Looking for opinions on Rock Auto. I have ordered a few things from them in the past for newer vehicles but not my 66 F100. My radiator bit the dust the other day, I was quoted $600 to have a new core from a local shop versus $400 for a new manufactured radiator from them. Checked the other chain parts stores and they don't have any available.
Wondering what experiences anyone else has had with them? Good or bad?

Thanks

 

My experience is that they have very few things in stock for this era F100. For a while, I was checking them first...."all the parts your car will ever need....(unless it's a mid 60s F100)"

Not impressed to be honest.

I just bought an aluminum radiator. It was less than $300. If it's good enough for newer cars, it's good enough for my Ol' Furd.

 

I think the radiator, ALUM. also came from Rock but mine is a 81 F100.
I have used them for some things when I can wait for the parts to show up like when I was rebuilding the truck.

I just remembered the Evap coil, compressor and dryer for said truck came from them a few weeks back.
The dryer was the wrong one, 1 number off on the box and why I think it was wrong.
Because of the stories I hear on trying to return parts, needing it soon and not a lot of money I got one local.
All working and blowing cold air.

I did have a rear wheel cyl I got from them leak just sitting as I never drove the truck, still rebuilding it.
Was lucky fluid did not get on the new shoes. I replaced both with a different brand from think Rock just to be safe and 2+ years on the road no leaks.

I would say just look at the name brand of the parts and the level, OK / GOOD / BETTER / BEST / ETC. before picking.
Dave ----

 

Not sure on Radiator, but I used them on my build for complete brake system, trans seals, hoses, engine parts, gaskets, etc etc. Had in stock. Just bought ACC flooring from them this week. Pricing is half or less from local AP stores. Just have to make sure you know what you are ordering, returns are a pain. Impossible to contact a human being there.

 

Thanks for everyone's feedback on them. The specs on core size matched with what I need but they didn't provide the inlet and outlet diameters. Been down that road before where a manufacturer supplied basically an adapter/bushing for the inlet and had nothing but trouble with it until I replaced that radiator later on. Did a search and found an email address for their customer service and asked about the diameters and the person who replied after multiple email exchanges didn't have a clue and said it shouldn't be a problem.
I depend on my pickup as a part of earning a living and ordered the one they had. Fingers crossed the inlet size is correct for mine and I'm back on the road later next week.

 

I would shop that re-core job around, I’ll bet you could knock at least a hundred bucks off that quote. For only a hundred bucks difference, I’d hold watcha got instead of an aluminum replacement. And you know the inlet and outlet are correct.

 

If not in a rush and can wait a few days, rock auto is my go to place. Rarely have any issues with them not having a part and usually have multiple manufacturers to choose from. In most cases price is about 1/3 of what will pay locally. Shipping can add a bit to overall cost but combining parts gets bigger bang for your buck. Great for their clearance stuff too. I've got lifetime supplies of air filters, oil filters, wiper blades etc for all my vehicles that cost me pennies on the dollar. Also a great source for manufacturer part #s that can be used to source elsewhere like ebay sometimes even cheaper w/ free shipping. Now, having said all that, the last 2 parts I bought locally were a fuel pump and a master cylinder. Both of which were not in stock and had to be ordered, but will be easier to return when they fail. And, lastly, since all discussions about parts brings me to the same end, I much prefer NOS parts when possible or used parts when not. Both are far superior to most new parts made today.
As far as the rad re-core, would def shop around. I know prices vary by location, but in my neck of the woods it would be about half what you were quoted. Sounds like they would rather just sell you a new one.

 

I live in a small town and the only radiator shop nearby is an hour drive and they were the ones that put in a new core for me 4 years ago and I'm not real impressed with being faced with replacing or replacing it. The core is leaking along with the seam between the top tank and the core.
After thinking on it I went ahead and ordered the one from Rock Auto. Should be here later in the week and fingers crossed it has the right size inlet and outlet.

Thanks for the replies, suggestions and advice.

 

Hold on to your original. There always people that will want one. Everything is a minimum of an hour, closer to two, from me, which is just the norm. I always expect to drive to get anything done. I saved about 200.00 on a recent re-core by shopping around, however, the small town ended up being the more expensive choice, while the city of over a million was cheaper. Radiator shops are dropping like flies now, same for spring shops.

 

I’m not a fan of Rock Auto. They’ve hosed me in the past. They drop-ship items whenever possible.
The best customer service in the industry comes from Summit Racing, IMO.

 

Agreed on holding onto old parts, still have the original master cylinder etc. along with other parts I have replaced over 33 years of owning the pickup. The radiator issue especially ticked me off because that is/was the original that came with it and the shop did a crappy job and their replacement core was crap as well when I had it re-cored 4 years ago. I use distilled water only on coolant changes along with name brand coolant and there was no reason for it to fail in that short of a period of time.

On contacting rock auto and actually speaking to someone, I had a problem with a part ordered from them back in 2014 and after a couple of exchanges and not receiving the right one found a phone number for their corporate office, figured out their extensions and left voicemails on several extensions. Got lucky and and a live person actually called me back and he handled the problem.

 

Trouble with a re-core is you have an expensive, new core but still old upper and lower tanks. If the radiator is brass (likely so) old tanks can sometimes crack and, in my opinion and experience, not money well-spent. I've had a couple done and determined that a new radiator is a better value with regard to longevity. Plus, you have the option of aluminum.
As for RockAuto, I had excellent results from them, for both newer and older vehicles. They usually have a wide selection, name bands and good prices. You do have to consider shipping, especially larger items. Sorry to hear that some have had trouble returning items. I had a very heavy brake disc that was damaged in shipping. I handled it online and the shipped the new one immediately and issued a call tag for the damaged one...paid shipping and all. I had the new one even before the damaged one was shipped back. I got a lot of the front suspension, brakes and power steering from them for my 66, which has a '74 front end transplant. They have the typical, lower cost alternatives as well as brands like Raybestos, AC/Delco and Moog. The carpet was, as mentioned, ACC which is probably the most used company for such items. So, I wouldn't hesitate to use RockAuto in the future. True, they don't have everything but they have a lot. I also agree with the comments above with regard to Summit, 100%....very good service.

 

It’s been a mixed bag for me with RockAuto. Shipping can get pricey, because different items may ship from different locations with separate shipping charges. In the same model year, there may be different options with different parts. On my daughters 90 GMC, we ordered an AC condenser that was supposed to fit. We assumed that the condensers were similar and picked a brand that was reasonably priced. We got the wrong condenser and had to exchange it (all shipping to my neck of the woods takes at least a week). Do your homework before ordering. I do enjoy the refrigerator magnets.

 

The new radiator from Rock Auto was delivered this morning and I installed it. Had a rubber sleeve/bushing on the inlet on it as I suspected to cover more applications. It's all aluminum with welded tanks and of course made in china. Time will tell if it holds up or not, it's not real encouraging when the fill neck is leaning and not vertical.
I emailed their customer service prior to ordering asking about the inlet size and the guy who replied back either didn't have a clue or didn't care and blew me off stating that the inlet and outlet sizes didn't matter because the manufacturer didn't include them in the specs provided from them to Rock Auto. Didn't have much choice as I needed my pickup back up and running asap.
From my perspective I'll be trying to find alternatives to them whenever possible.

 

I used them in the past. Price is usually excellent and shipping is ok. I like their website, because you can see the different options for a product very easily. Usually they are more on the cheap side of products. For some things I don't care. Overall I buy more from Summit. They usually have a ton of options and shipment from Nevada is usually a day.