Napa Reman Calipers

[Trav]

Seems Advance Auto is using Cardone remans again, I looked at a pair last week and left them in the store. Junk, absolute garbage, the castings were so badly corroded I question their safety, I removed the bleeders and was shocked, they drilled out broken bleeders and used a tapered tap instead of a bottoming tap to cut or clean the threads and damaged the seat.

One of the boots was damaged and no pin lube, one of the pins was corroded and sanded down. They need to stop selling this junk, even with % off codes its not woth the scrap metal price.
I went to Napa (I needed these that day no time to order and no dealer stock) They have a new supplier, the Napa stuff has been decent but these are well done, very well done.

The casting is a select casting, no corrosion pitting on the aluminum caliper and marked with a green dot to show its okay. 10.9 and anodized hardware, nice boots with what appears to be sylgide lube, nice piston finish with nice fitting boot, well painted before assembly and initialed with the person that did the work.
For $10 more retail than AA or AZ its light years ahead on quality. I got my usual discount and payed less the AA even with the code.

 

[Trav]

To late to edit but if anyone is wondering why I didn't go to Napa in the first place I had gotten some from AA a few months ago and was impressed with the quality, they were very nicely done, better than the Napa one at that time. My guess is Cardone whorehouse offered them a better profit margin. Napa in my experience is pretty quick in changing suppliers if quality seems to be dropping.

 

[Brons2]

Great post, thanks Trav! I will consider the NAPA remans if I need a caliper! Very good to know!

 

[PurpleT]

Thanks for taking the time to share the info and the pics. Always nice to have some first hand info.

 

[EdwardC]

Thanks for posting! I got Cardone remans for my Element last year from Rock auto, I sprung for the "Ultra Premium" with the "Exclusive Weatherproof Coating" for a few bucks more and it looked decent enough for me. I don't have nearly the experience as Trav, but the caliper fit and it's still working a year later, so I'm satisfied. I'd hope that the premium line got the better cores.

Hopefully I won't need calipers any time soon, but nice to know where to go and what to look for when I buy them! Thanks!

 

[Trav]

The premium line may well be a better product I have no experience with them, the product they sell AA (and others I'm sure) really looks like lowest bidder stuff. I don't buy a lot of things online anymore like bearings or anything reman because of quality issues.

 

[KrisZ]

I think the moral of the story is not to blindly buy something because it was good before or someone else bought it and it was good, but pay attention to what Trav has described when picking up reman calipers and inspect them.

 

[BigD1]

I bought the caliper/bracket combo a few months back from Advance, and it was Cardone reman. They used the new silver coating on the bracket, but the caliper was painted black. Rust already on the caliper here in the south, but the new coating they are using is holding up very good on the bracket.

I try to avoid Cardone as much as possible, but some times it's the only choice for old cars when one needs it now.

 

[Kira]

Gotta agree with the "constant diligence" avenue of this thread.

The AA near my friend seems to offer good parts
A) There's a REAL BIG, regional New England chain right across the street so the AA has to measure up.
B) My friend would opt for the premium line in all likelihood.

The NAPA stores I know service many a mechanic so I think they'd offer good stuff too.

I had a credit at a Pep Boys (a toy store for novices in my opinion) and gladly waited a day or two for their "premium quality", coated brake rotors.
How good they are remains to be seen but they had a better luster to my eye.

 

[JHZR2]

Constant vigilance.

But Napa is generally a step above. The other places seem to care more about diversity than knowledge, and rock bottom prices as opposed to quality. Granted, Napa can also cost more, but it's usually worth it.

 

[HangFire]

Love threads like this, "constant diligence" is indeed the watchword of the day. I continue to have good luck with NAPA stuff.

When I replaced a front caliper with a reman AA on the Dakota 3 years ago, cost after rebate was less than $11. So far it's held up, but... with margins like that, no wonder there are quality issues.

 

[slacktide_bitog]

When did Napa switch suppliers? it must be very recent, as I just bought a couple of these in April, and they were still Cardone. Of course, they could've also been old stock.

Either way, the black coating is awesome because it helps stave off the rust. the Cardone-supplied Napa Eclipse calipers are the same as Cardone Ultra, except the coating is black instead of silver.

 

[Trav]

No idea but the guy that I have known for years told me just the other day, there were silver calipers with black brackets also from some time ago. I don't doubt Cardone probably has more than one quality level but good lord every single thing I have got from them has been rubbish.

Ford rear wiper motor X4 still no good one, found NOS Motorcraft on ebay no problems at all. I did a rack for a guy, he provided the AA Cardone rack, what a fiasco, they had it assembled one tooth off, the next one had buggered boots and a bad inner tie rod the third one worked but failed in a few months with blown seals.
I buy racks and boxes only from jorgen, they are very high quality from a smaller shop with the best warranty inc labor, this joker saved $35.

MAF sensors failed right out of the box, transfer case motors failed right out of the box and on and on. They are not alone, Nastra and BBB isn't much better but when you need it today and there is nothing else anywhere you give it a shot and hope for the best.

 

[ejes]

Thanks for posting this Trav. Very good info. Had the same experience with a reman Cardone steering rack I put on my truck.

 

[Ducked]

These are, however, very low prices.

Here I often can't get stuff, and when I can its often expensive, so I try and make do and mend.

I've probably been lucky but my badly neglected calipers rebuilt quite well and have so far given no further problems.

 

[01rangerxl]

I recently put a NAPA Eclipse reman on my 1994 Ranger. I had already bought a Centric for the other side, but mid-job on the weekend decided to replace the other side too, so I went to NAPA. So far, so good. It has the thick black paint too. The core they used looked rougher than the Centric, or the clean up wasn't as good, but I'm happy with it. Everything but the body of the caliper was new.

I have used a number of Eclipse line reman calipers in the past, mostly because NAPA is the first vendor I go to, and generally they have been good. My other favorite is Centric which I buy from a regional parts company (Southern Distributors/Auto Electric & Carburetor, not a regular parts store, but they do sell to the public).

 

[bbhero]

Hey Trav would you consider getting a CV axle from Napa for a customer's car that you would work on?

 

[Trav]

Given time to search and forewarning there are IMO better ways to get parts but when the car is in front of you with a obviously bad joint and you need the part today you need one now so yes I would use one.
I have used Carquest new (before they were taken over) and Napa new/remans on a few cars and I must say the quality appears to be good, they were at least properly assembled with some degree of care e.g boot clamps properly crimped and in the right position.

So far so good on the cars I still see that I installed them in the oldest one is now 5 years old, no bad rust, boots okay and most importantly no vibration.
Give time I will order a good low mile used one from Tx where I have contact and reboot/regrease it or if its in the $300-350 range an OE from the dealer if the cars is worth it (beaters don't get $700 worth of drive axles).

 

[dlundblad]

I'd entertain NAPA if I need one right away next time, but if you had to pick a brand from Rock Auto, which one would it be?

I've lost count of how many AAP caliper failures (leakers and seize'rs) I've had on my Jeep. I am not sure whether or not they were A1 Cardones because I couldn't tell you the difference, but I just used them because of the discounts and convenience.

I'll tell you what, even with their lifetime warranty, it's not so worth it anymore IMO. I destroyed a pair of NEW Akebono ProAct pads last time. Warranty exchanges are a pain in the butt too.. They need to return the old part and sell you the new one. I've had one guy try to charge me full price for the new part then accused me of "complicating [censored]" for him. At that point, I feel like saying "see ya" and walk out after they refund my money.

 

[nthach]

I also avoid Cardone as much as I can - I had experiences with their CV axles and power steering pumps going out, one of which was dead OOB. I've actually had OK experiences with their calipers funny enough. A new Cardone Select master cylinder in a friend's truck is working just fine. Chineseium, but he's told me the ABS system isn't locking up anymore. Now that the oldest car in the family fleet is gone, I don't foresee a need for reman parts anytime soom.

I have a Napa and a parts house within distance of my apartment, but the closest stores near my parents are AZ, O'Reilly and a parts house who only carries Cardone for their remans - but they carry Raybestos reman calipers.