TIMBREN INDUSTRIES: 50 YEARS
AND GROWING
Timbren Industries turned 50 this year. To celebrate this
milestone, it compiled a short history of the company. The story
begins with one man who had a dream…
As a young man, Arnold Heron loved to tinker with truck
and trailer suspensions. Being an entrepreneur and ‘do-it-
yourselfer,’ he started his own paving company. Eventually, he
handed it over to his brother, Earl, and began a much larger
enterprise manufacturing paving equipment. Years later, he
sold this operation to pursue his true passion: designing and
manufacturing suspensions.
“I wanted to build a better, more efficient type of suspension –
one that wasn’t dependent upon old technology,” Heron says.
“But, to do it, I had to develop a new technology.”
It was 50 years ago when Arnold switched his focus to
developing a new type of suspension. He envisioned one that
was stronger than steel and more reliable than air, one that was
going to deliver better ride quality without costing an arm and a
leg.
Aeon® Springs
His search for an alternative spring ended in 1968. Arnold
traveled to London, England to buy the patent and secure the
North American distribution rights for Aeon® rubber springs.
Once armed with the right product, he named his new company
“Timbren” – a combination of the names of his 2 children, “Tim”
and “Brenda.”
Initially, he sold this rubber spring technology to trailer
manufacturers across Canada and USA. As interest grew in the
North American market, this simple product became an effective
solution for a variety of industries: automotive, agricultural,
forestry, mining and the military.
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Timbren SES
Timbren Industries demonstrated its leadership by creating
a new product for the automotive after-market: Timbren SES
upgrades. In the early 1980s, Timbren introduced ride quality
kits. Combined with a unique assortment of brackets and
hardware, the Aeon® spring functioned at the heart of every
Timbren SES ride-quality kit. Starting with about 50 kits for
domestic models, more kits were added – year after year – to
a growing list of truck applications. Due to the company’s
commitment to providing great products, Timbren’s customers
can now choose from over 450 SES kits.
NATDA Magazine www.natda.org