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MagnaFlow in Lavonia, Georgia shutting down and selling assets




DILLARD000

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Another old US manufacturing plant bites the dust; likely can not compete any longer with Asian imports; a bit sad.
Bought+installed plenty of MagnaFlow gauges for chemical+food+power plants in my younger days.
 

lil_Blue_Ford

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Oh man, I might have to try to buy some extra mufflers…
 

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The factory in Lavonia is closing. There's another plans in Taccoa that is closing as well. Magnaflow is headquartered in CA, products will still be produced there and available. The fact that they are moving factory from my home state of GA to CA is probably enough to ensure I never buy their products though.
 

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Many businesses are moving from California to states with fewer democrats in office and lower taxes. Why move more manufacturing there?
 

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MagnaFlo have invested heavily in their new headquarters in Oceanside, CA. They are consolidating operations and have options on substantial acreage adjacent to that site for additional manufacturing capability. Usually the word California and manufacturing aren't used in the same sentence so there must have been some sweetheart deal made.
 

JoshT

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Many businesses are moving from California to states with fewer democrats in office and lower taxes. Why move more manufacturing there?
I think this is likely a case where they already had the manufacturing facilities there and are consolidating. Just a guess.

What I do know is that California is one of the driving forces behind killing the automotive performance industry. As such I don't understand why they would bring allanufacturing there instead of relocating head quarters here. I'd like to say I'm not going to support any business that does that, but that isn't a realistic option.
 

JoshT

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MagnaFlo have invested heavily in their new headquarters in Oceanside, CA. They are consolidating operations and have options on substantial acreage adjacent to that site for additional manufacturing capability. Usually the word California and manufacturing aren't used in the same sentence so there must have been some sweetheart deal made.
I guess I was wrong there. I assumed that they were already headquartered and had manufacturing capacity in CA. Didn't know they just relocated the headquarters there.

Must have been a really good deal, hope it bites them in the backside.
 

DILLARD000

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Suspect a big factor is easy imports of both raw materials & finished product from asia into the ports around LA.
 

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California pushes the Car culture. Not sure how associating California with killing the aftermarket culture can even be discussed. Roadkill, Engine Masters, Jay Leno, Chip Foose, King of the Hammers, Formula Drift, Fox Motorcross head quarters, Donut Media, Doug Demuro, Motor Trend and tons of influencers galore. The list is enormous and these are all sending out social media to the rest of the world. Everytime a bill comes up to snuff the aftermarket, just about every car culture group I know of around here goes crazy getting it dismissed. Tons of race teams and car enthusiast companies are all over Socal. I build race cars/trucks/utv's in Socal and can get just about anything in a day or two. I would also think a lot of those mufflers made in Georgia from materials shipped from overseas, went right back to west coast states. They probably rather just ship once from the west coast to the end destination a finished muffler.

Company list from socal:
Holley, MSD, Edelbrock, MagnaFlow, PCI race radios, SRC race radios, Mallory, Flowmaster, Comp Cams, Fast fuel systems, Russel, Spin Tech, Accel, AEM, Tilton, Wilwood, SafeCraft, Carillo, Manley, Kelford, Crawford, and the list goes on and on and on. I bet just about everyones build here has some parts made or distributed thru a California mostly Socal based company. Yes there is a thin line against the coast of people who think a little different than us gasaholics, but just because a business wants to be where the car culture is crazy strong should not put them on your never again list. If this offends you, try to go a month without buying anything from China and let me know how that goes. Thats pretty much the fault of middle american politicians selling companies out. Just look up Rubbermaid and see how Walmart killed that Ohio town. I refuse to buy from Amazon for some of the same reasons. Speak with your dollars.

Not trying to start something, but just came back from King of the Hammers(1000's of aftermarket off road enthusiasts) not many democrats there for sure. Hence all the flags, lol.
 
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JoshT

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I'm not suggesting that there isn't a huge hottrodding industry in California, or that orginazations associated with that industry aren't fighting for it. Unfortunately they are only marginally more effective than a conservative gun rights group would be in that state. (FWIW I know those exist too, but they are loosing ground not gaining it.) The EPA, along with other regulatory agencies and groups, is seriously hurting the hobby and a lot of that is driven by politics originating in California.

I can applaud the state and groups for pushing manufcturers towards progress in new vehicle manufacturing, while also hating them for the effect they are having on hobbiests. Through legistation they are effectively removing old iron from the road and forcing people into accepting and adoptiong the new technology that isn't always better or adequate for demands. I'm not suggesting that their intention is harming the hobby, but it is certainly a side effect. Some examples off hand are anti-right-to-repair legislation that is hurting people's ability to repair and maintain what they own (not always automotive, but can be), federal laws concerning emissions equipment, and new gas and diesel formulas that are harmful to old engines. Though I feel this is a topic better discussed someplace like "the tailgate", but to elaborate on a couple of those.

Federal law says that I can't tamper with emissions control devices on my vehicles. In the event that something breaks I have got to replace it with an OE equivalent (what if thats not available). The goal should be ensuring that a vehcile meets certain level of emissions. Well, I tan take my 1980s pickup truck, install a modern aftermarket EFI system, remove the cats, and have better emissions results than when it left the show room floor. On visual inspection the mandated federal emissions eqquipment has been modified which makes it illegal for street use regardless of what emissions it is actually producing.

On diesel engines. Modern diesel fuel has lower sulfates than what my 7.3L was designed for. It's harmful to the engine. It might be slow damage, but it is doing damage. The old school formula is still available, but it's only legal in off-highway vehicles (AKA ag equipment). On top of that the emissions equipment used in newer diesel equipment actually requires it burning a greater amount of fuel to continue functioning properly. The DPF filters in some (maybe all?) of these newer diesel engines require going through a Regen cycle. Basically that is where the filter gets really hot and bakes off all the soot that has built up in the filter. Well the engine has to be running at higher RPMs to produce that heat, running higher RPM and producing more heat requires burning more fuel. Not something that is really noticed in a road going diesel since they are already turning those speeds regularly, but it';s a lot more noticalbe in somethhing like my dad's little tractor.

Speaking of his tractor, it hits into the right to repair stuff. He's got a 2016 (?) LS XG3032. It's been out of comission for atleast 6 months due to that diesel particulate filter. Most of his usage the tractor can do at barely above an idle, and as mentioned previously RPM and heat are required for the regen system function properly. Problem comes in the fact that there wasn;t proper documentation about this in the manual and once the filter gets so plugged up it can't be cleaned, it has to be replaced. That filter is a $4000 part. We've been mechanics all out lives, dad even worked on that type of equipment professionally back in the 80 and early 90s before all this emissions stuff existed on it. I actually managed to find a filter for around $3500, I know a steal right?! We got it, replaced it, and he still can't use the damned thing because a trouble code is set in the ECU causing it to drop into protection mode. Just clear the code right? Wrong! You can't clear the code without a scanner that works on LS tractors or the factory diagnostic tool. Neither of those are available for purchase for this tractor. So take it back to the dealer? We tried that 3 months ago. There is one dealer about 30 minutes away, but they are a remote location for the main dealership 2 hours away. Neither had the tool and they had to order it. The technician was finally on the way with the tool last week so dad dropped the tractor off, but the tool was conveniently "broken" when the technician tried to use it. The next closest dealer for these is over 3 hours away and he'd have to drop the tractor off and go back to get it. Two 6+ hour round trips with no idea of how long it would take. Believe me I'm trying to find a way to get diagnostic tools for this myself, but so far I've had no success. There's no recourse with the manufacturer because the tractor has been out of warranty for a few years even though it is low hours.

Again, I don't necessarily think it's anyone targeting the hobbiests, but legislation being pushed is having an intended or unintended effect on it. Like I said this topic will get political and is probably better for the tailgate section if you want to continue it there. I personally don't care to, but got on a tirade and couldn't stop. I'll get off my soapbox now.
 

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I do agree with a lot in there. I was home sick so long winded response was easy with nothing to do. I also have a Subaru I have to “smog” because of a lightened flywheel telling the engine it slows down to quick every couple of day. I also have a 3 year old Magnaflow California cat that already won’t pass and I run it on the lean side of things. It’s going to a sniper 4bbl so right now I have to “smog” that also. Another car I have is the DieselGate Audi A3, I already had the DPF replaced by Audi under the 100k extended warranty. Politicians used to keep their hands out of stuff because the oil company’s were basically in their pockets. As technology starts to fight against oil and politicians both there is defiantly more regulations to come. They talked about a rolling 20-25 year plan where once something got that old smog wouldn’t be necessary but that never happened. Just use Ag diesel and don’t get caught. Lol.
I don’t think the right to repair will ever get passed thru. It would put so many independent shops either out of business or have to keep up with certifications for so many manufactures they will just give up.
 

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Actually right to repair would help those smaller independent shops. They have the same issues as the owner/DIYer. The way things are now they can't keep up with all the certifications and licensing, and franchising required to be an authorized repair shop. If they aren't an authorized repair shop they don't get access to the technical data, tools, and parts. If R2R passes it will force manufacturers to open up access to independents and DIYers.

Trust me, R2R passing won't put those smaller shops out of business. In fact it will probably increase their business. A lot of people going the DIY route now do so because there is not an affordable alternative. R2R will make it so that those smaller shops can offer those affordable alternatives.
 

Josh B

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Soon as they all get settled in they're going to turn on the spickit and realize they ain't got no water
 

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Trying to find people in that area of GA right now is awful for manufacturing. Companies flocked there and oversaturated the market, so unless you're willing to pay really really well you're going to get highly paid knuckleheads.
 

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