More Parts

Rancho, a world leader in performance shocks and suspension systems for light trucks and SUVs, is built to deliver uncompromising performance both on and off-road. Rancho is now available at RockAuto.

The new Rancho Quick-Lifts are especially cool! An all in one solution to get the lift you need for the bigger wheels and tires you want. Perfect for the DIYer.

If you have a classic car, we have your weather stripping and rubber components from Metro Moulded Parts.

Need a trunk seal for your '64 Lincoln? A Door Stop for a '70 Camaro? How about a glove box bumper for your '69 Belvedere?

RockAuto now carries replacement wheel covers from Transwheel. From Acura to Volvo, import or domestic, car or light truck, we have wheel covers for practically any vehicle!

You will find these parts and more in the "Tire/Wheel" category of the RockAuto catalog.

Free Automotive Repair Advice

Rick Muscoplat is a retired ASE Master Auto Technician, a RockAuto customer, and the administrator of a great car care blog, http://free-auto-repair-advice.blogspot.com, with lots of free automotive advice. Check it out!

Also check out the RockAuto Part Advice Wiki for repair advice, part installation tips, and customer comments about experiences with particular parts.

If you are the administrator of an automotive blog or member of a forum and you would like to see your website featured in an upcoming newsletter and receive a discount code to share with your members, contact jessa@rockauto.com with details.

Promotions & Rebates

Offer ends Feb 14, 2008

Offer ends Dec 31, 2008

Save BIG with the Bosch SPARKTACULAR rebate and try the very newest from the Bosch line-up. You'll notice the improved performance and can get ca$h back by mail when you purchase Bosch Platinum Ir Fusion™, Platinum+4, Platinum+2, Platinum Plus, or Super Plus Spark Plugs.

More Info

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

I kept putting off replacing the drum brake shoes on my old Chrysler until I found time to locate and organize my tools after a recent move. Finally the brakes could wait no longer and I went to work in the driveway with just the tools in the car’s trunk.

Unfortunately, my handy $5 brake spring tool was not in that toolbox. So I just grabbed needle nose pliers instead. I squeezed the pliers with both hands and pulled the first spring within millimeters of the mounting stud. I was so close. I hunkered down and pulled harder. The end of the spring slipped out of the pliers. The pliers, still in my hands, flew back and the tip stuck in the middle of my forehead. The brake job was on hold until I bandaged my head and found the brake spring tool.

I probably should have had the wound stitched up because it looked awful for over three months. Eyes invariably strayed to the hole in my forehead and a thousand times I was forced to explain I was the idiot responsible for the self-inflicted gash. Since then, I tell myself NO when tempted to take a shortcut with the wrong tool. I also closely follow the sharp, pointy tool rules I learned in Cub Scouts.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes. Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and shirt size (large or extra large) and we will mail you a RockAuto "Do it yourself?" t-shirt if we publish your story. 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!

Emission Parts Get New Respect...

Overall my dad did a great job teaching his kids to revel in all things automotive. When I was ten my dad did not take me to the mall to build stuffed animals. Instead we took a VW chassis, Corvette wheels, and other bits and pieces and built a Bradley GT kit-car that looked like it drove right out of a Speed Racer cartoon. So I will not be on the Dr. Phil show blaming my dad every time I break off a wheel lug stud or leave a fuel tank cap sitting on top of the gas pump.

One place my dad did mess up was teaching me to loathe emission control parts. To be fair to my dad, some of the early ‘70s emission systems were easy to hate. Why take a perfectly good carburetor, choke, and intake manifold and add three miles of vacuum hoses and mechanical gizmos? Did a car, which stalled five times before warming up, really have better emissions? Loss of both horsepower and real-world gas mileage did not seem like a step forward. And who wants to see their Bradley GT overheat while having the heck revved out of it at a state emissions check station.

But I grew up believing that all emission parts were worthless junk, which was never true. For example, every engine needs a system to vent the crankcase. A vented crankcase means cleaner oil and fewer leaks. In the ‘50s that system might have been a passive road draft tube that may or may not have worked well especially idling in traffic. The PCV valve based system was much better at consistently venting the crankcase. Unfortunately for my family’s cars, my dad noticed when the government put the emissions label on PCV valves in the ‘60s. It was a testimonial to the durability of American V8s that some of the family cars still soldiered on for decades despite having dirty, leaky, unventilated crankcases.

Starting in the late ‘70s, the difference between tacked on “emission” parts and everyday “good” parts really started to blur. Sensors providing a computer with constant feedback from the intake through the exhaust meant an engine could be actively tuned for optimum performance whether it happened to be idling in Montreal traffic or roaring up Pikes Peak. An engine that starts and runs well also has lower emissions.

My thinking on emission parts has gradually changed over the years. Gagging on exhaust fumes in places like Bangkok and Delhi made me better appreciate modern engines. It is now no surprise that catalytic converters are found under "Exhaust" in the RockAuto.com catalog just like every other piece of exhaust plumbing. However, I still am a bit shocked every time I look in an Emission section of the catalog and see mass air flow sensors, throttle position sensors, ignition knock sensors and other useful, must-have parts. Emission parts get new respect when you realize your car would not run without them. Even Dad now leaves his cars’ emission parts alone!

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

I've had my Biscayne about 10 years now and we have taken it on two Hot Rod Power Tours. When we decided to go on the 2007 tour I realized that the car needed some replacement parts to make it safe & reliable. I remembered seeing a RockAuto ad in Hot Rod magazine. I checked out your website & was impressed with your selection and pricing.

When you have a car that's over 40 years old, it's sometimes hard to find replacement parts. I ended up ordering ball joints, bushings, master cylinder, transmission parts, brake parts, sway bar end links, water pump, radiator hoses, etc. I like the ability to compare the same part from different manufacturers that your website gives me, and your prices can't be beat! Not only do I buy parts for my classic, but also for my daily drivers. I was also impressed with your fast shipping, sometimes I received my parts in two days.

Thanks again & hope to see you on the 2008 Power Tour. Keep up the great work!

Dave in Illinois

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to feature you and your vehicle in our monthly newsletter. Please e-mail flamur@rockauto.com with details.

© 1999-2008 RockAuto, LLC - Madison, Wisconsin USA. RockAuto name and logo are registered trademarks of RockAuto, LLC. Manufacturer names and logos in the RockAuto catalog are trademarks of their respective companies and are used only to identify their products. All rights reserved.