The Unofficial "Ask a Stupid Question" Thread

[CDsDontBurn]

I'm looking at PBRs for Gold Bird right now on RA, and looking at the reman units, how does one get the core charge back? Like, I know for the core charges you gotta send the old units back to get that money back, but this is an online store, so my questions really are:

• Do you pay for return shipping?
  • If so, is the cost of shipping even worth sending back the old units?
  • If you are close to a RA warehouse, do they let you walk it in for return in-person?
• Do they care if I'm sending back single piston units for a t-bird?
• Are reman units just as good as brand new units?
  • This questions comes about because I purchased the caliper brackets separately and just now realizing that the "new" units already come with a caliper bracket whereas not all reman units come with the caliper bracket

 

[MadMikeyL]

You will have to ship the cores back to Rockauto. They will give you a shipping label, but they will deduct the shipping cost from your return, so whatever the shipping cost is when you buy it, plan on a similar return shipping charge to determine what you would actually receive back. Whether they would care about receiving tbird calipers back, I have no idea, but I know the local Advance Auto/Autozone type places don’t care, so I have always gone that route for the PBR upgrade.

 

[Grog6]

If you have 17" wheels, I could make you a deal on cobra calipers...

 

[CDsDontBurn]

You will have to ship the cores back to Rockauto. They will give you a shipping label, but they will deduct the shipping cost from your return, so whatever the shipping cost is when you buy it, plan on a similar return shipping charge to determine what you would actually receive back. Whether they would care about receiving tbird calipers back, I have no idea, but I know the local Advance Auto/Autozone type places don’t care, so I have always gone that route for the PBR upgrade.

This is good to know!

If you have 17" wheels, I could make you a deal on cobra calipers...

Negative, this is for Gold Bird. Dirty Bird, formerly known as Pearl to my kids, is getting the ATS-V calipers

 

[Kenz]

I bought a reman set of calipers off rockauto years ago. When returning the core they gave me the option to generate a label, or ship them myself. I went with their label and shipped them back. After the shipping label was deducted I ended up only getting ~$7 each caliper. Not really worth the trouble, I just buy new now when I can.

Technically they need to be the same caliper returned to get a core charge back. Local part stores usually don't inspect core charges because they DGAF. Mailing the wrong core back to one of rockautos partners I would assume is more likely to become an issue.

 

[CDsDontBurn]

So I'm comparing prices right now between the big 3 parts stores in my area, AutoZone, O'Reilly, and NAPA and comparing them to RockAuto. After shipping and tax, RockAuto is cheaper than the big 3 by a significant margin.

• AutoZone: $76 + $35 core (reman units, no pads)
• O'reilly: $91 + $40 core (new, no pads)
• NAPA: $98 + $60 core (reman units, no pads)

I'm also finding out I boned myself with the caliper bracket. I spent $25/side for the caliper bracket already and am just now realizing that even some of the cheaper calipers already HAVE a caliper bracket! So, I'm purposefully looking for calipers without the caliper bracket, which seem to only be the reman units listed on RA. FML, lol.

In terms of the core charge, another stupid question I have with RA is... How long do they give you to return parts before you can't return them anymore?

 

[1997ThunderbirdLXV6]

What does one use if one doesn't have this tool?

 

[XR7-4.6]

What does one use if one doesn't have this tool?

View attachment 17338

This if you hate yourself

Duralast Disc Brake Caliper Piston Tool 82-010 | AutoZone

The Disc Brake Piston Tool from Duralast rewinds a wide variety of threaded rear brake caliper pistons found on foreign and domestic vehicles when replacing brake pads. Each side has distinctively designed pins that interlock with various pistons, making it possible to push and rotate the piston...

www.autozone.com

 

[Generalee0527]

Could it only happen on one side?

Yes! The Excursion was not lighting the left rear and when in service bay it worked fine. As they were backing it out and stopped I noticed the right was lit and left was not. They were like well I'll be damned. They were suprised but immediately went to the mfs.

 

[Generalee0527]

What does one use if one doesn't have this tool?

View attachment 17338

Open the bleeder screw and channel locks griping outside of piston to screw it in. It is a bitch unless you open the bleeder. I have used needle nose pliers but that is dangerous so I don't recommend that.

 

[MadMikeyL]

I think Rockauto wants the cores back within 30 days or so.

 

[Zep5.0]

Anyone happen to know of the passenger door cylinder should both lock and unlock the door? I'm only getting lock. I have the end with the U up and zig zag down..

 

[Kidd-7]

What does one use if one doesn't have this tool?

View attachment 17338

Loan a tool from your local parts store.