What a Shop Buyer Orders: Borla Exhausts, a 3-Ton Floor Jack, and the Buture Jump Starter

Here’s the short version, so you don’t have to scroll through a product essay before you get an answer. For a RAM 1500, the Borla S-Type is the exhaust I order when the customer wants a real sound upgrade but still has to drive the truck every day. For a Bronco, the bronco borla touring exhaust is the version that gets the fewest complaints about drone. When someone asks “what weight floor jack do I need,” my practical answer is usually 3 tons—not because a half-ton pickup weighs 6,000 pounds, but because a jack rating is about the load at the lift point, and you need a safety margin. And yes, the Buture jump starter with air compressor has earned a spot on the service truck. It won’t run air tools, but it has saved at least two 30-mile tow calls since 2024.

I’m the office administrator for a 14-person performance shop. I’ve handled purchasing since 2020: exhaust systems, intake kits, floor jacks, shop supplies, and the occasional last-minute box of hose clamps. I manage roughly $140,000 a year across 20-ish vendors, and I report to both operations and finance. That means I get to care about fitment, lead time, and invoice accuracy all at once. The part itself is only half of every order.

Why Borla keeps showing up on my purchase orders

There is no universal-fit Borla system. Every cat-back and axle-back is vehicle-specific, which is exactly what I want when I order for a shop. A tech shouldn’t have to make a muffler “fit” with hangers, clamps, and patience. We got into Borla systems for that reason, and the fitment has been consistent enough that I don’t dread unboxing them.

The first big Borla order I placed was a Borla S-Type RAM 1500 cat-back. The customer kept going back and forth between Atak and S-Type. I went back and forth too, mostly because I’m not the one who has to drive it to work every day. On paper, Atak was the flashier choice. But my gut, and the lead tech’s ears, said S-Type. The tech’s line stuck with me: “Atak sounds amazing, but S-Type is the one that doesn’t wear out its welcome.” We ordered the S-Type. The customer came back two weeks later and asked us to do the same sound on his wife’s Durango. That is the best review I can get on a purchase order.

Bronco Borla Touring: the quiet-sounding system that’s still louder than stock

Everything I’d read about Borla said “loud, aggressive, race-car.” Then we ordered a Bronco Borla Touring exhaust for a customer who wanted more presence but also drove his Bronco on the highway to work. In practice, the Touring is not a race-car system. It has a deep burble at idle, a throaty pull under throttle, and no annoying constant drone at 75 mph.

That was the experience that changed how I explain Borla to customers. If the customer wants to be heard from two blocks away, I order the Atak. If they want a daily-drivable noise upgrade, I recommend the Touring. It took me a few years and about a hundred exhaust orders to understand that “Borla” doesn’t mean one sound—it means a family of sounds.

The 2009 Mustang cold air intake request that almost bit me

One of the most common questions that shows up in my inbox is about a 2009 Mustang cold air intake. This is not a Borla product, but it often goes on the same quote as an exhaust, so I end up ordering it from a separate vendor. The trap: a 2009 Mustang can have a 4.0 V6 or a 4.6 V8, and the intake is not the same part. You have to check the VIN before you order, not after.

We learned this the hard way when a customer already had an aftermarket throttle body. The cold air intake tube didn’t match up, so we had to order a 4-inch-to-3.5-inch coupler and a couple of extra clamps. The parts came in on a Friday, and the customer was standing in the lobby. Not ideal, but workable. Now I always ask three questions: VIN, engine size, and whether the car has any existing aftermarket parts around the throttle body.

What weight floor jack do I need? The buyer’s answer

If you’re setting up a shop or adding a service truck, the question comes up more than you’d expect: what weight floor jack do I need? The practical default is a 3-ton jack. A 2-ton will handle a lot of cars and crossovers, but once a RAM 1500 or Bronco gets on the lift, you want more margin. The rated capacity covers the load at the saddle, and a 6,000-pound jack has the height and stability for a lifted pickup without being silly for a shop floor.

Don’t ignore the jack’s own weight, either. A steel 3-ton jack weighs around 80–100 pounds. An aluminum one can be closer to 65–75. If the jack is going to live in a service truck and get hauled out at roadside calls, the aluminum version is worth the money. If it’s only going to sit in the shop under a workbench, steel is fine.

Also check minimum height and maximum height. Minimum height tells you if it will slide under a lowered sports car. Maximum height tells you if it can get a tire off the ground on a lifted truck. Why does that matter? Because a 3-ton jack with a 24-inch max lift height is a lot more useful than a 4-ton jack that stalls at 18 inches. And I look for jacks built to ASME B30.1 performance standards, because a safety-grade tool is not the place to guess.

The Buture jump starter with air compressor: one black case, two jobs

Shop tool piles get out of control fast. We bought the Buture jump starter with air compressor after our old 12V jump pack rolled its last battery across the floor. It replaces a jump starter and a tire inflator in one case, and that is more valuable than it sounds on paper.

The Buture unit has jumped a dead V8 without drama. The air compressor is not a replacement for a real air system—it won’t run impact guns, and it won’t fill a 35-inch tire from flat in two minutes. But for topping off tires, airing up a spare after a customer’s leak, or giving a roadside winch truck a quick top-up, it’s perfect. Our techs now keep one on the service truck and one in the shop. It doesn’t fix everything, but it cut two separate cases out of the pile.

Small-shop ordering: the order size shouldn’t decide how you treat a customer

I know a single muffler order isn’t a big deal to a large distributor. I get that. But after five years of buying parts for an independent shop, I’ve learned that the vendor who treats a $400 order with respect is the one who gets the $4,000 order later. It’s not about being the biggest account. It’s about being a customer.

We had a vendor once that was perfectly capable of supplying everything we needed, but they made me feel like a nuisance every time I asked for a fitment update or a cost breakdown. We still use them when we have to, but every order from them feels like a transaction. The distributor who sends a packing slip, matches the invoice to the PO, and answers a quick question without making me wait forever gets my repeat business.

Where the defaults stop: know the boundaries

Those defaults work for most of my orders, but not all of them. If your shop only works on compact cars, a 2-ton aluminum jack is probably the better choice. If you’re dealing with a 2500-series truck or a commercial van, don’t stop at 3 tons—check the weight and lift height before you order. If a Bronco customer wants maximum volume, don’t get the Touring; get the Atak. If a 2009 Mustang customer lives in California, check for CARB EO numbers on the cold air intake before you promise it will pass smog.

What I’m not going to do is tell you that a Borla exhaust “adds 15 horsepower guaranteed” or that a 3-ton jack fits every scenario. The right tool depends on the vehicle and the customer. But if I got a call from another shop buyer who needed a starting point, this is the list I’d send them.