Re: Aftermarket brake drums
 

"jim beam" <spamvortex@bad.example.net> wrote:
> Mark G. wrote:
>> Good afternoon.
>>
>> The local Napa store quotes me $44 for a brake drum for my 1991 Accord.
>> The local Honda dealer quotes $114.
>>
>> Any words of wisdom on whatever Napa is selling here?
>>
>> (My favorite online Honda parts dealer quotes $65, but then there's the
>> shipping and the wait time.)
>>
>> Thanks
>> -Mark
>>
>>
>>
> they might be ok. they might not. i've seen cheapo chinese stuff crack,
> so beware.

Turns out, my local Napa store carries an "OEM-grade" drum for $65,
so I went with those. They're American-made, so hopefully they won't
crack the first time I press the brake pedal. :-o

-Mark

Re: Aftermarket brake drums
 

Yeah, NAPA often has 2-3 grades of parts for every budget. Get the
premium grade and you should be fine. That said, service-grade rotors
(Like Raybestos Red Box or Raymold) worked fine for me.


On Jul 23, 5:11 pm, "Mark G." <anon40...@hotmail.com> wrote:
> Turns out, my local Napa store carries an "OEM-grade" drum for $65,
> so I went with those. They're American-made, so hopefully they won't
> crack the first time I press the brake pedal. :-o
>
> -Mark

Re: Aftermarket brake drums
 

johngdole@hotmail.com wrote:
> Yeah, NAPA often has 2-3 grades of parts for every budget. Get the
> premium grade and you should be fine. That said, service-grade rotors
> (Like Raybestos Red Box or Raymold) worked fine for me.
>
>
> On Jul 23, 5:11�pm, "Mark G." <anon40...@hotmail.com> wrote:
>> Turns out, my local Napa store carries an "OEM-grade" drum for $65,
>> so I went with those. They're American-made, so hopefully they won't
>> crack the first time I press the brake pedal. �:-o
>>
>> -Mark
>

i'm fine with some of the after-market disks and drums, just don't buy
cheap chinese crap. they use crap iron, they don't know how to heat
treat, and they don't know about stress risers.

example:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38636024@N00/2700630346/

vs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38636024@N00/2700630344/

Re: Aftermarket brake drums
 

"jim beam" <spamvortex@bad.example.net> wrote:
>
> i'm fine with some of the after-market disks and drums, just don't buy
> cheap chinese crap. they use crap iron, they don't know how to heat
> treat, and they don't know about stress risers.

I suspect that the Chinese foundries _do_ know their business.
Their business just happens to be meeting a market demand for
cheaper, crappy products. I'll bet my bottom dollar that castings
can be made less expensive by eliminating the fillets that prevent
stress cracking. Less-complex pattern making, perhaps?

Re: Aftermarket brake drums
 

Mark G. wrote:
> "jim beam" <spamvortex@bad.example.net> wrote:
>> i'm fine with some of the after-market disks and drums, just don't buy
>> cheap chinese crap. they use crap iron, they don't know how to heat
>> treat, and they don't know about stress risers.
>
> I suspect that the Chinese foundries _do_ know their business.
> Their business just happens to be meeting a market demand for
> cheaper, crappy products. I'll bet my bottom dollar that castings
> can be made less expensive by eliminating the fillets that prevent
> stress cracking. Less-complex pattern making, perhaps?
>
>

absolutely not. the cost delta between the two mold patterns is zero.
zip. nada. absolutely nothing. and that doesn't account for crappy
steel that cracks outside of the stress riser zone! [i should post pics
of that for you too.]

seriously, if you see castings like that, any material, any application,
don't walk, /run/ away. the perpetrators need their orifices used for
teeming ladles.