OUR STORY

THANK YOU!

We'd like to take a moment to truly show you our appreciation for your interest in Equalizer®. Our team spends countless hours to bring you the highest quality products in the industry right to your business.

We hope you enjoy our story below and if you're new to Equalizer, we look forward to welcoming you to the Equalizer Family!

THE BEGINNING...

Ray Asbery was born in 1944 on a small tobacco farm in Kentucky, where the rolling hills stretched far and the scent of drying leaves filled the barns. His father spent long days in the fields, but Ray had little interest in farming. He was the type to take apart the family radio just to see how it worked, much to his mother’s dismay.

By the time he was twelve, he had built an electric guitar from scraps as a gift for his father, soldering together old parts from a speaker set and an abandoned pile of wood.

But Ray didn't want to fix old things—he wanted to invent something new. Something that would change the world.

THE ROAD TO AN IDEA

After high school, Ray took a job at a local auto dealership in the body shop and found himself fascinated by the way automobiles could be restored, reshaped, and rebuilt. He worked hard, saved up, and by the late '60s, he owned his own small garage that specialized in upholstery, body work and the occasional auto glass job. But running a business wasn’t enough. He kept a cluttered workbench in the back, filled with half-finished sketches, twisted metal prototypes, and ideas scribbled on oil-stained napkins.

A TOOL THAT CHANGED EVERYTHING

By the 1980s, Ray had seen enough busted windshields to last a lifetime. He hated the way technicians struggled to remove auto glass. The process was slow, dangerous, and costly. After a bout with a 1986 Ford Taurus windshield and staring at the scattered tools in front of him. He slept deep that night and in a dream, it hit him.

For months, he tinkered, experimenting with different leverage points, blades, and power sources. Finally, in 1986, Ray perfected it—a tool that could remove auto glass faster and safer than anything before. A motorized, reciprocating blade with a specialized design that cut through urethane like butter.

At the suggestion of his son Eric, he called it The Equalizer.

At first, no one believed it could work. But when he demonstrated it at a trade show in Houston, Texas, people stopped in their tracks. Within weeks, orders started rolling in. Ray's dream had turned into a growing operation. By the early 2000s, his company was an industry leader, known worldwide for its groundbreaking tools.

A LEGACY BUILT TO LAST

Thirty-five years after that first prototype, Equalizer® was a household name in the auto repair world. Ray had accomplished what he always dreamed of and marveled at what he had built.

He never did change the whole world—but he revolutionized an industry, and that was enough.

THIS IS JUST THE START!

Proving to the industry that Equalizer products are worth every penny, we have had the privilege to continue year over year growth at staggering rates.

The most exciting part is we are just getting started. With an array of products in queue, we are beyond excited to bring more quality, American made products to the market. Products that you feel proud to have in your shop. Products that solve your problems and make your life easier. Products that you trust and know come from a humble team.

We will continue to pursue our mission statement day by day: To deliver exceptional products that exceeds our customers expectations, every time.

OUR HISTORY IN CATALOGS

Since the very beginning, Equalizer® became well known for our creatively themed product catalogs.

When we started in 1987, there weren't any product catalogs specifically focused on auto glass tools. Before then, if you wanted auto glass tools, they existed only in small sections of large catalogs by then industry giants like Sommer & Maca, C.R. Laurence, etc. Most sections were only a page or two and were limited to basic items.

Equalizer®'s first catalog was launched in early 1989 just as the digital publishing revolution was getting started in the late 1980's. Within months, the catalogs became a much sought after item that basically qualified as an Equalizer® product in itself as much as a marketing item.

* Below are browsable versions of our catalogs over the years.