Author Topic: What's the deal with rotor prices?  (Read 1160 times)

Offline troutstreamnm

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What's the deal with rotor prices?
« on: February 11, 2005 - 10:32:15 PM »
I'm pricing new front disc brake rotors for my 71 Challenger and have this huge difference in pricing.  NAPA and CarQuest was around $160 each for a rotor where AutoZone is $70 each????  Why such a big difference?  Are the Autozone rotors decent quality or junk?  It's hard to believe there is such a giant differences in prices for the same part.  What's the deal?  :dontknow:
08 SRT-8 Challenger
71 GA4 Challenger
70 FK5 Charger 500




Offline Chryco Psycho

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Re: What's the deal with rotor prices?
« Reply #1 on: February 11, 2005 - 10:34:35 PM »
some parts are available in Chinese knock offs so that could be the difference

Challenger - You`ll wish You Hadn`t

Offline troutstreamnm

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Re: What's the deal with rotor prices?
« Reply #2 on: February 11, 2005 - 10:58:24 PM »
Understand that could be the case, but will the quality be any good?  If they potato chip the first time you go thur a puddle it wouldn't be worth it.  On the other hand, if the quality is comparable I need to get down to AutoZone tomorrow!  Anyone running AutoZone rotors?
08 SRT-8 Challenger
71 GA4 Challenger
70 FK5 Charger 500

Offline heminut

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Re: What's the deal with rotor prices?
« Reply #3 on: February 12, 2005 - 01:26:24 PM »
Even the Chinese ones are high at Car Quest (I work at one). The reason the 70-71 are so much higher is because they had such limited use, and there is a lower demand for them I think. I would seriously consider going to the later model spindles and rotors, as the rotors are much lower in cost and more plentiful. The general consensus has always been that you had to use 72-74 E-body spindles (hard to find) or 73-76 A-body spindles (easier to find, but supplies are drying up) to do this swap. It was said that spindles from later models which are 3/8" longer, which will bolt in, could put the upper ball joint in a bind in a suspension bottoming out situation, possibly breaking the ball joint. The March 2005 Mopar Muscle magazine has a good article on this where they tested the binding ball joint theory, and found that there is no problem using the longer spindle, and there is actually a slight improvement in caster over the A-body spindle. The spindles in question can be found on 73-up B-,F-,J-,M-, and R-body cars (much more plentiful in the salvage yards). The other plus to converting to later model spindles and rotors is that you can change the caliper mounting brackets and upgrade from the 10 & 7/8" rotors to the 11 & 3/4" rotors.I've got a 392 hemi in my 70 Cuda (very heavy engine) and saw a very big improvement in braking when I converted to the bigger rotors! I suggest you read the Mopar Muscle article before buying new rotors for your car.
1970 5.7 Hemi Cuda

Offline troutstreamnm

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Re: What's the deal with rotor prices?
« Reply #4 on: February 12, 2005 - 04:34:47 PM »
Thanks 392heminut for the great information.  I'll check out the Mopar Muscle mag and look into it.
08 SRT-8 Challenger
71 GA4 Challenger
70 FK5 Charger 500

Offline MoparMatt383

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Re: What's the deal with rotor prices?
« Reply #5 on: February 19, 2005 - 10:02:16 AM »
Dont know if it applies to your situation, but we bought a set of the cheep rotors for my moms 96 jeep from RS Straus and they only lasted about 2 years (we never drove the car hard).  One day the brakes started vibrating and later that day when my dad was driving the jeep the center ripped out of the rotor.  When we took it apart the rotor was just a flat disc with a hole in it hangin loosely, while the center was still bolted on.  He almost wrecked the jeep because it pulled really hard to one side.  After that we have only bought rotors from mopar.

Matt 
Too many projects and nothing gets done.