Brake drums from rockauto

[46woodie]

Never bought from Rockauto before but what a horrible experience. Purchased front drums for my 63 Tbird. Open box and China is stamped in side. Mounted drums and they had been machihed wrong, rubbed sides of my brake shoes, horrible scraping. Removed and sent back per their instructions for refund. No answer! Meantime bought drums from Brake performance,EXCELLENT. Perfect fit! Get what you pay for

[BlueSunoco]

Rock Auto is the main importer of Chinese junk their parts are pure crap-ola.


I hear this from so many mechanics....

[Kurt in NJ]

Local parts house wanted 125$ for Chinese rear shoes for my 74 Chevy truck, for 80$ I got rear shoes, wheel cylinders and axle seals from rock auto — all USA parts
They do list brand names

[tubman]

One good thing about Rock Auto is that they usually give you the choice of 3 or 4 grades of parts right on the same page. They even label them from "Economy" to Premium". It's like anything else; it helps if you go into the situation with a little fore-knowledge and good judgment.

[46woodie]

Yes, I see they do offer options for quality but not always,bit of a crapshoot.

[cas3]

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As stated above, they offer your choice of quality. Often the good old USA brands are there, I'll pay for it. Sometimes they have NOS stuff. Sometime they don't have a listing for the part you need. Its still my first go to. Parts arrive in 3-4 days, easy searching, I'll take it.

[alchemy]

I’m a fan of Rock Auto. As the guys have said, you just need to look at what brand you are buying. They aren’t hiding anything. If you ordered the cheapest brand, you get the cheapest brand.

[Joe B.]

Their price was 1/2 incl shipping than anyone else for my NGK plugs. Same with lots of other stuff. When buying specific cast parts for an old car, things can happen. I had problems with major old car parts suppliers with things like a master cylinder, for instance. No one makes them here unless you find NOS, and then it will need a rebuid anyway.

[Karl Wolf]

I got an "upgrade" clutch from Rock for my beater Explorer. Turned out to be a dud.
Bought another, locally-Napa.
USA brand names don't mean a lot anymore- in my experience...

Karl

[itslow]

Originally Posted by 46woodie

Never bought from Rockauto before but what a horrible experience. Purchased front drums for my 63 Tbird. Open box and China is stamped in side. Mounted drums and they had been machihed wrong, rubbed sides of my brake shoes, horrible scraping. Removed and sent back per their instructions for refund. No answer! Meantime bought drums from Brake performance,EXCELLENT. Perfect fit! Get what you pay for

Of the three brands of drum offered by Rock Auto for the '63 T-Bird, which did you purchase? What was the brand supplied by Brake Performance?

Originally Posted by BlueSunoco

Rock Auto is the main importer of Chinese junk their parts are pure crap-ola.

Rock Auto sells a bunch of different brands. Don't buy the cheapest one and you won't get "pure crap-ola".

I don't buy the cheapest option available from Rock Auto, and I can't recall a single instance of where I've received "crap" part. All sorts of parts, too, ignition parts, HVAC parts, water pumps, brake discs, brake pads, oil filters, gaskets, etc.

[leon bee]

I got Rock Auto magnets all over the shop.

[alchemy]

I’ve got a couple dozen RA magnets on my cabinet. My little brother has probably three times that.

[46woodie]

To their credit they have decided to issue a refund! Took awhile but they came through.
Thanks RA

[Kube]

Originally Posted by Karl Wolf

I got an "upgrade" clutch from Rock for my beater Explorer. Turned out to be a dud.
Bought another, locally-Napa.
USA brand names don't mean a lot anymore- in my experience...

Karl

Oh Karl, sadly I must agree. USA made means little these days.

I purchase from Rock on occasion. I tend to go to Napa where I buy at wholesale. Even then, there are occasions when Rock sells the EXACT part for MUCH lower cost than Napa.
Just last week, I'd purchased brake pads for one of our Porsches. Same EXACT brand, same EXACT set, 60% of Napa's wholesale price.

[sidevalve8ba]

I like to buy locally but I have to admit it is hard to beat Rock Aoto's prices. And, like when buying anything, one must shop wisely.

[solidaxle]

I buy from rockauto all the time, very satisfied and it's hard to beat their prices. Like people have said, you have choices on quality. Recently my turbo went in then Chevy Trax, there was a choice of a couple of after market ones or for $120.00 more, a GM O.E.M . I went for the O.E.M. one. The whole complete turbo,vacuum pod, hoses and exhaust manifold with shipping was under $400.00. I can't imagine what the dealer would have charged. What isn't too much of a savings is oil, the shipping increases the cost. I still order the oil and filter because it saves me a trip to the auto store so I am still saving.

[Drbrown]

I usually go to RockAuto first but not for pre-1950 auto stuff. I had only one return - a half axle - due to wrong item and it was refunded after reasonable time after I provided photos of correct item.

[itslow]

Originally Posted by alchemy

I’ve got a couple dozen RA magnets on my cabinet. My little brother has probably three times that.

Only the ones with old cars.

[cas3]

Sidevalve8ba said it best, I like to buy local too. Gotta give some support to the local store, the internet is killing them. A large order, can save lotsa dough at rock auto, so thats what I do.

[fredM]

I have had good shoes and drums from Kanter.