Bitten by discounted parts again

[crazyvwvanman]

Bought rear brake shoes from a generic online auto parts place a while back. They run "dealer closeout" specials sometimes and the price was low.
Shoes looked fine when they arrived, put them on the shelf in case needed.

I finally tried to install them yesterday. Installed easily, too easily.
The holes for the main brake returns springs were in the wrong spots. Not enough spring tension. Grrrrrr

Not the first time I have been burned by their "dealer closeout" specials, hopefully the last. Best to buy from Vanagon vendors.


Mark

[E1]

You get a Big 10-4 from me!

If we're worried about our parts future, we have to support those as engrained in this genre as we are.

That said, if we want our part streams secure we have to hold vendors, and ourselves, accountable if we feel treated like we're being done a favor in being customers. Thankfully only one vendor's had this effect on me so far.

Our best chance is where we spend our money, it is both power and future.
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[DanHoug]

i just bought a big, heavy duty spring hook tool... a Woody's, specifically because i have to fight Vanagon return springs so hard! never had a set go on easy so yeah, bad part.

i bought a bunch of name brand wheel seals, brake caliper rebuild kits, clutch slave kits, etc when RockAuto was closing out some Vanagon parts. if they hadn't listed the brands, i wouldn't have bought them.
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[crazyvwvanman]

Yes, that is a place where I have bought bogus parts including the above mentioned defective brake shoes. Name brand parts according to the box they came in, still NFG.

Mark

[joetiger]

I think discount CV joints/axles are a devil's bargain that each Vanagon owner must endure, a right of passage.

They're so deceptively affordable that you can't help yourself, then you soon realize why you got such a great deal on them.
_________________
Joe T.

'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com

[DanHoug]

it'd be interesting to cross reference the part numbers on the shoes they sent you with what the manufacturer lists to see if it was a RockAuto parts listing error or simply just wrongly made shoes.

that clearance was pennies on the dollar and some of the boxes i received were very old classic ATE/Girling boxes so those should be good. had some newer stuff mixed in but it was pretty much NOS.
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[crazyvwvanman]

The part number is still valid. I looked them up today on other sites. Included in the listings were photos of the shoes, with the spring holes where they belonged and not where my shoes have them.

I can't blame RA or the brand company for the defect. They are defectively made Vanagon shoes but were they made by the brand company or swapped into the branded box by someone else?

They look exactly like Vanagon shoes other than the main return spring hole location, and one of the other spring holes is slightly oversize.

Mark

[ALIKA T3]

Hello!
You can't redrill the hole or would they be too close to each other?
_________________
Silicone Steering Boots and 930 Cv boots for sale in the classifieds.
Syncro transmission upgrade parts in the Classifieds.
Subaru EJ22+UN1 5 speed transmission
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=416343
Syncro http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=4...num+gadget

[crazyvwvanman]

I thought about it, but the holes would slightly overlap right where the spring needs support. I had other new shoes on my shelf so the defective ones went in the trash. I kept one old and one new with the box for conversation purposes.

I could have welded the bad holes closed if I was in a time bind.

Mark

[DanHoug]

don't know what brand your shoes were but i've been underwhelmed lately with Wagner's stuff. it used to be top notch. now everything inside their boxes is made in China and with dubious looking plating on hose ends, crimps that are suspect, and stiff plastic-ey feeling rubber parts.
_________________
-dan
60% of what you find on the internet is wrong, including this post.

'87 Westy & '89 Westy both 2.1 4spd

Past projects can be found at--
www.thefixitworkshop.com

[E1]

Aren't any American brands still made here?
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[?Waldo?]

Not really. The demanded cost of labor/manufacturing in the US has priced itself out of the market for pretty much any product that can be manufactured elsewhere and shipped.

[Paulbeard]

[E1]

You inadvertently broached my point, Paul.

When you say "we," that's not me. Bottom line price isn't my first thought in things I buy, it's about who gets richer and who gets poorer because of it.
_________________
‘84 Westy, 2.1L with Digijet, 5.43 R+P, GT Gears
"Adding power makes you faster on the straights.
Subtracting weight makes you faster everywhere."
— Colin Chapman

[crazyvwvanman]

AFAIK none of that political stuff enters into my problem. I bought a US product by a US company sold to me by a US outfit, at a big discount from its normal price. The lesson for me is that sometimes the reasons for such discounts may bite me later. One of the explanations given by the seller for such discounts is that a wholesaler or dealer is dropping a product and clearing out the remaining inventory and they are passing the savings on to me. I suspect that this particular item was available for a different reason. Of course I don't really know.

Mark

[Jeffrey Lee]

[Vanagon Nut]

[vanagonjr]

[crazyvwvanman]

Just to follow up, I think I found out what went wrong with the manufacturer. The shoes appear to be late Bay Window shoes but with Vanagon bits attached to them. Close, but a hybrid mix that fits nothing.

Mark

[E1]