Dorman Brake Hydraulic Line Kits

RockAuto now offers stainless steel brake hydraulic line kits from Dorman for GMC, Chevrolet and Cadillac full sized trucks. These complete kits include all the tubing and fittings for a complete brake line repair. Each tube in the kit is preformed to fit the vehicle, saving time by eliminating bending, cutting and flaring.

Dorman’s stainless steel brake lines are a performance upgrade. A maximum operating pressure of 4000 psi means Dorman hydraulic lines are more than ready to handle the most severe braking conditions. Stainless steel resists the corrosion that may have perforated the original tubing. Rust resistance is especially important in areas where salt is used on the roads or for owners who simply want to keep their trucks for a long time.

Dorman’s complete brake line kits fit a variety of GM full sized trucks ranging from the 2002 Cadillac Escalade to the 2006 Chevrolet Silverado 2500. Find complete kits for specific trucks in the RockAuto.com catalog under the “Brake/Wheel Hub” category and “Hydraulic Line.”

One of RockAuto’s Best Wholesaler Closeout Bargains Ever!

This is a great time of year to inspect the wiper blades on your vehicle(s) to see if they can handle the next rainy/snowy season. Would you skip that guesswork and simply install new, premium quality wiper blades if they only cost $2 rather than $7, $10 or more?

A big auto parts chain switched suppliers for their private label wiper blades. That generated one of RockAuto’s best Wholesaler Closeout bargains ever. It took a while to get the truckloads and mountains of wiper blades all sorted and on the warehouse shelves. Now most of the wipers are already on our customers’ cars and trucks. We are lowering prices even further to liquidate the remaining inventory.

These are premium quality traditional, beam and winter blades made by Trico, but in packaging labeled with our competitor's name for about $2. Some are priced closer to $1!

If you want to see a list of all the other Wholesaler Closeout parts available for your vehicle(s) that can probably all ship in the same box, click on the RSS feed icon next to your vehicle's engine size in the RockAuto.com catalog, and then click on the HTML icon next to "Love a Bargain?"

Forum of the Month

PantherBB.com is a forum dedicated to the Ford Panther Platform which includes years 1979 through 2011 Ford Crown Victoria, Lincoln Town Car, Mercury Grand Marquis and Mercury Marauder. We serve as a meeting place for members to discuss issues with their cars, performance enhancements, and exterior and interior modifications. You can also show off your pride and joy by posting pictures in our vehicle garage.

Come join us and shoot the breeze with other Panther enthusiasts about our rides and feel free to join in all topics and discussions.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

My boys have joined the Army and moved out leaving me with a 2004 Ranger project truck. I’ve enjoyed restoring the truck after it has survived the boys driving it for years. The latest project was to replace the passenger side window motor assembly. After removing the door panel and drilling out the rivets, I was finally able to get it out and start the process of installing the new part. I dutifully compared the new part to the old part and was satisfied that it would work. I connected the motor wiring and made sure it would work correctly. I got the whole assembly back into the door cavity and was testing to make sure it would fit and again tested the motor. After removing the rivets, I was going to install bolts to hold it in place. Again I test fitted and ran the motor up and down, but this time it was binding when trying to raise the window. I adjusted it again, but it was still having a tough time raising the window. I tightened all the bolts and tried it again. The window came down fine but was having a difficult time going up. I made sure the bolts were tight and then greased the track thinking this would surely fix the problem. Now it didn’t move at all. I decided to try it from the driver’s side button. That’s when I tried to start the truck. It wouldn’t start!

Note to self: When you run the battery down, the windows will not move.

Scott in South Carolina

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for a while!). Please e-mail your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts in the catalog. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

Automotive Trivia

The Subaru BRAT was a clever little pickup with a pair of rear-facing seats in the bed. What did BRAT stand for?

A. It was short for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter.
B. It was not an acronym, just the word brat which was a good name for a feisty little truck.
C. It was an amalgamation of two model names this truck used in other parts of the world:  BRumby and TArga.

Steve's Subaru BRAT built with RockAuto parts

First Experience with an Engine Stop/Start System

I recently drove in England for the first time. It was the first time I was behind the wheel of a Citroën (a C4 Picasso). It was the first time I headed left into roundabouts (traffic circles). One of the most interesting firsts of all was my first experience with an engine stop/start system.

The Citroën’s engine automatically shut itself off when I stopped the car, shifted into neutral and took my foot off the clutch. The engine immediately restarted when I depressed the clutch pedal. At first it was a little disconcerting to have the sound of the engine disappear. I would be waiting for my turn to drive down a narrow lane, crowded with shrubbery or stopped in heavy traffic. What if the engine did not restart?

Stop/start sticker under Citroën hood

The engine (a turbo diesel) always did restart and the system worked flawlessly. The vehicle never shuddered and there were no unseemly sounds or fumes. If some gentle engine noise had been played continuously over the stereo system, then I might have never noticed the engine had shut down and restarted. It was possible to turn the system off, but I never had a reason to do so.

In North America, stop/start systems have become common over just the last few model years. I was taught that most engine wear happens when a car is started. Turbochargers back in the 1980s might be damaged if they did not have a chance to cool down before the engine was shut off. With stop/start systems, what if the additional engine starts wear out the starting system and/or engine faster? Would the fuel savings be enough to make up for any additional repair costs?

After driving the Citroën several hundred miles, I have fewer questions and much more confidence in stop/start. Stop/start systems are now being installed on pickup truck engines and other engines that will face the most severe fleet duty. Trusting the engineers to use the right materials, engine oil, software, etc. to do stop/start correctly is not much different than trusting them to correctly do cylinder deactivation, variable valve timing, direct injection, turbocharging, hybrids and all the other systems on modern engines.

With stop/start, the starter motor and the battery seem most likely to face heavy-duty use and deeper discharge cycles respectively. System designs vary, but restarting a warm engine that was perhaps stopped at an optimal point in the compression cycle just may not be that hard on a starter. Looking at starter motors in the RockAuto.com catalog, in general, I did not see a big difference in the cost of starter motors for engines equipped with or without start/stop systems. The late model Ford Fusion is a good example because it was available with both a conventional and a stop/start engine. The Motorcraft starter for the Fusion with stop/start is currently about $12 more expensive.

Car manufacturers usually claim stop/start will save 5% to 10% in fuel costs, but that really depends on how much stop-and-go driving you do. More stop-and-go driving would certainly mean more fuel savings, which in turn would hopefully more than cover the cost of the starter if it needed to be replaced more frequently than normal.

A new battery for a Fusion equipped with stop/start is about $100 or 70% more expensive than a standard battery. Saving $100 in fuel over five or six years still shouldn’t be that hard to do. The stop/start system’s pricier, “absorbed glass mat” battery has about 50% more cold cranking amps (CCA), which means it is a better battery no matter what car it is installed in.

I may be a bit starry-eyed about stop/start systems after one great experience with one rental car. After that impressive Citroën and a closer look at the technology involved, I just can’t help but be optimistic that stop/start systems will not be something that used car shoppers will need to avoid.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Tom's articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

This is my 1987 Jeep Cherokee Pioneer. It has been in my family since it was brand new. My first ride in this Jeep was when I was 11 and a memorable trip in this vehicle was from San Francisco to Vancouver within the first two years of its life. About six years later, it followed my brother to his home since it was mostly purchased for him and he raised a family with its help.

With the Jeep almost two decades old now, my brother decided that it was too rundown, and he didn't have the time or skills to fix it. He was going to get rid of it. As I was unwilling to say goodbye to our "buddy" yet, he let me have it. So I started fixing it up but left it on the back burner partly done for another six years until I too was about to have a family and needed the Jeep back in service. I then "finished" (is it every really finished?) the restoration and now use it daily for "family duty."

I like that RockAuto offers parts from many brands so that I can choose exactly the one I want. All the parts I've ordered from RockAuto are too numerous to list, but I fixed up the brakes, suspension, engine, drivetrain, interior and the body. So you can imagine how much stuff I've used RockAuto for! I've also fitted later model parts like the header panel assembly, fender flares, power mirrors, locks and windows.

Brandon in California

Automotive Trivia Answer

The Subaru BRAT was a clever little pickup with a pair of rear-facing seats in the bed. What did BRAT stand for? Answer: A. It was short for Bi-drive Recreational All-terrain Transporter. B. It was not an acronym, just the word brat which was a good name for a feisty little truck. C. It was an amalgamation of two model names this truck used in other parts of the world:  BRumby and TArga. Steve's Subaru BRAT built with RockAuto parts Back up to trivia question

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