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I have been doing ALL maintenance and repairs on all of my own vehicles since I was 18. That's 40 years of automotive excellence by the way. I also work on the vehicles of friends and relatives from time to time.
Anyone else here do all their own fixin up of the beaters?
Anyhow... rear brake job time. Owner of the vehicle drove it until the caliper piston itself ground a really nice inch and a half by quarter-inch deep notch into the back side of the disc. No telling where the piston side pad went, it's gone. Both the disc and caliper are scrap now. Driver's side, it's past time for pads there but everything else looks okay as far as I can see without taking the wheel off. So here we go off to the parts store for a new set of pads and a new caliper and disc.
Hot damn, those prices for the caliper and disc are way outta range of the owner's ability. She was able to afford the 50 dolla brake pads though. Junkyard time then, we gonna go to one of them and find the same car and cannibalize the right rear disc and caliper. Moar labor, dodging snakes and rodents and who knows what else, PITA. The adventure was scheduled for tomorrow when the owner gets paid.
Sitting at home watching motorweek, the endless commercials for rockauto dot com kept coming on. Finally it penetrated my thick skull - go to their website and at least have a look around.
The junkyard disc and caliper were gonna be 200 bucks. About half what the auto parts store wanted. But lookie here I find on rockauto, a replacement KIT for both sides of the rear brakes for this car? TWO calipers, TWO discs and two sets of brake pads, all NEW shit not used or remanned - for 170 bucks!
I sent her back to the parts store to get herself a refund on the pads. And placed the order for the parts from rockauto. Stuff gonna be here in a week, 17 dolla shipping. 206 bucks for all new parts for both sides of the rear breaks of this car. That's mite near 1000 if you bought it at the brick and mortar auto parts store!
Rockauto is where I'm gonna be any time I need parts. They use ONLY fedex to ship and there's a next day option for 100 bucks if you need the shit now. I looked up those same brake pads there and they were 24 frikkin bucks. For the fiddy dolla brake pads! No, thanks. Not doing any more parts shopping at the local parts house that's for sure. (O'Reilly's)
Anyhow, rockauto is pretty snazzy. I already sourced brake pads for my own truck for the brake job that's coming soon for it, and hipped another friend to the site over the phone, he does more paid mechanicin' than I do.
So guys - go to rockauto for your auto parts. Stop fucking around with the parts stores, they can't or won't, compete.
You may now resume shaving your back.
Anyone else here do all their own fixin up of the beaters?
Anyhow... rear brake job time. Owner of the vehicle drove it until the caliper piston itself ground a really nice inch and a half by quarter-inch deep notch into the back side of the disc. No telling where the piston side pad went, it's gone. Both the disc and caliper are scrap now. Driver's side, it's past time for pads there but everything else looks okay as far as I can see without taking the wheel off. So here we go off to the parts store for a new set of pads and a new caliper and disc.
Hot damn, those prices for the caliper and disc are way outta range of the owner's ability. She was able to afford the 50 dolla brake pads though. Junkyard time then, we gonna go to one of them and find the same car and cannibalize the right rear disc and caliper. Moar labor, dodging snakes and rodents and who knows what else, PITA. The adventure was scheduled for tomorrow when the owner gets paid.
Sitting at home watching motorweek, the endless commercials for rockauto dot com kept coming on. Finally it penetrated my thick skull - go to their website and at least have a look around.
The junkyard disc and caliper were gonna be 200 bucks. About half what the auto parts store wanted. But lookie here I find on rockauto, a replacement KIT for both sides of the rear brakes for this car? TWO calipers, TWO discs and two sets of brake pads, all NEW shit not used or remanned - for 170 bucks!
I sent her back to the parts store to get herself a refund on the pads. And placed the order for the parts from rockauto. Stuff gonna be here in a week, 17 dolla shipping. 206 bucks for all new parts for both sides of the rear breaks of this car. That's mite near 1000 if you bought it at the brick and mortar auto parts store!
Rockauto is where I'm gonna be any time I need parts. They use ONLY fedex to ship and there's a next day option for 100 bucks if you need the shit now. I looked up those same brake pads there and they were 24 frikkin bucks. For the fiddy dolla brake pads! No, thanks. Not doing any more parts shopping at the local parts house that's for sure. (O'Reilly's)
Anyhow, rockauto is pretty snazzy. I already sourced brake pads for my own truck for the brake job that's coming soon for it, and hipped another friend to the site over the phone, he does more paid mechanicin' than I do.
So guys - go to rockauto for your auto parts. Stop fucking around with the parts stores, they can't or won't, compete.
You may now resume shaving your back.
