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<p>I think Steve hit the nail on the head. My Expedition has over
190K on it and needs new pads. Autozone ran a special %40 off and
free shipping so I ordered pads, calipers and rotors. For $40 I
had new rotors. I have a brake lathe for drums and rotors, paid
over $1000 for it several years ago. It has been very good to
have around. Some of those new rotors still have to be trued
up. Same thing with alternators and starters, I used to rebuild
my own or go to a local shop. Where to buy the parts since
National auto parts in IN went out of business is the problem. I
can buy a new starter or alternator from DB electrical ( Arrowhead
electrical supply ) for about the same amount as rebuilding and
get free shipping. The availability of cheap foreign made parts
has killed the rebuilding industry. I save all my old cores just
in case the SHTF....</p>
<p>Cecil<br>
</p>
<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 12/31/2019 7:14 AM, Stephen Offiler
wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">This could become a rant on the current state of
"plug & play" automotive repair. I'll try to keep it down.
One of the early signs was engine rebuilding. Decades ago, that
moved from the garage down the street, to specialist shops
(that still exist for high-performance and racing builds), then
to centralized production-line style rebuilding industry. Next,
brakes. Every shop used to have a brake lathe to turn drums and
rotors - they still do, collecting dust in the corner. New
parts got thinner for reduced weight so in many cases you
couldn't cut them, and they also got cheaper, so the measuring
and cutting tasks started to go away. Just throw brand-new
parts on - parts are cheap and labor is minimal. As for
re-lining friction material, that's a completely different
animal. I don't even know the history. Not sure if it was ever
a routine function of the garage down the street, except maybe
way way back. I do recall core charges on shoes and pads, so
somebody somewhere was apparently re-lining them. Starters and
alternators, that was once the domain of a local-ish specialist
shop. Losing out to cheap new replacement parts, but that
battle isn't over. I work in the Providence RI area, and
according to Google, there are still multiple choices in
"armature shops" within striking distance.
<div><br>
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<div>SO</div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Tue, Dec 31, 2019 at 7:30
AM Spencer Yost <<a href="mailto:spencer@rdfarms.com"
moz-do-not-send="true">spencer@rdfarms.com</a>> wrote:<br>
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<div>First: thanks Farmer! It was a pretty nice birthday</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Second: I don’t have anything to add, but have a
question: Whatever happened to local/regional auto parts
rebuilders? In every place I’ve lived there was a company,
usually within 30 minutes, that aggregated automotive
parts for rebuilding and resale. These companies would
always take walk-in parts from local customers as well.
Here, the rebuilder was Hastings(King NC). They were not
affiliated with the larger national Hastings brand.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Anyways I never learned how to do linings and several
other typical shop skills such as turning drums, etc
because I always had a business locally that did it
better, faster, and cheaper than I ever could. <span
style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">Anyways, I miss those
companies. </span><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"> </span></div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</span></div>
<div>Unfortunately Hastings went out of business about 15
years ago. The Pacer brake bands were the last things I
had done there. I don’t know - it might’ve been clutch
lining out of another tractor shortly after that.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)">We’re down to our last
few, local starter/alternator/generator repair shops.
I suspect they will be gone soon too.</span></div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</span></div>
<div><font color="#000000"><span>Spencer</span></font></div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</span></div>
<div><span style="color:rgb(0,0,0)"><br>
</span></div>
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