What we do
This page describes the scope of Automint’s business, not a catalogue to browse. We import and stock commercial-vehicle steering, suspension and running-gear components, and supply the national network of parts factors — held in depth, cross-referenced against 200,000+ part numbers, and backed by a technical team who know the difference between a fitment that’s correct and one that’s merely close.
Product families
We carry the commercial-vehicle steering, suspension and running-gear components the trade depends on — and where a competitor might sell one rationalised part across several applications, we stock multiple SKUs to match the exact original-equipment specification.
ŞEM tie rods, tie rod ends and connecting rods, plus king pins — the parts that keep a truck, trailer or bus turning and articulating correctly, supplied to the trade as OE-equivalent replacements.
Firestone Airide and SABO convoluted, rolling-lobe and sleeve air springs for truck, trailer and bus applications — two suppliers, for comprehensive coverage of the market.
BAGEN air tanks — Automint is BAGEN’s sole UK distributor for air tanks.
SABO heavy-duty dampers, with over 500 part numbers held — one of the largest readily available stock holdings in Europe — and SABO cab mounts.
HYDCAB hand-tilt pumps, cab-tilting cylinders and cab latches — hydraulics for heavy-duty vehicles, quality and performance controlled before dispatch.
ŞEM engine, gearbox and radiator mounts — Automint is ŞEM’s sole UK distributor.
Schomäcker and Çelikyay leaf springs and Schomäcker trailing arms for truck and trailer suspension, with a deep range of U-bolts held alongside them — the fixings that clamp a spring or trailing arm to the axle.
Fifth-wheel parts, S-cams and cam kits for braking systems, and wheel bolts and nuts — the running-gear components that keep the rest of the vehicle together, held alongside the core range rather than sourced as an afterthought.
Supply partners
We work with a small number of specialist manufacturers — several of them as sole UK distributor — chosen for product quality and technical support, not the length of their catalogue. New suppliers are added rarely and deliberately; some of these relationships go back decades. A couple of categories are covered by two suppliers, for full market coverage.
Partner 01
Firestone’s Airide was the first air spring on the market, patented in 1938, with the Airide name trademarked the following year — the original in the category. The company is now Firestone Airide (renamed from Firestone Industrial Products in 2023), part of Bridgestone Americas, manufacturing air springs for on-highway trucks and buses, trailers, and off-highway and industrial applications.
Automint has represented Firestone Airide for over 30 years, one of its earliest supplier relationships, dating back close to Automint’s own founding in 1989. Automint is an authorised distributor of the range.
Partner 02
SABO — Shock Absorber Bologna — was founded in 1962, and began shock absorber production in the 1970s, later bringing manufacturing in-house at a dedicated plant in Tuscany. Air springs were added as a product line in 2010, made through a joint venture based in Bursa, Türkiye.
Automint is the sole UK and Ireland distributor for SABO, across both shock absorbers and air springs.
Partner 03
Schomäcker is a family business in Melle, Germany, tracing back to 1880 — some employees are sixth-generation. The company processes around 18,000 tonnes of steel a year into vehicle springs and trailing arms, and runs its own authenticity-verification service against counterfeit parts.
Automint distributes the full Schomäcker range, including leaf springs and trailing arms, as an authorised distributor.
Partner 04
Çelikyay was founded in 1965 in Istanbul, relocating to a new factory in Düzce, Türkiye, in 1991. Parabolic leaf spring production began in 2004, and its current factory reached full operation in 2023.
Automint is the sole UK distributor for Çelikyay leaf springs.
Partner 05
BAGEN is based in Konya, Türkiye, with separate facilities for steering and suspension components and for metal processing and air tanks, producing up to around 260,000 air tanks a year.
Automint is the sole UK distributor for BAGEN air tanks.
Partner 06
ŞEM was established in 1972 in Bursa, Türkiye, initially as a small workshop, and has grown since into a group covering rubber and rubber-metal antivibration components, plus a dedicated steering and suspension factory added in 2014 producing tie rods, tie rod ends and axle connecting rods.
Automint is the sole UK distributor for ŞEM’s antivibration mounts and steering components.
Partner 07
HYDCAB is a brand of Özteknik Group, founded in İzmir, Türkiye in 1971 and originally focused on mould production. The HYDCAB brand was established in 2004 for cab-lifting systems on heavy commercial vehicles, covering European and Russian-type trucks and agricultural equipment.
Automint is the sole UK distributor for HYDCAB cab-tilt pumps, cylinders and latches.
Identification & cross-reference
Every stock line is cross-referenced against OE and competitor part numbers, so our technical desk can match a factor’s enquiry to the exact component fast. Trade customers: the fastest route is the online catalogue or your rep — this page is an introduction to what we do, not the ordering tool.
200,000+
Cross references linking OE and competitor numbers to the parts we stock.
