Do you buy the scariest cheap parts?

Do you buy the absolute cheapest parts on Rockauto and Ebay without fear? I am not talking about the fake greddy turbo parts, I mean just the $20 water pumps, full engine rebuild kits for $250 ( all of the gaskets,bearings, water pump, tension-er,rings, pistons), $11wheel bearings... stuff like that?

I am looking at eventually rebuilding 2 motors going in some daily drivers. The prices I am seeing have me wondering if these parts are worth it. What's GRM crowd opinion?

In reply to jere:

I buy the stuff that is cheap but with a good name, and I'll google to check. I know there's a lot of rebranding going around but still tend to shy away from the really cheap things, I much prefer not to do the same job twice in a short amount of time.

So... maybe? not the lowest of the low, a couple notches above the bottom? Unless it's on clearance, I bought so much stuff for the Celica on clearance, all reputable makers too.

I install those on my truck, and they seem to be the exact same quality as the GM parts I take off. I have tried cheap tie-rods and arb links and they are not worth it (last about a year), unless you are fixing to sell off the car.

I would not have the guts to try an engine rebuilt with cheap parts. Changing a tie-rod every year is annoying, but rebuilding an engine every year...

jere wrote: Do you buy the absolute cheapest parts on Rockauto and Ebay without fear? I am not talking about the fake greddy turbo parts, I mean just the $20 water pumps, full engine rebuild kits for $250 ( all of the gaskets,bearings, water pump, tension-er,rings, pistons), $11wheel bearings... stuff like that? I am looking at eventually rebuilding 2 motors going in some daily drivers. The prices I am seeing have me wondering if these parts are worth it. What's GRM crowd opinion?

Not sure about what you are rebuilding... BUT.. I did a rebuild (Toyota 4AFE) using many Rockauto parts... and I believe the rings I got were less then OEM quality... I have a mild oil consumption issue now.. not horrible mind you... about a quart every 500-1000 miles or so... fewer if many cold starts, further if many miles between starts.

Funny, saw someone parting a mercedes because a cheap ebay tie rod failed and sent the car into a curb hard. Another member had a cheap flex disc grenade and ruin the tranmission output shaft and housing. Penny wise and pound foolish.

I'm always a little leery of that stuff, but an engine rebuild seems like a terrible place to gamble. If your time and sanity is worth anything to you, that part of the equation dwarfs the cost of the parts.

So, add me to that chorus...

[knock on wood] I haven't had any problems with stuff from Rock Auto.

I do not run cheap bearings. The expense of their failure is way to high to me.

I may run cheap valve cover gaskets. If they fail,, it's not a big deal.

All others, somewhere in between. Steered largely by the degree of headache a substandard part will cause me.

buy a 350 Chevy and you can rebuild it with quality name brand parts and wind up with a 300hp engine for about $200.

and that's not just rings, bearings, and gaskets.. that's a new performance cam, new pistons, timing chain, gasket set, oil pump and pickup, rod, main, and cam bearings, freeze plugs and a few other assorted odds and ends.. not from Rockauto, but rather www.northernautoparts.com.

RockAuto isn't responsible for bad parts; it's which RockAuto supplier you go through.

I will say that in all my experience putting Subaru engines together, I once ordered the cheapest engine seal set I could get from RA. I recieved a kit that included the E36 M3tiest looking paper head gaskets I have ever seen in my life. I pity the fool who actually put an engine together with them. Never again. The $20 or so is worth the peace of mind, if nothing wlse.

novaderrik wrote: buy a 350 Chevy and you can rebuild it with quality name brand parts and wind up with a 300hp engine for about $200..

Novaderrik raises a good point. With something as ubiquitous and simple as a SBC, the cheap crap is probably no different than the expensive stuff, and the engine probably won't care anyway. If we're talking a VW 1.8T on the other hand, you'll probably notice some significant quality differences, and it will take much less kindly to cheap crap parts.

It really depends on the part for me. If it's critical to starting, stopping, or the suspension, it gets a reasonable quality part. If the worst that will happen is a crank no start with no other damage, then I'll buy the cheapest provided they aren't known junk. Like the 4 BWD ignitors I have gotten from Advance that tested bad.

I tend to not cut corners on brake pads or tires. Having said that, I have bought all kinds of stuff from Rock Auto shopping by price and done just fine. For instance IIRC the rings/valves/gaskets/bearings/water pump/timing belt for our LeMons Civic cost around $100, it's had the E36 M3 beat out of it through four 16 hour races, it runs great and doesn't even burn oil.

No.

I kind of focused on the engine rebuild in my initial answer, where I think it's the definition of a false economy. I have a tendency towards brands I feel better about unless A) there's a really significant savings, or B) it's an easy part to change out, or C) especially both.

EDIT: Unless, as others have pointed out, it's safety-critical.

No, doubly so for brands I don't know. I will consider making an exception if I see the "heart" favorite part icon. Always google your repairs and you can pretty easily find up to date parts reviews or recommendations.

Dunno if I would trust engine internal stuff, but I go with the chealest for everything. Never been burned by quality.

I do get burned pretty often by RA sending me the wrong parts by either just sending the wrong thing or their catalog being incorrect unfortunately.

I tried the cheap stuff on my Grand-Am. Bearings, front end parts, etc. 15,000 miles later and I was replacing it all again. Name brand good stuff from now on.

I've bought some el-cheapo parts for the DSM winter beater since it's too nasty for name-brand stuff. It seems there's a lot of NOS Mitsubishi stuff out there because the eBay brand IAC valve was a brand new OEM Mitsu part (or a VERY convincing fake), and the Beck/Arnley oil pressure sender I got from RA was marked "Made in Japan." The oil pressure sender was significantly cheaper than either the OEM or other off-brands while the IAC was priced between new OEM and remanufactured off-brand parts. The IAC works just fine. I haven't installed the sender yet.

One aftermarket brand many 4G63 owners trust is Gates. For many they make the only aftermarket timing belt kit that lasts the full 60K the OEM stuff does. I have one of their lower radiator hoses waiting to replace a newish off-brand part that's seeping anyways.

Gates probably made the oem belts and hoses, so it makes sense that their parts fit and last.

If I buy a hose or a belt and Gates makes the part, that's what I buy, cost be damned. Too many hoses failing in 10,000 miles and belts that slip, even when adjusted properly.

Great direction and input from everyone, the consonances says most cheap part are what you pay for. For the cheap stuff I think I might just go with a cheap gasket kit and throw away a few more critical gaskets. Then do some google searching for higher end parts.

In reply to ransom:

One motor is a toyota 5sfe 2.2 camry, corolla, mr2.... I. The local pull apart sells them for around $100. A motor swap might be a cheaper route than a good rebuild kit.

The other is a 2.4 PT cruiser motor that seems less common locally and more expensive and more of a PITA to work on. The downside is most of the parts on this car from the factory don't even last that long. Might be time to get off this sinking ship

Been running a cheapass water pump on my 'rolla for years, bought another one for the new engine too!

I don't cheap out on engine/gearbox internals or hydraulic system parts though. I got all Toyota-brand internals for the new engine except an HKS metal head gasket.

I've bought cheap ebay clutch kids with great results.

Edit: err... uhhhh... Kits.

jere wrote: Great direction and input from everyone, the consonances says most cheap part are what you pay for. For the cheap stuff I think I might just go with a cheap gasket kit and throw away a few more critical gaskets. Then do some google searching for higher end parts. In reply to ransom: One motor is a toyota 5sfe 2.2 camry, corolla, mr2.... I. The local pull apart sells them for around $100. A motor swap might be a cheaper route than a good rebuild kit. The other is a 2.4 PT cruiser motor that seems less common locally and more expensive and more of a PITA to work on. The downside is most of the parts on this car from the factory don't even last that long. Might be time to get off this sinking ship

Oh yeah. I would never EVER rebuild a 5sfe. Just chuck another one in there if your current one is that bad.

E36 M3, i'd almost rather just do that instead of a timing belt change on that damn motor.