Rockauto vendor/brands

[FAKKY]

Curious if anyone has anhy insite.
Rockauto has a number of brands/vendors with a considerable price variance. An example below

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/d...ll+joint,10070

OEM part number (upper) K778

Rockauto

ULTRA-POWER K778 - $5.39
MEVOTECH GK778 Original Grade - $7.22
MEVOTECH MK778 {#K778} Supreme With X Factor Technolog -$11.20
MOOG K778 {#2298536, 2808394} Problem Solver - $28.99


Lots more than this even - but a big range in prices when you do upper and lowers. Only brand I recognize is MOOG ..... and they are hit or mis on dodge .... so ...... ??

thoughts ?

[63 & 64 Bowties]

I can't help you with those brands, but I know they have some prices that can't be beat.
I bought an in-tank fuel pump from them for my 99 Burb a few years ago for about 1/4 the price as Advance, Auto Zone, etc wanted for one. I was a little hesitant since it's a pain to change them out, but it's doing fine. I'm not real concerned about brands anymore since almost everything you buy these days is made in China anyway.
I buy from them probably a couple times a year. No complaints.

[FAKKY]

Hi 63/64 .... Yes some good prices but hard to know quality on $5 balljoint.

Was going to split difference and do the $11-$14 ones .... But still *shrug*

[Wrenchbender Ret]

I would stick with the famous brands on front end parts. Moog, AC, or TRW. I used some off brand foreign parts one time on a late model Chev. pickup. A year later they were worse than the originals were before I replaced them.

[FAKKY]

Never heard of TRW I don't think.

Even ACdeco has a $12 version and a $40 version.

[joedoh]

The cheaper name brand stuff is outsourced production. they are real AC delco and moog parts, in the sense that the parent company likely developed the print for the part, and the QA standards to inspect the part. the manufacturing is just taking place somewhere other than the original (domestic) factory. throughput is 8 times higher and costs 20%-70% lower.

its not always a bad thing. I worked for a retail goods company that did a lot of development and production in china. we set the specifications and standards and spent almost all of our time holding the factory to them. if we had to develop new products in house, the design and testing would limit it to one or two new designs a year and the product would cost 3-4 times as much. this way, we could develop 4 new products every season, and specify higher quality materials at a lower cost than would even be possible done in house. QA was a big deal, everyone from the president to the salespeople would participate in the reviews, in a level setting, where each opinion had equal weight, and in the few years I was there we made some amazing stuff and started working on even more amazing stuff.

imagine where the parent company would be right now if it only sold the domestic made parts? broke, and out of business, the competition from 60 dollar china or taiwan parts would erode their profits and bankrupt them. so by offering a lower quality option with their name, which they feel good about using because they inspect all the final production to their standards, they stay in business, and make the better stuff for the people who want to pay for it.

if you plan to keep it a good long time, get the better stuff, you will never regret it as a "sunk" cost. I use moog problem solver stuff on all my trucks, the difference in cost is substantial compared to the cheaper stuff, but a drop in the bucket compared to the total cost of the truck, so its easy for me to make that judgement call.

[whitedog76]

Rockauto is just a middle man for a network of parts warehouses. I ordered some National wheel seals a couple years ago and one was in a Napa box.

I try to stick with the bigger name brands such as Raybestos, Moog, etc... Typically they are better priced than the box store labels, plus they show up on my doorstep in a few days.

I bought some "Chinese" made Dorman control arms a few years ago. If you were to put them next to the OE, you couldn't tell the difference.

I've had good luck with Rockauto.

[FAKKY]

Thanks - generally I try to shoot for a better brand/quality.
Sometimes though you dont even recognize the brands on offer - like MOOG might not be an option and only brand asides from a bunch of weird ones is ACDelco which I have never considered a quality brand.

Hence the confusion.

Will just try and wing it ........ so hard these days as

1) Most stuff is made in china. Even the quality brands.
2) A lot of the china stuff is ok quality these days.

Just wish you knew what quality control/testing they went through - like they werent allowed to be sold IN US without some code to validate testing/quality.

[vintovka]

With my rebuild i have been buying a large number of parts lately. (like $7000+ up). I can tell you quality control is all over the map on parts regardless of what you pay and where they come from. EVen a huge name brand vendor sent me a huge name brand carb that was factory defective and actually damaged my engine. I think its a like a worldwide case of give a s--t attitude from manufacturers who just don't care. My advice is buy local so you can return items until you get a good one. Even
Free shipping aint free if you have to pay to send it back,

[JAP51]

I sold auto parts for over 25 years , I even own a store at one time. I buy some parts from Rockauto , but only buy the brands that I trust. I had guy come in my store one time and wanted a cheap set of brake pads , the guy that worked for me said if we had some for a $1.00 would want them ? He said sure , my guy said do you want your wife and kids riding around in a car with a set of brake pads that cost a $ 1.00 ?

[nvrdone]

as my grand father taught me " if you want first quality oats, you pay the price. If you want the ones that have all ready been thru the horse, they can be had a lot cheaper"

[vintovka]

Originally Posted by nvrdone

as my grand father taught me " if you want first quality oats, you pay the price. If you want the ones that have all ready been thru the horse, they can be had a lot cheaper"

Used to be true now whatever you buy "youse pays you money and youse takes your chances" Even GM performance and other
name brand stuff seems hit or miss.

[iowaboynca]

Originally Posted by joedoh

....

Well said. I have to deal with the same stuff every day, granted different industry.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by FAKKY

Never heard of TRW I don't think.

Even ACdeco has a $12 version and a $40 version.

I don't know about now but in the 70's TRW was top line chassis parts and some other parts. I installed a lot of TRW A frame bushings and ball joints in the mid 70's.

I seem to order more from Rock auto all the time but like Wrench Bender suggested stick to the name brands that I know rather than the discount brands.
The offer up several brands at several prices to capture some of the market they might miss with the cheapskates that want the lowest price quality be damned.

In all actuality though, it's like going to Napa or O'Reilly's where they have the name brand and the house discount brand of the same parts.

What I use to use Rock Auto a lot for was finding the name brand part number and then searching for it on Ebay and most often finding a reseller who buys out large quantities of parts and resells them on Ebay at real friendly prices. I got all of the front suspension parts for my 71 GMC 3/4 ton that way and saved a couple hundred bucks. You have to watch their shipping charges real close but there are some real deals out there if you take the time to hunt them down.

If I don't need the part right now to fix a rig today I always check several sources for the best overall price. Amazon quite often beats everybody else if you have Amazon prime. You do have to watch them just like the rest though as some of their prices can be quite a bit higher than others too

[FAKKY]

Thanks

I think I will try and keep with the brands that are known - especially in regards to brakes/steering and so on.

Hard part is knowing how good those parts are - eg TRW/ACDelco

Especially when most of this stuff is (assumed) to be made in china. Is any particular one better than others. Understand the logic between you get what you pay for - but often these days thats hard to tell.

Is Moog better than TRW for example ... or some unknown brand .... no idea.


Anyway - interesting ^^^^^^^ comments
thanks

[OrrieG]

Originally Posted by FAKKY

Never heard of TRW I don't think.

Even ACdeco has a $12 version and a $40 version.

TRW was a respected brand in the 60's and 70's, can't tell you anything about current quality. AC Delco are GM factory suppliers.

[capnduane]

I've had great luck with RockAuto. brake shoes, oil filters, windshield wipers, radiator hoses, all sorts of parts. Terrific prices and super fast shipping.

[jhnpldng]

They're pretty much priced as per quality. Moog and TRW are the best for steering/suspension parts.
AC Delco you have to watch out. A lot of their stuff is made in China and just cheapo like the no name brands. If it says Professional, it's decent, if it says OEM, it's OEM but you'll only see that for GM stuff.

Mevotech is a new one and seem to have different quality levels but I don't have much experience with them. MAS, I vaguely remember as being good stuff, just not a real well known name.

rockauto just started separating by Economy, Daily Driver, Premium, High Performance recently. Automatically ignore economy. Use Daily Driver if it's not a vehicle you plan to keep for a long time. Use Premium for your baby.