What Link Manufacturing makes

Link Manufacturing is a specialty-engineered suspension maker for commercial vehicles, headquartered in Sioux Center, Iowa. Its flagship product is the Cabmate cab air suspension, the system the company was built around in 1980 and the one it says makes it the world's largest supplier of OEM cab suspensions. Around that core, Link builds a full commercial-vehicle suspension line: auxiliary suspensions including steerable, non-steerable, and 6x2 lift-axle designs; chassis suspensions such as UltraRide, Air Link, and RespondAir; and the ROI (Road Optimized Innovations) family of smart, air-managed cab suspensions.

A second product line runs alongside the suspensions. Link designs and manufactures mechanical and electronic height control valves, including its SmartValve electronic control and the 500, 600, 650, and 1500 mechanical series, along with Smart Air Management Systems for dynamic air-suspension control. It also makes Cat's Eye tire pressure monitoring and equalization systems and a range of vehicle ramps, from the LB20 service-van ramp to the LSR90 swivel ramp. The customer base spans heavy- and medium-duty trucks, motorcoaches, transit and shuttle buses, recreational vehicles, trailers, off-highway equipment, and military and vocational vehicles.

The company frames itself as an engineering partner to truck OEMs rather than a catalog vendor. Its collaborative model lets OEM engineering teams offload suspension design to Link's in-house test lab and Applied Technology Center, which opened in 2009 for specialty-suspension development. A separate Suspension Controls Engineering Center in Kentwood, Michigan handles the mechanical, electrical, and software work behind the height-control and air-management products. For buyers weighing make-versus-buy decisions on chassis systems, Link sits on the buy side as a Tier 1 commercial-vehicle supplier.

Ownership and history

Link is a privately owned, independent company, and it has stayed that way through four decades of growth. The story starts in 1980, when truck driver Bill Nibbelink built the first cab air-ride suspension for his own Class 8 truck. Link began manufacturing that product, the Cabmate, in 1981 and opened its first factory in Sioux Center in 1984. Major plant expansions followed in 1989 and 1999, and the company added specialty lines over time: Cat's Eye tire pressure monitoring in 1990, cargo management products in 1992, auxiliary suspensions and service-van ramps in 1998, and chassis suspensions with UltraRide in 2002.

The Sioux Center campus now runs four manufacturing plants, capped by a 50,000-square-foot Plant 4 manufacturing and training facility completed in 2022. Link introduced Link Suspensions of Canada in Edmonton, Alberta in 2012 (now in Nisku), a welding and fabrication shop focused on vocational and military markets, and in 2021 it moved its acquired suspension-controls product lines to Sioux Center while keeping the controls engineering team in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Production milestones mark the arc: the one-millionth Cabmate in 2008, the two-millionth in 2019, and the two-millionth mechanical height control valve in July 2024, a line now running close to 70,000 valves a month.

Certifications and quality

Link operates under IATF 16949:2016, the automotive quality-management standard that OEM supply programs require, which it attained in 2018; the certificate is posted on the company's manufacturing page. It also holds ISO 14001:2015 for environmental management, and the company's quality history on record runs back to its initial ISO certification in 1996. On the plant floor, Link reports a defective rate below 300 PPM and runs an in-house test regime that includes fatigue testing, MTS component and suspension-performance testing, pull-apart testing, height-control-valve testing, and National Instruments data-acquisition equipment. These are the company's own published figures and claims.

Manufacturing and engineering

Link's manufacturing leans on automation and lean production. The plants run single and dual-head Yaskawa Motoman robotic welding systems, multiple automated CO2 lasers and a Bystronic fiber laser, CNC precision press brakes and bending centers, electrostatic powder-coat painting, and vertical and horizontal machining with CNC lathes, organized around flexible continuous-flow assembly. The company began its move toward robotic welding in 2000 and has expanded automation steadily since. A contract and military manufacturing group builds highly engineered critical components to customer specification for conventional, custom, and military vehicle applications, work that Link has done as a defense sub-supplier since at least 2005.

Known customers

Link is an OEM cab-suspension supplier, and most of its program relationships are unnamed, as is normal for a Tier 1. One is publicly documented:

Beyond PACCAR, Link describes itself as supplying more OEM cab suspensions than any company in the world, which places its Cabmate product across the heavy-truck OEM base, though those specific programs are not individually disclosed.

Sourcing evidence

Link's US import footprint is modest and steady, the profile of a domestic manufacturer that imports select components rather than finished goods. Public bill-of-lading records show 102 US sea-import shipments on file, with the most recent dated August 21, 2026. The two named foreign suppliers in the public record are Mansons International and Guangdong Fuwa Heavy Industries, a Chinese heavy-vehicle axle and component maker whose parts line up with Link's auxiliary and lift-axle suspension work. That import pattern, components in and finished suspensions out of Iowa, fits a US producer rather than a reseller, and it is relevant to buyers weighing nearshoring and tariff exposure on chassis hardware.

Coverage caveats: these are US ocean-freight records only. Air, truck, and rail movements, including cross-border flows with Link's Canadian plant, do not appear; some records name freight intermediaries rather than manufacturers; and the free record exposes only the top suppliers by shipment count. Absence of a record is not evidence of absence.

Frequently asked questions

What does Link Manufacturing make?

Link Manufacturing makes specialty-engineered suspensions for commercial vehicles: cab air suspensions (its flagship Cabmate), auxiliary and chassis suspensions, and lift-axle systems. It also builds mechanical and electronic height control valves, SmartValve air-suspension controls, Cat's Eye tire pressure monitoring systems, and vehicle ramps. Its products serve heavy and medium-duty trucks, buses, RVs, trailers, and military and vocational vehicles.

Who owns Link Manufacturing?

Link Manufacturing is a privately owned, independent company headquartered in Sioux Center, Iowa. It was founded around the Cabmate cab air suspension, first built in 1980 by truck driver Bill Nibbelink, and has grown organically over four decades without a listed or private-equity parent on record.

Where is Link Manufacturing located?

Link Manufacturing's headquarters and main manufacturing campus, with four plants, are at 223 15th St NE, Sioux Center, Iowa 51250. It also runs a Suspension Controls Engineering Center in Kentwood, Michigan and a welding and fabrication plant, Link Suspensions of Canada, in Nisku, Alberta, plus distribution in Europe.

Who are Link Manufacturing's customers?

Link supplies commercial-truck OEMs and says it provides more OEM cab suspensions than any other company in the world, so most of its program relationships are unnamed. The one publicly documented customer is PACCAR (Kenworth, Peterbilt, and DAF), which recognized Link in its Supplier Performance Management program for the tenth consecutive year in the 2025 cycle.

What certifications does Link Manufacturing hold?

Link Manufacturing holds IATF 16949:2016 for automotive quality management, attained in 2018, and ISO 14001:2015 for environmental management. Its quality history runs back to an initial ISO certification in 1996, and the company reports a defect rate below 300 PPM across its manufacturing.

How big is Link Manufacturing?

Link runs four manufacturing plants at its Sioux Center, Iowa campus, including a 50,000-square-foot Plant 4 completed in 2022, plus a Michigan engineering center and a Canadian welding plant. It has produced more than two million Cabmate cab suspensions and over two million mechanical height control valves, building close to 70,000 valves a month. As a privately held company, it does not publish revenue or headcount figures.

Last verified September 28, 2026. Is this your company? Request a correction.