customers going for a GVM upgrade are obviously interested in carrying and towing more, so also upgrading brakes at the time makes a lot of sense," David explained.

"About half of them choose to upgrade the brakes at the same time, and then we get others that come back for a check a few weeks later, who have thought about it more and then decide to get it done.

"I had one customer who came back for a routine check on a GVM upgrade we recently did, and he rolled in with his brakes smoking; he needed no convincing after that."

David said that customer feedback to Bendix's Ultimate 4WD™ Brake Upgrade Kits had been strong, and inspection of these brake components on customer cars after long and demanding trips had revealed outstanding durability.

"We had one customer who came back after doing 20,000 kilometres of heavy towing, and when we inspected the rotors, there wasn't a scratch or groove on them," he said.

"It was a similar thing with another customer who did a trip to the Cape; on a previous trip, he had other brand brakes, and he came back with cracked rotors from the hot brakes going through river crossings. This time around with the Bendix components, there were no issues at all."