Done

Well thats enough of this. When I first heard we were doing blogs for class I was, for lack of better words, pissed. I did not want to do this at all. But after a couple of posts I felt a little more comfortable with it and I wasn't, as pissed. I have learned from this though, some things about my rig, but nothing I couldn't have learned more efficiently than reading forums and fixing my own truck. So will I continue to blog? NOPE, see ya later.

Parts Conspiracy

OK so it is not really a conspiracy because the companies are not doing anything illegal, but they are stealing our money. Any of you auto mechanics out there know most of the places to get parts for a decent price. Places like Advance Autoparts, Autozone, or Napa. All of these places do offer a great variety of parts for almost every vehicle, but there is a catch. Most of the parts are rebuilt and the ones that aren't are not built that well. Whenever they have a core charge on an item and you have to return the bad part to get the money, someday you could see that same part again. For example, brake drums; you buy some "new" ones from Advance Autoparts and slap them on. Then you return your old ones and get some money back. Now those old parts get shipped out companies that only rebuild core parts. Which means they could even get outsourced again to some other company. What I am getting at is do you think that the average Joe trying to make his quota cares about safety when rebuilding these. Some might get less treatment than others and that one part could be dangerous if it fails.
I have actually had this happen to me. My clutch master cylinder went bad and needed replacement. So I went to the closest parts store and purchased a rebuilt one, put it on, and thought everything was all better. The following day driving on the highway, my newly purchased master cylinder blew out resulting in a near accident. So what if this was my brake cylinder? I think that it could have been a lot worse.
So what do you do? I would suggest buying those special parts straight from the dealership. This means that they are more dependable and they will last much longer. Sure they are a bit more expensive but is your safety worth it? Smaller parts that are almost meant to be rebuilt such as alternators, are just right to buy from these other companies.