Replacement Parts Company Recommendations

[Dan 67 Chevy LWB]

So, what companies do you recommend for high quality replacement parts for the 67-72 trucks?

Thanks

[allforfun]

It depends on what your after. I have had great luck with several vendors but I'm not dedicated to just one vendor. There are several here that support the board and do a great job. In my opinion it depends on what your after. I am merchandiser for a local to us wholesale distributer and have found threw my experiences at work and on my truck its best to have several vendors in my pocket.

[capev86]

LMC truck for body bits and accessories and most other parts....

Classic Performance Products for some custom parts like sway bars, bushings, trick tie rod adjusters, etc.

ordered a battery tray from jcwhitney it was like $16 vs. 3 times that from LMC. rather save my money for other things and get a stainless tray from them in the distant future with my hard earned cash.

[aggieguy713]

agreed with cape. LMC is good for some things,but personally I really like brothers, real good stuff.

[VA72C10]

Honestly, LMC has the best catalog and can really help in getting a name or part number for a part. However, I have been UNDERWHELMED with the quality of their parts and their pricing is too high IMHO. Tri plus/Keyparts is the vendor you need to look for replacement body panels. Not all are perfect fits (door panel inners don't fit at all) but most are excellent and as nice of gauge or nicer than original. Tri-pro auto, Mike's Bump and Grind, Athey's truck, and others sell Tri-plus.

For suspension, CPP has good deals, especially on ebay, but poor customer service according to most. I personally haven't had an issue yet other than slow shipping.

ECE has the best reputation for service and product knowledge and quality products.

POL is newer but most have good experience with them so far and prices seem good (cheaper in their ebay store)

[unclewatts]

I concur with allforfun. I have found that different vendors who sell the same parts can vary wildly in their prices. Some are cheaper on certain parts than others. I usually do my online purchasing with LMC truck, Classic Parts of America and Summit. For my local stuff, I like NAPA Auto Parts. Don't care much for Kragen. If I can't get the part at any of these places, it's wrecking yard time!(I'm lucky. My local yard has about 7 or 8 67-72's laying around.) Sometimes you have to crawl over a 67 C-10 to get to a 70 C-10. I'm in hog heaven!

[fdbdw]

I agree with VA72C10, I have had some quality issues with LMC but I love their catalog, I have orderd alot through Summit and Jegs, I have got to the point were I use the Summit website and order through Jegs, Summits website is better but orders take about a week, Jegs orders take about 2-3 days.

[Dan 67 Chevy LWB]

Thanks for all the responses.

In your opinion, who has the best quality rubber seals and gaskets?

[Sinister]

Wes at Classic Heartbeat and GMC Paul's have good seals and gaskets.

[Classic Heartbeat]

Thank you Sinister.
Just about everybody sells everything, but you need to watch for quality. "Cheap" will not equate with quality. Yes some prices do vary on the same parts, by the same manufacturer, that is when the quantity issues kick in. The more parts a particular company can buy, generally speaking the cheaper they can get them for. The flip side of that coin is you generally have to hire people to man the phones, take the orders, package the parts, etc, etc. That means that you get people who don't know what they are selling, they do not know what the quality is, they do not know what manufacturer made it, nor will they tell you if they do. They also will not tell you about known problems with their products. They just sell you the parts, no matter what.
The next part of the equation is research and development. Large companies sell parts and do not research what is needed. In most cases they do not even trial fit new parts that come out on the market. They just add them to their list of parts that they sell, and handle the claims as they come in. If they get too many claims on a particular part, they may discontinue it, (generally not) but in any case you became there research department at your expense. They also count on the smaller companies to develop all the parts, do all of the fitting, and finally approve the product. Then jump in and buy mass quantities of the part at cheaper prices, and the guys who develop the parts are left holding the bag. This is because the manufacturer is more concerned about the parts total sold than they are about the people who help them to develop the part.
Been there and done that more times than I care to list.
Am I whining? ya, maybe so. I guess that maybe my answer to your question went beyond what you were asking, but hey, it feels good to vent sometimes. lol Good luck with your decision and your project and if we can help you we surely will, no matter where you get your parts from. WES

[PanelDeland]

In addition to what Wes said, the vendors on the BB build trucks themselves.Since they may walk into their parts storage and grab what's on the shelf to put on a truck for them they generally only carry the best quality they can get.We all know that it's easier to lose a sale due to price/quality than it is to deal with customer complaints on low quality parts.You don't make a dime on dealing with customer problems and you're losing time to sell something else when you're doing it.
Just my $0.02

[cdowns]

NAPA has lots of good quality parts for these trucks

[Diablo de la Noche]

I got online and found some really, really cheap parts for my 67. $25 for an alternator, $1.25 for replacement lower door skin, $2.45 for cab corners, some things were 10 cents! I was stoked! I put stuff I didn't need in my cart, figuring somebody else might need it. Well, when I checked out, my $66 order turned into $250 due to shipping and handling! Handling alone was $150! That was parts train (more like part Strain). I will never buy anything from them. My wife said that if it's still a good deal, I might as well buy them. It's the principal of the matter. But, if the shipping and handling was cheaper, screw the principal! LOL!

[special-K]

GM.

If not available,just go by the manufacturer not retailer.Know who made the part.It`s not important who sells it,other than price or service.

[1970 CST Short Wide]

Don’t forget these guys. Very High Quality in my humble opinion
Check em out
http://www.earlyclassic.com/

[Classic Heartbeat]

If not available,just go by the manufacturer not retailer. Know who made the part.

I would agree, however most retailers will not reveal their sources. It realy isn't good practice from a retailer's point of view, because they do not know that you are not their compition.

It`s not important who sells it,other than price or service.

Define service. I think that service includes someone who knows what they are selling, so if you appear to be purchasing something that is not correct for your aplication they can question you about it. I also think service is when you call to order parts and if you do not know the name of the part that you are looking for, the guy on the other end does and will sell you the right part. (This happens with me all the time.) Another service that at least I supply (I don't know about other vendors) is technical support, no matter who you purchase your parts from. I would say almost half of my phone calls are people asking questions about their projects and haven't purchased anything from me. (not complaining, just stating fact) I know that at least the larger companies that have the abillity to sell for less money do not do this, nor would they if they had the abillity. Most of them do not even know the function of what you are ordering let alone help you with installation questions or fitment issues. WES

[1lowdiesel]

always know who you are buying from. always call before you order to make sure they are not just some drop shipper that knows nothing about what they are selling. that is what makes your purchase worth something.

i've delt with GMC Pauls and Tri Pro on a few things and have had great luck.

now that i see the type of person wes is from classic heartbeat i will deff be ordering from them as well.

i get countless calls a day from people just looking to either find what's best for their truck or just bouncing idea off me, it's part of the business and i'm always happy to help. wes is right most companies out there that retail product have no clue what they are selling or listing.

[100gold]

This is a great subject! I've spent the last week trying to sort out all the different pricing from several suppliers. I'm about to push the button on a 35 to 4500.00 order for parts. The quality issue is driving me crazy!

This I know to be truth. You get what you pay for. No matter if it's service or just a part, a good knowledgeable parts salesman will be worth his weight in gold on a project like I'm currently into.

I priced out the parts I needed from LMC to redo the bench seat. 800 bucks plus.

I took it to the local hotrod interior guy and am going to get what I really wanted for about 500 instead. Better quality and I get him as part of the deal.

I'll tell you though, he could have said 900 and I still would've paid just to get the quality of service.

Back to the spreadsheet now. I'll quit yappin'.

[mbgmike]

All of our brands and manufacturers are listed in the online store when you click on add to cart. We have never hidden the fact on who the manufacturer is. No need to. We have a mustang part supplier here in Houston who actually trims the labels off the box neatly so know one will know. We don't and won't rebox a part or with our name on it. Quite a few of our suppliers allow us to do that if we want. Customers are smart and they will figure it out so why even try to. There are some real big companies who advertise products like they are theirs but we buy from the same Mfg. and sell for less. If you sell a quality product why hide it.
As far as drop shipping is concerned thats really no big deal. I don't like to but we do it to get the customer the part ASAP if we don't have it. I like to see the part condition before it ships, but heck you have to drop ship sometimes. If we have a part here in stock and we get them from the state next door to the customer. Heck its cheaper to ship and the customers saves money. Many times it to make the customer happy. No if thats all you do is drop ship well thats a different matter. Many ebay companies are like that.

We all know where companies get their parts from. Just ask them when you order what brand it is. If they won't tell you well ?????

we get calls all the time for used parts for all makes and models. We spend hours finding parts for people for other companies that have the part and we don't mind if they buy from them we give them the phone number to call. We get the same treatment back most of the time. We like happy customers no matter whom they buy from. We mess up like any company does but heck so do OUR suppliers that are multi million dollar companies

[bigbadchev72]

Originally Posted by mbgmike

All of our brands and manufacturers are listed in the online store when you click on add to cart. We have never hidden the fact on who the manufacturer is. No need to. We have a mustang part supplier here in Houston who actually trims the labels off the box neatly so know one will know. We don't and won't rebox a part or with our name on it. Quite a few of our suppliers allow us to do that if we want. Customers are smart and they will figure it out so why even try to. There are some real big companies who advertise products like they are theirs but we buy from the same Mfg. and sell for less. If you sell a quality product why hide it.
As far as drop shipping is concerned thats really no big deal. I don't like to but we do it to get the customer the part ASAP if we don't have it. I like to see the part condition before it ships, but heck you have to drop ship sometimes. If we have a part here in stock and we get them from the state next door to the customer. Heck its cheaper to ship and the customers saves money. Many times it to make the customer happy. No if thats all you do is drop ship well thats a different matter. Many ebay companies are like that.

We all know where companies get their parts from. Just ask them when you order what brand it is. If they won't tell you well ?????

we get calls all the time for used parts for all makes and models. We spend hours finding parts for people for other companies that have the part and we don't mind if they buy from them we give them the phone number to call. We get the same treatment back most of the time. We like happy customers no matter whom they buy from. We mess up like any company does but heck so do OUR suppliers that are multi million dollar companies

I would HIGHLY reccomend mike for any Sheetmetal replacement parts, Probably other parts too, But I have only bought sheetmetal so far. The parts were great quality and needed no persuasion to get into place. He also offers a money back gaurantee INCLUDING shipping. Not many companies will refund shipping. I have talked to him on the phone as well and he is very knowlegable and a great guy to talk to.

I searched the forum vendors before placing my order and he blew alot of the other site vendors prices out of the water! anywhere from $10-50 cheaper for the EXACT same part.

[americanmusc1e]

I recommend anyone but Classic Industries, when I ordered my interior parts from them several years ago they did fine.

We ordered about $2000 worth of sheetmetal for the 'burb, and when the first shipment arrived it was all crammed in a big box with no packing between it, all the EDP primer was scratched off. We called them and they agreed to send us some new stuff. We got some stuff, but half of our order has still not arrived two months later. We've called 'em a dozen times, but they keep giving excuses, and they keep trying to charge us extra freight.

Classic Industries has lost our business....................Take my advice, buy from a board vender.

[Dan 67 Chevy LWB]

What are peoples opinions of Brothers parts, quality, & customer service?

[capev86]

just found jimcartertruckparts.com. they have a 67-72 gm section and carry more stuff than LMC truck it seems. many of their prices are a bit higher than lmc, but there are exceptions.....tachometer add on all in one kit. and they stock the ultra rare vacuum gage and sell all in one kits for those as well. i am hoping they can locate me an OD unit and hardware for my saginaw 3OT as they mention 3, 4 speed and OD stuff in their quick list of used parts.