Better auto parts?

[RANDY P]

+ it was Honda themselves quoting that nonsense. Probably Honda of Fife, just, amazing.

[afterburn 549]

There are a couple of ways to measure H20 in brake fluid.
test strips for one.
or
a meter .


https://rxmechanic.com/best-brake-fluid-tester/


Pretty simple.

[cabmandone]

My take is that you have to find a good brand to have any sort of chance at the Chinesium lasting. Different quality controls from the better name brands lead to better Chinesium. For instance, a Moog or other "brand" bearing made in China is still lightyears ahead of a Detroit Axle or the ones on Amazon with weird names.

[onewhippedpuppy]

LOL at that text chain, I have had so many similar exchanges over the years. Eff those places, it’s predatory how they take advantage of people who don’t know any better.

[afterburn 549]

Originally Posted by cabmandone

My take is that you have to find a good brand to have any sort of chance at the Chinesium lasting. Different quality controls from the better name brands lead to better Chinesium. For instance, a Moog or other "brand" bearing made in China is still lightyears ahead of a Detroit Axle or the ones on Amazon with weird names.

The only problem with that is, a pretty hard experiment to do.
If one buys rotors from the auto parts store, they all come in the plain Jane white box.
Who made them?
It just says made in cheeena.
As for bearings and stuff, I don't ever remember being offered varied prices or quality differences.

[cabmandone]

I'll have to keep this thread in mind and reply back in the fall. We're replacing Duralast rotors on my son's Rav4 with some Dynamic Friction rotors. It might be an unfair comparison since I'm replacing soft lines, calipers and rotors. But the front brakes have a wicked pulsation to them that developed not long after replacing the front rotors and pads the last time. The front calipers compressed easily and the guide pins weren't stuck. I greased the guide pins and checked the rubber boots on all four corners. We'll see how it goes. My luck with Carquest rotors and calipers isn't fantastic either. Surface delamination and torn piston boots. Oh well, we'll see how things go.

[afterburn 549]

Something I have learned.
'We who live in the salt country use lots of anti-seize.
We have to!
Buit it needs to be spread very, very thin between the wheel and hub or caliper, and thin between the caliper and hub.
If too thick, I understand it promotes warping as it does not squeeze out even enough .

[A930Rocket]

Have you ever noticed on Amazon, a list of parts that have the same picture, but different brand names. Ching. Ding. Wong. Long. Bing. Etc. And the same price.

Originally Posted by cabmandone

…For instance, a Moog or other "brand" bearing made in China is still lightyears ahead of a Detroit Axle or the ones on Amazon with weird names.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Have you ever noticed on Amazon, a list of parts that have the same picture, but different brand names. Ching. Ding. Wong. Long. Bing. Etc. And the same price.

Yeah, whether it's auto parts or almost anything else that you can imagine.

[cabmandone]

^^^^
I've got my eye on you...

[masraum]

Originally Posted by cabmandone

^^^^
I've got my eye on you...

Yep, almost certainly a spam bot. 8 posts, name a likely random letter collection. Many of the posts are only one or two words. I think all of them are <1week old. Need to wait for the links to show up.

[Arizona_928]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

Have you ever noticed on Amazon, a list of parts that have the same picture, but different brand names. Ching. Ding. Wong. Long. Bing. Etc. And the same price.

Cha-Ching is the parent co.

[Jeff Alton]

Originally Posted by greglepore

I run Akebono's in my 5000 lb Mercedes, and have been very happy with them for years. Almost zero dust, great braking.

I need a starter and I'm in conundrum. Oem mercedes is $400 bucks, reman Bosch half that but who knows....

Do yourself a favor, and do NOT get the Bosch Reman. We got tired of warrantying them and will never sell another. Another option to consider is having your starter rebuild locally by a quality auto-electric place.

Cheers

[afterburn 549]

I notice the local rebuild shops are getting rarer and rarer around here !
It's going to come to pointthe of shipping them somewhere, as the crap one gets at flaps is mostly a paint job.

[911 Rod]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

I notice the local rebuild shops are getting rarer and rarer around here !
It's going to come to pointthe of shipping them somewhere, as the crap one gets at flaps is mostly a paint job.

Same here. All my contacts are retiring.

[masraum]

Originally Posted by afterburn 549

I notice the local rebuild shops are getting rarer and rarer around here !
It's going to come to pointthe of shipping them somewhere, as the crap one gets at flaps is mostly a paint job.

Originally Posted by 911 Rod

Same here. All my contacts are retiring.

Hell, 15-20 years ago, I needed a machine shop because my son overheated a 4.0L jeep cherokee. It took a lot of calling around to find a machine shop that was still in business. I did get the alternator in my old 911 rebuilt at a rebuild shop about 26 years ago.

Google seems to think there's still quite a few places in Houston.

[GH85Carrera]

When the alternator on my 911 started rattling from worn out bearings after I had it rebuilt 20+ years and 100,000 miles of so, I pulled it out, and started trying to find a rebuild place in OKC area. The guy that did way back then closed 15 years ago. I finally found one guy that literally grew up rebuilding starters, alternators and generators. So I drove 40 miles to his shop, and it was a huge building with thousands of cores and one small workbench. He had it for a week, and it looked good.

Putting the alternator back in with the air diverter is a royal pain with short wires and tight working conditions. I got it buttoned up, fired up the engine, and the alternator light cam on. Crap!

So I tried to call the guy. The phone just rings and rings and never picks up, or has a message. For all I know he died, went out of business or is in the hospital. I don't really want to drive all the way there to find the doors locked if he is out. I need to call him again to see if he is back.

In the end, I bought a new $700 Valeo just like what I had rebuilt. It is working perfect. I can't find another rebuilder in this area. They are all out of business. It is like finding a radiator repair shop. They are just gone.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by GH85Carrera

For front end parts, try for Moog parts. Many of them have lifetime warranty.

Moog was owned by Federal Mogul which was bought by Tenneco. Driv is the aftermarket company owned by Tenneco. Driv also includes, Monroe, Walker, Fel-Pro just to name a few. Warehousing and some assembly is in the USA but content can come from any Moog facility in North America, Mexico, Asia or Europe. You really need to check the label on the box for the manufacturing country of origin.