While attending the 2019 ARB Drive Day training event, we had the chance to tour the ARB USA headquarters in Auburn, WA. Having been through their earlier facilities over the years, it was no surprise that this newer location is also very well laid out, organized and up-to-date.

From the outside, the ARB USA headquarters are very low key. They want to keep the focus on their dealer network and their products.

This is where a large part of ARB’s USA operations are ran, just about everything from importing, exporting, marketing and sales, to technical and warranty help. We took the chance to meet new staff members we hadn’t met yet, as well as shake hands with those old friends we’ve come to know over the years.

ARB Tech and Warranty Dept:

If you do have a warranty problem and need to send an ARB part back for inspection and/or repairs, this is where it happens…. the ARB tech dept. Products are torn down, inspected and repaired before being sent back to duty in the rough and tumble world of off-roading.

The tech department also is where ARB USA’s in-house engineer will test fit and help develop new products coming in from Australia. This new Ford Ranger was trying on a prototype ARB winch bumper/bull bar on the front. Unfortunately, as it was not yet a production part we couldn’t snap any pics to share with you. Take our word for it though, it was dead sexy and matched the lines of the new Ranger nicely.

Pallets of parts in the ARB Warehouse:

As ARB is an Australian company with parts production taking place on the global market, the USA locations are mainly comprised of warehousing space and that space is taken up by pallets upon pallets of ARB products, somewhere around 40,000 sq. ft. in the Auburn, WA warehouse and another 40,000 sq. ft. in their Jacksonville, FL location.

The first couple aisles were filled to the brim with Old Man Emu (OME) springs. With racking going up over 20′ in height, the shear amount of leaf springs in one place was pretty staggering and they had just as many coil springs on the next aisle!

Further into the warehouse was rack after rack of OME shocks. The ride quality of the OME shocks is legendary and seeing this many in one place was pretty dang cool.

Of course when it comes to legendary ARB products, none are more legendary here in the states than the ARB Air Locker. The most popular of all driver operated locking differentials, the ARB Air Locker is available in over 100 applications fitting everything from Jeeps to Land Cruisers to little Suzuki Samurais and almost everything else in between.

At the far end of the warehouse we found racks full of ARB fabricated steel products like their front and rear bumpers, sidebars and roof racks and this was only one aisle of many! One of the best things about touring the ARB warehouse was seeing how much product they have on hand and we hadn’t even got to the overlanding or recovery gear yet. It’s great to work with a manufacturer that can fulfill our orders and keep the Northridge4x4 locations stocked with ARB products.

As ARB USA President, Doug Pettis, was filling us in on warehouse details, we walked by the ARB shipping department. The doors in front of us were lined up with ground express trucks and the doors behind us were lined up with truck freight containers. To keep them moving, the ARB shipping department was humming along at high speed working on getting parts pulled, packed and shipped out to all corners of North America and beyond.

On the Way Out:

With no big sign on the building, we were a little disappointed for selfie opportunities until we noticed the ARB event trailer in the parking lot, a quick stop was made to get the obligatory Jeep selfie in front of the ARB sign. Stay tuned, our ARB Drive Day 2019 coverage is coming…. Want to see what ARB products fit your 4×4?