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September 29, 2009

‘TECHNOLOGY TOUR’ RIDE & DRIVE AUTOMOTIVE EXPERIENCE VISITS TOLEDO

Monroe Shocks and Struts Brings Hands-on Vehicle Technology, Service Experience to Owens Community College

TOLEDO, OH, Sept. 29, 2009– The Tenneco Technology Tour (T3), a hands-on automotive technology and training experience for professional technicians, visits the Toledo area today with several demonstrations for hundreds of local student technicians at Owens Community College in Toledo.

Toledo-based technical institute Owens Community College is sponsoring the interactive technology demonstration, which will give students the opportunity to enhance their diagnostic skills on popular late-model vehicles.

The Tenneco Technology Tour, created by Tenneco Inc., is an integral part of the Monroe® brand’s “Safety Triangle” trade and consumer education campaign, which focuses on how interrelated undercar components affect vehicle steering, stopping and stability.

“The Technology Tour is a great way to help enhance the education of the automotive students at Owens by providing them a hands-on experience that includes the very latest automotive systems,” said T.J. Fontana, manager of training and operations, Monroe Shocks and Struts, Tenneco. “Owens Community College has done an outstanding job of making this a part of the student’s curriculum, and giving students an opportunity to experience a program that will certainly enrich their education.”

The Technology Tour experience will open at 10 a.m. on September 29, 2009, and run throughout the day at Owens Community College, 30335 Oregon Rd., Perrysburg, OH 43551.

The centerpiece of the T3 program, the Monroe Ride and Drive enables students to feel the ride and handling differences between popular vehicles equipped with new ride control components and identical vehicles fitted with worn shocks and struts. This interactive experience features a fleet of late-model test vehicles, a specially designed test track, a training area for detailed diagnostic instruction, and a broad range of technical displays.

In addition to covering diagnostic procedures, ASE Master-certified T3 instructors help students learn how to explain to consumers the value of ride control part replacement. Other discussion topics cover the performance exhaust and suspension categories. Between tour stops and throughout the year, Monroe field training professionals and Tenneco’s aftermarket sales team also provide on-site technical education in hundreds of additional locations. The Tour team is expected to provide on-site ride control and brake training for an estimated 8,000 additional technicians across North America through technical school visits and shop clinics throughout 2009.

“This event is an important part of our commitment to help educate the future of our industry,” said Fontana. “By helping the students understand and communicate the value of proper undercar maintenance on today’s cars, we’re also trying to enhance local driving safety by protecting vehicles’ steering, stopping and stability characteristics and provide them with additional confidence when dealing with consumers in the repair shop.”

The Safety Triangle is the system of interconnected components that help enhance driving performance and safety through proper steering, stopping and stability characteristics. Components included in the Safety Triangle are tires, brakes, shocks, struts, and steering linkage and suspension parts such as tie rod ends, idler arms and ball joints. The presence of just one worn Safety Triangle component could jeopardize the driver’s ability to steer, stop and maintain stability under challenging driving conditions.

For the complete T3 and Monroe Ride and Drive Schedule and information on other Monroe training initiatives, please contact (734) 384-7846 or visit www.monroe.com.

Tenneco is a $5.9 billion manufacturing company with headquarters in Lake Forest, Illinois and approximately 21,000 employees worldwide. Tenneco is one of the world’s largest designers, manufacturers and marketers of emission control and ride control products and systems for the automotive original equipment market and the aftermarket. Tenneco markets its products principally under the Monroe®, Walker®, Gillet™ and Clevite® Elastomer brand names.

Contact
Pinnacle Communications Group, Inc.
Christine Bowser
(330) 688-3515
chrissy@pinnmedia.com