Leadfoot Diesel

This is a tale of two people with a common goal: Treat the customer like they themselves want to be treated.

The first gentleman is Vinnie Himes’, whose journey into diesel repair came at the young age of 20 when he had a timber framing business in northern Idaho where he owned diesel trucks. The passion and drive for diesel upgrades came as a result of working with horrendous dealerships, actually. After having nothing but Ford Power Strokes before, Vinnie decided to give Dodge a try and purchased his first Ram with a Cummins in it back in 2003.

Due to the copious notes that he took for each of his trucks, he noticed that the mileage was steadily decreasing. He took the truck to the dealer to find answers but was given a clean bill… and this did not settle well with him. After some research directed him to investigate the fuel supply pressure, he made his own pressure gauge and found the injection pump was only receiving 5 psi of pressure from the lift pump. Upon giving that information the tech at the dealer they said that it was within spec. But Vinnie was prepared to educate the dealership telling them just how far out of spec that was and why… which left the tech dumbfounded and Vinny even more frustrated. He recalled growing up around his grandfather’s junkyard where he was holding a flashlight for him while he worked on an engine. His grandfather said, “Vinny, any time you can take off a stock part and replace it with a better-made aftermarket part, do it!” This memory and event lead him to not only repair the problem himself but onto the path that he is on right now: vowing that everyone deserves intelligent answers and service for their vehicles.

The second star of the story is Leadfoot Diesel’s owner Jonathan Brooklyn, who had a similar experience that drove him to start the business. He had a land clearing business (that he had been growing since he was only 15, with a push lawnmower) with a fleet of diesel-powered vehicles that would require repair and maintenance from time to time. These vehicles were the backbone of his operation and getting the runaround from different dealerships who didn’t know how to fix their own product. He had enough, and in 2007 decided to close his business and open a shop where people could take their vehicles to get repaired, with intelligence and integrity.

The company has grown in the past six years by leaps and bounds to its current form of a 30,000 sq. ft. shop with 24 bays. The focus of the shop is to clearly diagnose a vehicle’s problems and do the repair once, rather than a common practice of tossing parts at a problem to try to fix it. Leadfoot Diesel does not want to waste anyone’s time or money and respect that their truck is something that they depend on. Jonathan’s rule to his employees is: “Take your time and don’t do it by the book, because sometimes the book is wrong.” By taking their own approach Vinny and the team have been told by techs from other places that they’re leaving a lot of money on the table, but to Leadfoot that just equates to more money in the customer’s pocket. This way of thinking has led to the shop’s over 2,500 hard-earned five-star reviews. In a good week, they can service around 70 to 90 trucks. Although they can service all forms of diesel (having four stalls dedicated to Duramax alone), they specialize in Power Strokes and “rehabbing” the 6-liter due to their being located in the middle of five Ford dealerships. In addition to servicing all makes of trucks, they also provide custom performance suspension mods that can really power your truck, propelling you down the raceway.

So, if you’re in Leadfoot Diesel’s neck of the woods and you’ve got a sick truck, give ‘em a call. Sounds like you’ll be glad that you did.

Leadfoot Diesel
320 Mayfield Drive
Monroe, GA 30655
770-267-3322
leadfootdiesel.com