Freakin' auto parts store

[Mr. Beanz]

Not quite sure which was more of a challenge, replacing my front derailleur cable or replacing the brake pads on my truck. Really neither was much of a challenge ha ha!

But the brake change took me about 2 hours today when I could have easily replaced the pads in 45 minutes.

Last night I went to Pep Boys to pick up the pads. Make, model, size engine, rear disc, suspension, blah blah blah. Then he finds the parts on the computer then asks if it is high performance, NOPE!

He gets this puzzled look on his face then goes back to get the pads. He looked puzzled so I asked, "are you sure these are the pads because you looked a bit confused after you asked me about the HP?". No, these are the correct pads for sure! OK!

So today I take the wheel off, remove the caliper, remove the pads and the freakin' new pads are ab out 25% larger than the old pads!

So I have to replace everything. Lower he truck, remove jack stands, put the pads back in, put the caliper back on, replace the bolts, the wheel, the nuts, not in that exact order.

I go back and tell the dude at Pep Boys these are the wrong size. He looks it up and the guy gave me the pads for the front discs. As he is saying that, the dude who sold them to me walks up. I should have pointed him out but I let him slide.

So the new guys brings the new pads and they are freaking bigger than the pads I am returning!

WTF! They can't seem to get it right then finally they get the right pads. Turns out it mattes whether or not you have a singel or dual piston. Mine is single.

Bu then the pads are $15 more than the ones I bought last night. I had bought level 3 of 4 in the line up. Funny but why would smaller pads cost more in the same brand?

F' that, just give me the next level down and give me $10 back. That's enough for a burger!

Freakin' guys! I could have been done in an hour tops but instead took me two hours. But I did get a chance to sweep out my garage and wash my truck!

 

[Froze]

I use to live in California where there were PEP Boys everywhere, I hated that company, their stuff they sold were the lowest quality of anywhere else! HOWEVER, since I left California in 2003 ALL autoparts stores have gone to subpar parts including now even NAPA which use to have the best quality, especially their Gold line. Now I go to the auto dealer parts department, some say they get the same **** but I disagree, I've had no problems with premature failure of parts with dealer parts vs aftermarket parts places. The last time I bought a part from an auto parts store was about 2 years ago when I had to get a starter for my pickup, I went to NAPA, I ended up installing that damn starter 4 times in 3 months because the first 3 failed with a couple of weeks of each other. Bad batch? That's what I though, but the NAPA guy checked to see if that was the problem and all of them came from different batches, then the fourth one failed about 6 months later, so I threw out the lifetime warranty on the NAPA starter and went to Ford and got the starter, it's been working fine ever since. I had the same issue with a fuel injector I needed for a GM car that I had which I had to replace 3 times, the 3rd one worked; and a fuel pump for my truck had to be replaced three times by the shop in a year, on the third time I told them to get a Ford part, which they did and no problems with it. Lifetime warranty on the part is meaningless if I have to spend time repeating the same damn repair over and over and over.

Even something as simple as a wiper blade aren't lasting as long as they use to, I could buy wiper blades and they would last 3 to 4 years, now I get about a year and half out of them, and this includes more expensive blades.

Some parts like air filtration intake systems etc, called aftermarket parts, can only be purchased at auto parts stores, those don't have a failure rate, but I'm talking about parts like starters, fuel injectors, fuel pumps, etc.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Yes, luckily I haven't had to deal with more critical parts from the chain stores. I really hate buying parts there but what can you do when you have 20 Auto Zones, 20 Pep Boys, 20 Kragens, and 20 O'Reilly's in the area and no good dealers around any longer?

Luckily I have only had to deal with brakes and other small parts. I did need a fuel pump once but got that at the dealer.

I remember years ago there were independent shops around with good stuff. Heck, you could go in there and buy one washer if you needed it. A good washer!

Nowadays you pretty much have to go into a chain store and buy a box of 20 washers when you only need one.

Back in 95, I needed a started for a different truck. I called the dealer, $360! Called a local independent shop called Pioneer Auto, $69!

Thing worked well and forever, never another problem but those shops are gone in our area.

Put out of business because there is a chain auto store on every corner. No klidding. within a one mile section of our local road, there is an O'reilleys, auto zone and 2 pep boys.

 

[Gnufrau]

I actually solved the problem by getting rid of my car. Now I use the bike as my only transportation. well, along with the commuter train. . .

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Ha! We must live in a very different environment or different lifestyles.

If it were an out of the way small town, I could do without a vehicle. But with the traffic here, the no shoulders, the 4 lane roads and 70-80 mph traffic on 45 mph zones including big semis, I would get killed trying to ride to work. I work near the Ontario airport (USA) and no way would I ride there.

I see some cyclists in places I don't think they should be considering them dangerous. There are some areas where I might debate with other cyclists as far as riding BUT the area I work in, I don't see ANY cyclists.

Besides, I have had my truck for 16 years, no payments for 11 years so a $30 maintenance issue isn't much to worry about. Maybe a $250 repair every 2 years still better than a $500 payment every month.

My wife drives 25 miles to work everyday, uphill so no cycling for her. Also no train headed that way.

2001 Chevy Silverado

2014 Mazda CX9. BTW, very cool car. 6 cylinder engine that easily blows the doors off my truck.

 

[Gnufrau]

55-year-old retiree here in SF Bay Area. Ride 45km round trip (about 25 miles) using the train every two weeks for medical care. Retired on Disability (PTSD, from before the military ) My PTSD was untreated for 30 years before I finally started getting help for it. As a result, my income barely covers my rent. I sublet to my daughter to enable me to pay a few bills. What I don't pay is Registration, Insurance, Fuel. . . I do pay for parts, kit, energy bars. . . I maintain two bikes and learned to ride in the Northern Virginia area (Just inside the Beltway) Where I got very good at dealing with often actively hostile traffic.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Yes, very different life. I rather enjoy my life seeing registration, fuel and insurance aren't that much. I mean it sucks to have to pay them but it's a drop in the bucket.

But I guess I save plenty for those things as I will not spend money on a kit. One kit pays my insurance for the year. A second kit pays my registration.

I'll buy 3 pair of decent shorts to last me the year but no kits for this kid. I wear cheapo underlayers and cheapo jerseys. I can't see paying for expensive jerseys the way I thrash them. I've had good jerseys and thrash them just as fast.

Just about a week ago, shorts for me, der cable and goodies to fuel the wife on rides.

Buy the way, not having a car payment for the last 11 years makes it easy to afford bike stuff, insurance, reg etc.

 

[Gnufrau]

Considering my monthly income is $960/mo and my rent is $900/mo. . . still, nothing to pay for a car with.

No, that is not a Diamondback. That is just where the frame came from. This is my car. 100mpg (of water, of course), meets all California emission standards to the year 3000, preferred parking, and I don't sit in traffic. I have built every bike I have owned since I was an 11-year-old girl. The reason is part of my PTSD. The fact that I could.. . saved me. Details o this? Campagnolo Athena 11 speed triple, with a Potenza 11-32 cassette. brakes are cable actuated hydraulic disc. I laced the rear wheel 4 cross into a Velocity Fusion rim at 32 holes. The front is a SON 28 dynohub powering a Busch&Müller Lumotek Cyo T Premium headlight that produces 80Lux and feeds a Topline plus rear light with BrakeTek. That means as long as my front wheel is moving, I have a bright headlight that saturates half a car lane, for about 5 car lengths ahead and a tail-light that reacts to sudden deceleration by brightening like a brake light. Comes in at about 13Kg which is about 30lbs. Not light, but it is all weather and all terrain capable. last time I bought kit was close to a year ago. Several pairs of shorts, several jerseys, and I pick up leggings from time. Looking to get a few long sleeved jerseys sometime soon. I tend towards the low to middle price point, depending on what is available in my size. I am not a tiny little thing that can buy just anything because everyone makes my size. . . Oh, in addition to the 4 panniers that I can carry, the rack trunk and handlebar bag, I have a trailer that I can attach. That gives me all the carrying capacity I can reasonably handle. Yes, this is what I use to get the groceries. At Costco. . .

 

[Gnufrau]

The only reason I have a bike at all is that I built it myself. Took me over a year to gather the parts, one at a time, to build that bike. Mostly from eBay. In Feb my monthly check was cut from $1130 to $960. Building another bike will be very hard to do.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Girl? I had no idea. Cool! Yeah I build my own wheels and bikes now. Heck I can build a rear Ultegra velocity deep v wheel for a litt over a hundred bucks. I have built 7 of our wheels now. Very cool thing to know.

 

[Gnufrau]

Yup, also German (by ancestry) and a Veteran. I built a Deep V wheelset before that was all but indestructible. laced 4X with 36 spokes at the back (front on that same wheelset was 3x) using DT straight 14g spokes. Was riding them down a poorly maintained road at speed one day when a car passing forced me into the pothole I didn't see in time to do anything about it. hands went numb from the shock of the front wheel hitting, but the back wheel got the brunt of it. I was carrying a laptop in a pannier and when the back wheel hit the screen got cracked and the hard drive crashed. The rack bent, and I had pain all up my back. The hit was that hard! there was a tick, tick the rest of the way home, until I got the back wheel off. On inspection, I found that the sidewalls, where the brake surface is, had bent in towards the center of the tube area folding over all but flat with the impact. I was amazed that I did not flat at once! Being poor, I took a pair of pliers and bent the sidewalls back into proper shape (as best I could) then I put the wheel on the truing stand to try and repair the rest of the damage. I found the wheel to be true and round! Nothing to repair after a hit like that, I was shaking my head for months after that. . . The city finally repaired the pothole a year or so later. . . I go with Fusion rims nowadays as tubes are easier to come by (larger diameter 700C Presta tubes are hard to come by), and I do not need the strength of a Deep V nearly enough to justify the price or weight.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Yup, I use 32spoke 3 cross in the back since I am a heavy rider. I have used a 24 front with no problems at 30 mm deep. Then a mavic cxp 30 (?) On the front no problems. But i just keep the deep v for maintenance free mileage. My highest year was 7300 mikes so it serves its purpose. My first wheel lasted 20,000 miles before wearing out the brake surface. So home built with a little TLC works for me.

 

[Gnufrau]

Same here. I built Feuertänzerin (German for Fire Dancer) because I wanted a disc brake based tourer. This is my first bike with disc and I love them! I usually went with Vista brakes before. Mondtänzerin (Moon Dancer), my road bike uses Athena Monoplanar brakes from 1989 as a tribute to the first Campagnolo brakes I ever had.

 

[Mr. Beanz]

Fire Dancer sounds cool.

 

[Gnufrau]

Both of my bikes are named as dancers because of how nimble they are. Also because that is what I call my spiritual practice: a dance with life.