Discount Parts

[jerry69]

I want to share my experience with buying a rear set of brake drums. There are so many manufactures and hard telling where the products are made. I first checked my local parts stores like Napa, Checker and Autozone. The cost for the OEM drums were around $75.00 Not knowing what the difference of some of the materials were I called a mechanic friend in another state, we talked about Raybestos and Wagner brake drums. I told my friend I wanted OEM or better, no cheap Chinese drums. Then he said when he installs brakes he installs AC Delco, he looked up AC Delco brake drums and the wholesale price was around $24.00 and retail was around $41.00 I saw that Autozone was an AC Delco retailer, so I called Autozone and asked if they could order the drums, sure the guy replyed... Autozone's numbers didn't match the AC Delco numbers but they do order from AC Delco with a different part number that wasn't even close. The price was around $60.00...I'm now thinking they order the drums from AC Delco and stick their Autozone number tag on it and mark it up even more.
So I heard of Rock Auto www.rockauto.com (http://www.rockauto.com) and went to their web site and sure enough they sell AC Delco brake drums, they were around $26.00 just a few dollars above wholesale, I ordered 2 rear drums and shipping to my house was $16.00 and total price was around $76.00 I would recommend before ordering any parts from the big 3 that you check out Rock Auto, I'm tried of getting GREASED by the big 3....I hope that I saved you a few dollars by reading this information.......

[jkskinsfan]

Thanks for the info, Jerry. I need a set of Rear Drums for my '69 and I'm always happy when I can save a few dollars. I'll check out Rock Auto first chance I get. Thanks again.

[jerry69]

Great JK hope things work out on your project, I decided to keep my drum brakes and go with new drums, wheel cylinders, hardware kit, shoes and hoses and it looks like I'll save about half the price... I checked on Ebay and the ones who are running discounts are on the east coast, the shipping is $70 to Arizona OUCH !!! and I don't know what grade the parts are.... And I want to make sure I buy Professional Grade parts, no cheap Chinese parts...
Jerry

[jkskinsfan]

I'm keeping the Drum Brakes on mine too. I've already replaced all of the Hardware, Brake Shoes, Brake Hoses and half of the Brake Lines. I replaced all of the Wheel Cylinders and the Master Cylinder too, and will probably add a Brake Booster later on. I was having a bitch of a time getting one of the Rear Brake Drums off and in my frustration I hit it a little to hard with a hammer and cracked it, so I am replacing both of the Rear Drums. To bad as they were in great shape. The Front ones are in great shape to, so I'll go with them.