1-Exhaust is a proudly South African manufacturer specialising in exhaust systems for various sectors, including general and recreational automotive, industrial, and generator applications. The company offers a range of products designed to enhance performance, durability, and efficiency, whilst matching or exceeding OEM standards.
To create a brand with a household name in a particular industry, you have got to understand your product and your buyer on many levels. This only comes with experience. Your product almost needs to have a personality of its own so that there is only one name a customer thinks of when making upgrades to their vehicle or even their truck or generator fleet.
Fittingly located in Tungsten Street, Kempton Park, Gauteng, 1-Exhaust is such a brand and company.
1-Exhaust offer mandrel tube bending from 25mm up to 127mm
The business used to be a purely distribution business known as Difresco Distribution that was started in the 1990s by one of the current business partner’s, Kelly Payne’s, father ¬– Ed Payne and Kelly’s uncle Colin Payne.
“This business had always been a family business and Colin Payne used to have a fitment and distribution business down in Cape Town where he would distribute and fit everything that went under a car – exhausts, rubbers, gaskets. In those days the industry was very different, you would distribute an entire exhaust system for example, and there were only a few manufacturers for these aftermarket kits that replaced the OEM ones,” explains 1-Exhaust’s other business partner and Chief Financial Officer Mark Antonic.
“Over the years, we have also become specialists in manufacturing and supplying industrial exhaust systems that you would typically find on tipper trucks, buses, forklifts, and for generators – a very big product of ours and part of our business. And as time went by, we have become involved in a number of different projects including the manufacturing of components for a very big solar project, so this is actually quite a diversified business.”
The picture is of a Bystronic CO2 laser upgraded to a fiber laser. The retrofitting of CO2 lasers with advanced fiber laser technology was done by Lind SA Automation. Lind SA Automation have supplied three machines to 1-Exhaust
“The business has evolved from simply buying and selling exhausts and exhaust related products – even tyres at one stage – into one that saw us decide to purchase another business that had been specialising in tail pipes – the bling-bling shiny part at the end of the exhaust. And that’s really how we got into manufacturing ourselves.”
Exhausts and exhaust systems are grudge purchases says Antonic. “You don’t want to buy them, but you have to.” The industry also used to be very much one that manufactured, sold and distributed full bolt-on kits supplied by a handful of big companies until fitment centres decided to get involved themselves by typically purchasing a pipe bending machine, the gaskets, rubbers and pipe themselves to ‘manufacture’ custom exhaust systems at their fitment centres. The result: exhaust systems got more profitable to the fitment centre.
However, another pivotal moment for 1-Exhaust came when load shedding got really bad in South Africa and Antonic says this changed the business forever. They made the decision to move from simply distributing the generator exhaust systems to investing in the equipment to manufacture these systems themselves.
“I’ve always believed in investing in ‘toys’ – our fabrication equipment. They are not always busy, but they still make you money when they are. We have always had very good relationships with our customers and so the decision to invest in the equipment to manufacture these systems ourselves was based both on keeping those relationships and on cost. The cost side was that it no longer made financial sense to us to only distribute, and so we got into manufacturing.”
“We were still operating from our old facility in Meadowdale with only about 600m2 of space when we made that decision so we just built a mezzanine level there, installed some equipment and got going.”
Part of 1-Exhaust’s core product range includes the manufacturing of round, oval, square and rectangular silencers
1-Exhaust manufacture vehicle specific performance systems that allow you to unleash optimal power and efficiency for an enhanced driving experience
1-Exhaust’s generator exhaust systems are application specific so they are available in certain ranges and certain specifications, depending on what the customers specify.
“We can do a bit of everything here really though. We will do laser cutting for customers and as an example we are currently busy with an outdoor entertainment structure for a client. You could say we are almost self-sufficient here and that’s really where we wanted to go with this business all along. We’ve got pipe bending machines, press brakes, three fiber laser cutters and other related equipment like our welding department so we are open to anything.”
“We work mainly with stainless steel, however use a fair bit of mild steel as well.”
“While we are able to do and do some design work, when it comes to exhausts and exhaust systems, there isn’t too much to do that doesn’t already exist. Of course, you get the many variants in terms of the different variations from an automotive perspective and how they come together to form the exhaust system across the different brands, there are also only so many numbers of variations.”
“But let’s say that through experience over the years, we have come up with designs that just work better. For instance, certain of our customers require specific decibel limits to be in place for their generator exhaust systems and here we have been able to make design modifications to the silencers that help bring those requirements in line with what the customer has specified. These design requirements specifically aim to meet the local municipal bylaws and targets as specified by whichever municipality our systems will be used in and so we adjust as per the regulations.”
1-Exhaust’s generator exhaust systems are application specific so they are available in certain ranges and certain specifications, depending on what the customers specify. These can be specifically tailored to meet municipal bylaw regulations in terms of noise level reduction
Exhausts consist of a number of different components and 1-Exhaust will work with both stainless steel and mild steel when manufacturing. Over the years they have become specialists in manufacturing and supplying industrial exhaust systems that you would typically find on tipper trucks, buses, forklifts
“Again, so much of this has just come down to experience. For instance, Kelly’s Dad Ed just had so much knowledge about exhausts and exhaust systems that he would know the correct lengths and thicknesses of pipe to use to mitigate noise for example. He could just hear a specific note. Technical things that the average person just wouldn’t know but now our guys working here do. And over the years we have been able to perfect these techniques to be fully confident of our products in that sense.”
“We have the ability to cut up to 25mm thick here but generally we work with gauges of about 1.5mm to 2mm. But if someone needs something cut, we will cut it for them. We can also bend pipe up to 127mm in diameter.”
1-Exhaust specialise in components for vehicle performance upgrades that include full performance exhaust systems, turbo downpipes, branch manifolds, and other accessories like sport bars and vehicle specific tail pipes.
Part of the core product range includes the manufacturing of round, oval, square and rectangular silencers, the installation of truck, bus and industrial (military, construction and mining) silencers and pipe work, the installation of tube extensions on all generators, and development on generator and TBI OEM exhausts.
Tail pipes – the bling-bling shiny part at the end of the exhaust – something 1-Exhaust is well-known for manufacturing. Their tail pipes are sought after by enthusiasts
1-Exhaust’s welding department is continuously busy
1-Exhaust likewise offer mandrel tube bending from 25mm up to 127mm, various exhaust accessories, exhaust mufflers in round, oval, square and rectangular silencers, exhaust pipes for turbo, intermediate and rear tail pipes, radiator pipes as complete with pressure rings, intercooler pipes as complete with pressure rings, as well as repairs to all exhaust related products.
These are all manufactured for your well-known international OEM brands that are sold in South Africa.
“We do truck and bus fitments and repair work here at our facility too and have the ability to come up with custom-type solutions depending on the application the client might have. For example, we have a lot of clients that require their vehicles to head into parts of Africa where the road conditions are not as good as back here at home.”
“These vehicles are put through some really harsh conditions so there is also a lot of repair and replacement work that needs to be undertaken. You may not always need an entirely new exhaust system so that again is where our years of experience comes into play in terms of finding solutions.”
“We do quite a bit of prototyping here especially when we are developing our own products but also are able to collaborate with customers on joint projects, one such product we are working on at the moment is the framework for an electric motorcycle. I can’t tell you too much about it though as the project is still under development.”
1-Exhaust manufacture a number of different branch manifolds for a variety of different vehicles
1-Exhaust’s fiber laser department will do laser cutting for customers and as an example are currently busy with an outdoor entertainment structure for a client
Laser cut steel art
“Something else we do here is laser cut steel art. These cut out vehicle frames are made from high-quality materials such as stainless steel, aluminium, and alloys and each piece is finished with a durable black powder coating for a sleek, professional look and enhanced protection. They come in two sizes: 600mm and 1 200mm. They feature your popular iconic automotive brands and models.”
1-Exhaust also manufacture a universal nudge bar for the SUV and bakkie market currently though this is only for two OEMs. Some of their 4×4 related products have now attracted interest from overseas markets and this could be an avenue that the company explores as a market going forward.
“We have an extensive customer base from fitment centres to spares shops to panel beaters to custom performance garages as well as serving some of the major OEM brands like Bell Equipment and MAN Truck & Bus amongst others.”
The company manufacture a universal nudge bar for the SUV and bakkie market currently, though this is only for two OEMs
1-Exhaust’s generator exhaust systems are application specific so they are available in certain ranges and certain specifications, depending on what the customers specify
1-Exhaust has developed an extensive website where all the relative information about your particular make and model of vehicle is available. They also have a dedicated blog section that goes into detail about what you could expect when making various performance enhancing upgrades to a vehicle.
1-Exhaust now operate from a 2 000m2 facility and employ 35 people. Antonic concludes that he has a machine on order that is set to play another big role in shaping the business going forward in terms of how they manufacture a critical component in one of their exhaust systems.
For further information contact 1-Exhaust on TEL: +27 11 822 9813 or email info@1exhaust.com or visit www.1-exhaust.co.za
