I’m looking at Rock Auto to drop some coin on complete rear brakes for the Bronco rear in my 41 pickup. The fact that it takes 10” brakes narrows the choices, but what’s with all the different prices. Does the price reflect the quality? Economy, daily driver? Centric, Bendix, Dynamic Friction, Durango? $24-58 spread for drums? Some Chicom iron better than others? My head is spinning!
I have been let down with the cheaper rotors on the market. Chased a vibration for a few months on my daily which ended up being the "new" rotors I used were not true out of the box. I spent some more $ and solved the issue. Went with Raybestos....Lesson learned.
I bought the premium ones for the Bronco rear in my Coupe, haven’t used them yet. They look really nice and the outsides were even painted black. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Starts with the raw casting. I've seen a few rotors that had a rusty chunk embedded in the braking surface. They look good out of the box but after a few months it's obvious that the casting was bad.
I'm with you on the confusion. The un- or under-employed guy trying to keep his 15-year old car on the road will go for the cheapest. I'd rather have a little better quality. Does the Raybestos name automatically make it a better part? I don't know. But I like the choices RockAuto offers.
What's the price spread if you eliminate the most expensive and least expensive options? (think of them as outliers)
I’ve had above average luck with CENTRIC drums and rotors. From what a friend that sold brakes told me , they’re cast in the C country but machined in the good old USA. For friction parts, I go with Akebono and have been happy. All from Rock Auto. Mitch
I ran a full service shop for years. We did a lot of brake work. My experience, more so with rotors, but not excluding drums, was that the cheap (price) product was often ****. Raybestos was our top choice and they often had 2 choices, sometimes 3. For most vehicles the middle choice was similar to oe and the lesser choice was not as good, not as heavy (same physical dimensions, less weight) and prone to premature warpage if used hard. The no-name brands in a lot of cases weren't worth putting on in my opinion. Price matters. Highest price doesn't always get you quality, but you don't get quality parts by choosing the lowest price.
I had this same dilemma when I did the rear in my car. Not aware of any cast iron drums made in the USA, did find one brand made in the UK. Because manufacturing is so dirty, most made in or close to the C country. I went through 3 sets (different brands) to find a set being concentric, which was Raybestos. Rock Auto has good prices and choices, but return shipping is usually on your dime. And I agree with Center of the Galaxie, price does not always equate with quality.
Good brakes are important. Hope you don't get into a meat axey situation where you find out HOW important, but if you do, you will be glad you spent a few extra bucks for the good parts.
I used these SoCal loaded brake drums on both the roadster and the 41 PU. They are excellent products. Never skimp on brakes and steering. They even have a Ford script stamped in the powder coated backing plate.
Raybestos, Delco, Bendix, Centric , Wagner, never had a problem with those brands , but I try to stay away from the real cheap stuff.
Things like this I buy local, in case I have an issue that wasn’t there before. The cost isn’t that much more, but in the same day I have an issue, I can get it rectified. And trust me, when I **** it squeaks
Thanks for the input, guys. My local private auto parts store is pretty good to me, although higher, but dealing with a problem locally is a plus.
Agree with Budget. I try to support local businesses. And I have a real auto parts store not too far from me. I don't mind spending a little more, but when you are spending several hundred $, Rockauto looks better and better.
I buy my stuff from the local parts houses ( Napa lately as the one by me is good and close , also an independent by my work ) I usually buy not first line but as I was explained 1.5 line rotors and first line pads for my stuff. tje difference between a true first line rotor and a 1.5 is the first line will come with a break in coating on the friction surface amd the hubs most times will be painted. the extra 20-40 bucks per rotor I can’t justify for a squirt of graphite and a bit of paint. I like first like pads as they come with all shims, clips, silencers etc. I found even good drums tend to need a light skim on the lathe I don’t like second line or white box drums as they seems to always cause an imbalance. when it comes to shoes I like to put riveted shoes back in place where they came oem and bonded in place for the same reason. I’ve used 2nd line **** on my winter beaters before as I could not justify $300 bucks on brakes for a 200 dollar car that’s life expectancy was 4-6 months most times they worked just fine for the short while I had the car, sometimes I got a vibration or a squeal or something stupid, but they always worked. I could deal with it on a **** box, but not on a car I had any kind of pride in.
The only issue I have ever hand on a new brake drum was one I bought for a friend's truck at a local parts house that was so far out of balance that you couldn't do anything with it. A search shows that the Bendix drum listed at the bottom of the page is top of the line. I don't know anything about The Dynamic Friction drum but going on their website says they talk a good race. The 10 inch drum is a few bucks more on parts geek 1966-1975 Ford Bronco Brake Drum - Dynamic Friction 365-54058 - Rear - PartsGeek.com O'Reilly's and Napa run between 50 and 60 on theirs. Advance Auto doesn't show rears. Autozone is the spendiest of all at 61.99. The one thing might be comparing decent quality local bought with online price plus shipping.
I only use Porterfield brake pads and shoes.. I have good luck with NAPA too.. When I buy new rotors or drums I take them down to the local machine shop and let him give them a spin and see what's up.. A third of them go back.. I've been buying these slotted rotors on e-Bay from Brake Motive. They are always straight, they come with a burnishing finish and really work well. My machinist says they are very nice rotors and was surprised at what I paid and where I got them.. Front Drill Brake Rotors For Chevy Camaro Chevelle El Camino Firebird Trans Am | eBay
I have bought rotors from rock auto. never had any problems. the only thing I found out is If you have to send them back it costs alot. I think that is a good reason to buy heavy things locally
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