Dennis Overholser's guest appearances

Dennis Overholser

DO IT FOR A LIVING

Lance Stander

Ben Strader

Paul Yaw

Tony Palo

Chris Delgado

Shane Tecklenburg

Jim McIlvaine

Mike Lewin

Jay Payson

Chris Jewell

John Veloso

Steven Aghakhani

Dave Donnals

Reid Lunde

Jud Massingill

OwlTail

Dennis grew up on a farm in Indiana and went to Nashville Auto Diesel College before getting drafted to the Air Force during Vietnam. He took a position as a mechanic for their vehicle maintenance division and spent his time repairing equipment. When he got back to Indiana, he met a girl whose family lived in Ft Worth. During one of their visits to her family, he realized there were a lot of jobs in Ft Worth and made up his mind that is where they wanted to move. He got a job as a tractor dealer as a mechanic and worked his way up the ladder for the next 20 years. In 1989, he met Jim who was building wiring harnesses for the conversion van market. Jim wanted to expand the business and start making a harness for hot rods and Dennis was perfect for the job! They built a universal wiring harness that could be used for any hot rod. During their first swap meet, they sold out immediately and knew that had a great product! A year later, Dennis quite his job at the tractor company to build wiring harnesses full time. They got their big break when an editor of Hot Rod Mechanics was building a roadster and needed a wiring harness. The title of the ad was Painless Wiring and this is how they got their name! Over the years, the began making other products to compliment the wiring harnesses and changed the name to be Painless Performance. Now, they are in a 43,000 square foot facility and have around 55 employees. They do all of their manufacturing, assembly, engineering, and tech support in house. Even though they started with hot rods, the off-road truck market has become their biggest seller. And the C10 truck market is quickly growing.

Dennis grew up on a farm in Indiana and went to Nashville Auto Diesel College before getting drafted to the Air Force during Vietnam. He took a position as a mechanic for their vehicle maintenance division and spent his time repairing equipment. When he got back to Indiana, he met a girl whose family lived in Ft Worth. During one of their visits to her family, he realized there were a lot of jobs in Ft Worth and made up his mind that is where they wanted to move. He got a job as a tractor dealer as a mechanic and worked his way up the ladder for the next 20 years. In 1989, he met Jim who was building wiring harnesses for the conversion van market. Jim wanted to expand the business and start making a harness for hot rods and Dennis was perfect for the job! They built a universal wiring harness that could be used for any hot rod. During their first swap meet, they sold out immediately and knew that had a great product! A year later, Dennis quite his job at the tractor company to build wiring harnesses full time. They got their big break when an editor of Hot Rod Mechanics was building a roadster and needed a wiring harness. The title of the ad was Painless Wiring and this is how they got their name! Over the years, the began making other products to compliment the wiring harnesses and changed the name to be Painless Performance. Now, they are in a 43,000 square foot facility and have around 55 employees. They do all of their manufacturing, assembly, engineering, and tech support in house. Even though they started with hot rods, the off-road truck market has become their biggest seller. And the C10 truck market is quickly growing.

129: Dennis Overholser, co-founder of Painless Performance Products, takes us through the ups and downs of growing his wiring and accessories company