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BUILDING THE BEST, ONE AT A TIME
A LOOK AT WHAT IT TAKES TO MAKE A VALLEY CHROME BUMPER
By Daniel J. Linss - Editor

For almost fifty years, Valley Chrome Plating (VCP) has been a respected manufacturer of quality products for the automotive and trucking industries. Since about 1990, VCP has been focusing entirely on aftermarket bumpers for big rigs – specifically, custom bumpers built to order for each customer. They are certainly not the biggest bumper manufacturer out there, but they are the best, hands down. Just ask any trucker out there with a nice rig where he got his bumper – nine times out of ten he’ll answer, “Valley Chrome made it for me.” The other one time they’ll probably answer, “I made it myself.”

Valley Chrome Plating, Inc. was started as a small chrome plating shop near Alturas, California in the late 1950’s. In 1960 the company moved to Fresno, California. In 1961, Anthony Lucas and his wife Claire (and six children) came to California from Indiana to join his brother Chuck and another partner in the business. Anthony forwarded his life savings ($12,000) and bought into VCP sight unseen. A few years later, Anthony bought out his two partners and became the sole proprietor of VCP.

In the early days of the company, VCP plated just about anything. Metal furniture, sprinkler heads, hitch balls, wheels and gym equipment were just a few of the various items they plated. Valley Chrome began automotive bumper recycling to augment their plating business. Around 1967, a local Fresno trucker came to the shop and asked if they could build him a wide bumper for his Kenworth. Never afraid of a challenge, they agreed and then painstakingly hand-made him a 16-inch bumper for his truck. Pretty soon they were making two or three custom bumpers (by hand) a week, and then two or three a day, etc. From there, it just kept growing. No one really knows where the term “Texas Style” bumper came from (it probably had something to do with the fact that everything in Texas is big), but one thing is for sure - the first “Texas-Style” bumper was built by VCP in Fresno! In March of 1980, the company moved from Fresno to its current location in Clovis, California.

Around 1990, VCP discontinued all other aspects of their business and began to focus entirely on manufacturing truck bumpers. Since then, the company has grown tremendously. They now service a network of hundreds of dealers that stretches across the United States and Canada. Today, their 75-employee work force, operating out of two side-by-side buildings in Clovis, California, builds and ships about 150 custom-ordered bumpers a day. Customers can choose their bumper’s style, width, light arrangement, and a host of other options. We were told that there are over 10,000 different configurations available.

Valley Chrome has always been a family operation, and today the company is run by six of Anthony’s eight children. Anthony retired about ten years ago due to medical reasons. Each sibling has a specific niche or expertise, and each one allows the others to have their space. Anyone who has ever worked with family knows it’s not always easy, and this family is no different. They have their occasional squabbles, but in the end, they work it out. In addition to the six brothers and sisters, VCP is also lucky to have a few “lifers” that might as well be part of family – namely, Kent Carpenter and Lee Misakian (photo 2).

The oldest boy, Ray Lucas, carries the title of president. He started out working in the shop in 1967 while still attending high school. Ray was put in charge of the night crew and Kent Carpenter was one of the first guys he hired. Ray’s specialties are plating, problem-solving and environmental issues. Ray’s younger brother Tom is the vice president and CFO. Tom handles all the accounting and is known for always seeing “the big picture.” Their sister Cathy is the treasurer. Her niche is collections. She is good at getting people to pay the money they owe. Greg is in charge of production and oversees the plant. Greg handles all the research and new technology and is known for being an efficiency expert. Christine is in charge of human resources – she handles all the employees. Matt, the youngest of the bunch, was brought in a few years ago to head their safety department. Plating is a dirty and dangerous job, and its Matt’s responsibility to make sure that nobody gets hurt while working there.

Although not a member of the family, Kent Carpenter has been around longer than most of the Lucas siblings. Kent started out at VCP in 1969 working part time on the night crew while still going to school. After he graduated, he started working full-time. At that time, VCP was just one of his three jobs. Kent worked at a hardware store in the day, VCP at night and a gas station on the weekends. Kent helped the company put together their network of dealers and today he heads up their sales department. You’ll find Kent at about every major truck show in the nation, always talking, always looking for a fun time. Another longtime employee is Lee Misakian. Lee started in 1975 as a welder. Today, he is the shop manager and lead programmer. Over the years, Lee has written almost all of the computer codes for each option available (over 10,000 of them). But enough about the people that make up Valley Chrome, let’s look at what it takes to build a chrome-plated truck bumper.

Every bumper starts out as a flat sheet of raw steel, or whatever material is being used (photo 3). First, the sheet is cut into the shape of the bumper by a computer-programmed plasma cutter (photo 4 shows a few stacks of cut sheets). Next, the appropriate die is chosen and inserted into a 400-ton press and the flat bumper is “pressed” into shape (photo 5). Then, the bumper is inspected and welded where needed (photo 6). From there, the bumper is placed into a laser cutting machine (photo 7) and all of the necessary holes are cut and any custom engraving is done (photo 1 shows an engraved bumper). Now the bumper is ready to be plated.

Each bumper is polished prior to plating to provide a better finished product. Like painting, the quality in plating comes from the prep work. Chrome plating is only 1/1000th of an inch thick, so you have to thoroughly prepare the surface before plating. First, the bumper is dunked into several cleaner tanks, then it goes through a few rinse tanks filled with fresh water. Then it goes into an acid tank that microscopically “roughs up” the steel which helps the plating stick. Then it goes through a few more rinse tanks. This entire clean, rinse, acid and rinse again cycle is repeated before the bumper is finally placed in the plating tanks (there are a lot tanks on the plating line).

There are three steps in the plating process. First, the bumper is plated with dull nickel, then with bright nickel, and finally, with chrome. The bumper spends about 30 minutes in each nickel tank and then about 4 minutes in the chrome tank (photo 8). To finish the process, the bumper is cleaned and polished by hand and then checked one more time for flaws (photo 9). From there, the completed bumper is placed on a rack with wheels (photo 10) and then taken to the warehouse to be prepared for shipping.

VCP is known for running a “clean” shop – so much so that Ray is asked to speak on the subject to other plating companies across the country about their policies and procedures. Ray is currently the Secretary/Treasurer for the National Association of Metal Finishers and is very active in that arena. In 1999, VCP became a zero-discharge facility, which means nothing goes down the drain at their facility except for sanitary (bathroom) water. Ray designed and built a series of machines that utilize Ion Exchange Technology and put VCP on the map as one of the first plating companies to recycle their plating solution instead of having to landfill it as waste. In the early days, before regulations, the rinse tanks were drained all the time – but not anymore. Thanks to their advanced recycling systems, the water in their rinse tanks has not been replaced since the late 1980’s! Ray is very proud of the accomplishments they have been able to achieve in the area of environmental safety. Their shop sets the standard that most other shops strive to match.

Currently, Valley Chrome’s facility includes two buildings with a total of about 34,000 square feet. Thanks to booming business, they recently realized that they had outgrown this space so they began work on a third building. The new structure will be about 32,000 square feet and, basically, will double their space (photo 11). Earmarked specifically for manufacturing, this innovative new building will be bright and well-ventilated, and should help them to significantly increase their production schedule.

Never afraid to try new things, VCP recently began marketing truck accessories besides just bumpers. Last year they dabbled in the wheel spinner market and, currently, they are marketing a product called the Tower Lite, which is a lighted floor plate that provides a soft glow around your shift boot. Presently, they are having these items made by other companies, but, with their new building, they should be able to start manufacturing these items on their own. One of their goals is to eventually have an entire line of truck accessories, and to make them all in-house. If all goes as planned, they should be in the new building later this year.

So, if you didn’t already know, now you do. If you’re looking for a quality, custom bumper, there is no need to think about who to call. Get in touch with a local chrome shop that sells Valley Chrome bumpers and get what you need – just the way you want it. And if you want something different or extreme, don’t be afraid to ask. And not only do they make a great product, but they are some of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. For more information or to locate a dealer, visit www.valleychrome.com or call (800) 354-0976.