Steele Rubber Products is an American company that operates out of Denver, North Carolina. Founded almost by accident in 1958, Lynn Steele started what would become a business by making rubber parts for his own car. Back then, he was restoring a ’31 Cadillac, and needed parts that unfortunately, nobody made. As a true do-it-yourself kind of guy, Lynn started making the parts he needed in his garage. At the time, he worked at a tool and die company, and was able to build his own tools to do the work.

It didn’t take long before people were talking about what he was doing, and orders for other parts started coming in. Even today the company is still owned and operated by members of the Steele family.

“The process we use is still very similar to the original one that Lynn developed,” Danny Agosta, a third-generation Steele family member and employee tells us. “All our parts are designed from originals, and most are handmade. We do use computer machining, but only when it lends itself to the project.” When it comes to manufacturing the parts, they use the most effective method available, whether that is doing everything by hand on a manually-operated milling machine, or relying on computer engineering. Each product is always designed by finding original parts to replicate and they always test the parts on real cars.

With twelve thousand different parts available for cars dating back to 1912, odds are good that they have what you need. If they don’t have what you need, if you have the old part that suitable for replicating, they can manufacture a brand new piece for you.

If you are wondering what parts they have for your car, ask them about a specialized catalog. There is more rubber on your car than you might know needs to be replaced, but the catalog will give you a list of every part available for your specific make and model. Using the catalog gives you the option of ordering everything at once, so you have all of your parts ready to go and you can save on shipping.

An important piece of advice that Danny at Steele Rubber wanted to pass on to you is this, “When starting a restoration, do not throw your old rubber parts away. Always check with us to see if we have what you need. You can request a custom catalog, and if we don’t have the part you’re looking for, make sure to send what you have to us maybe we can make one.” Who knows, if you send them a part that they were already planning to manufacture, sometimes you might even get a free one in exchange for the model you sent in.

The real claim to fame for Steele Rubber is their drive for customer satisfaction. If you aren’t happy with something, they want to hear about it so they can work with you to make things right. It’s their goal to have customers saying “I don’t use anything but Steele!” There are a lot of rubber products out there, and a lot of companies selling them, but most companies want to make as many as possible as cheaply as possible. The old saying that you get what you pay for is really applicable with rubber products.