Duralast?

mommucked

mommucked

Endeavoring to persevere
Joined
Sep 26, 2011
Location
Rural Apex n.c.
My brothers having second thoughts about putting a durolast clutchkit he bought w flywheel in his 92 Toyota 2wd 22RE after finding missing needle bearings in new durolast Ujoints today. Can't find alot of reviews on them other than made in china. I told him to pay a lil more and get some better quality cause a lifetime warranty won't mean squat if your replacing the clutch yourself soon after. Truck has 200k so he's on the fence about how much to invest in his beater/DD. Anyone have experience w the brand? I've been hit and miss w several products.
 
I won't shop at AutoZone. I know most parts from Advance are just as bad...especially in the recent years. Car Quest still sells decent parts, I think. I've almost gotten to the point of going with OEM parts lately.

I'm sure he could get at least a LUK somewhere online for not much more than that Duralast.

EDIT: Looked it up. A LUK clutch kit is like 69 bucks. Seems like a no brainer to me. If he rolls another 200k out of it, the truck will probably have already fallen apart, but that clutch will still be in there :D
 
I agree, I've gotten where I hit the local car quest anytime I an looking for parts. It's still locally owned and I fell like the parts are better. I usually don't even call around to price check. If I have to spend a few more $ it's OK.
 
I got a terrific deal on my Celica, because the clutch was out. I've never messed with front wheel drive, so I called 3 Good import shops, for quotes. All 3 of them advised, for clutches & brakes, they will only use Factory parts! Do it once - Do it right! My Brother, "life long retired mechanic, & owner of 2 Toyota", Always said, any other brand of brakes, will squeal, on a Toyota, but Not the factory brakes. He bought a lot of parts from Advance, as do I. I used to deal with Auto Zone, but I get better deals at Advance. I just bought a PS pump & PS filter. I checked NAPA, & Advance. My research showed, they were both selling the exact same product! Years back, I had replaced a heater core, in my CJ. It only lasted 3-4 years [Autozone]. I went to Napa, & bought one. Opened the box, & it was the same Brand as Autozone! I guess I just had a bad one.
As for the Toyota truck, if there is a major difference in clutch price, I would try another brand. But on a front wheel drive, the Labor is something you don't want to chance, doing over!
 
I have worked for all the major parts houses and can tell you there are almost no differences in parts from one to the next with exception of suspension parts and u-joints. Almost all electronic parts (sensors and things of that nature are now produced by one company. OEM gets first run and parts houses get second run. If think its bs go look at a coil pack or something of that nature at a parts house. It will either have an OEM part number or a place that appears to have been sanded witch is where the OEM number was. Duralast clutches are either valeo or luk in a dualast box. All parts stores carry cardone or a1c power steering pumps and hydraulic parts. Its all just reboxed. Now every company does have different grades of parts. Moog makes some great ball joints and tie rod ends. They also make some service grade garbage. Oh for all that seem to love car quest....they were bought out by advance about 4 months ago. If you have to have a quality part go to the dealer. Even then the part will only be a small percentage better than a parts retailer. Unfortunately times have changed and lots of company's have sold out or moved overseas to cut costs. Some have just lowered there standards for quality. The old saying parts is parts has never been more true than modern times.
 
My brother installed the durolast clutch kit, new flywheel and slave yesterday and it's working fine. I have not shoped at Autozone since forever after several bad experiences in a row w bad parts and bad service at different locations. I have had nothing but good experiences w Advance for close to 30 yrs. and 2 stores know me by name from my frequent visits. They have great prices and stand behind their parts in my experience. I just had a battery crap out, bad cell, 1 month and a week after the 3 year free replacement was over and they gave me a new one. I fubared the piston seal installing a new brake caliper a few months ago and they replaced it for free.
 
amajeepman said:
I have worked for all the major parts houses and can tell you there are almost no differences in parts from one to the next with exception of suspension parts and u-joints. Almost all electronic parts (sensors and things of that nature are now produced by one company. OEM gets first run and parts houses get second run. If think its bs go look at a coil pack or something of that nature at a parts house. It will either have an OEM part number or a place that appears to have been sanded witch is where the OEM number was. Duralast clutches are either valeo or luk in a dualast box. All parts stores carry cardone or a1c power steering pumps and hydraulic parts. Its all just reboxed. Now every company does have different grades of parts. Moog makes some great ball joints and tie rod ends. They also make some service grade garbage. Oh for all that seem to love car quest....they were bought out by advance about 4 months ago. If you have to have a quality part go to the dealer. Even then the part will only be a small percentage better than a parts retailer. Unfortunately times have changed and lots of company's have sold out or moved overseas to cut costs. Some have just lowered there standards for quality. The old saying parts is parts has never been more true than modern times.
Click to expand...

So true here
 
Yep, I forgot Advance bought out Car Quest. It's also very true about the reboxed stuff. I've seen LUK stamped in the pressure plate of several clutch kits. Really, what makes a clutch is the friction disc itself. Everything else is basically the same old stuff. You may get a higher rated pressure plate, but they're all the same. Even the Spec Stage II that's in my Silverado uses a LUK pressure plate. I could see it under the Spec blue paint.
 
I think all of it is junk any more.
I slant my business towards who is behind the counter.

Locally O'Reilly has good dudes in there who have a clue on a car...so they get my business.

Advance and Autozone... have the same quality parts but lesser quality (in my eyes) employees. Again Im talking only at my local stores.
 
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