Ames Perf Brakes vs RockAuto
 

Looking to purchase some rear drums, shoes and related hardware for my 72 GTO. Just looking for stock replacement/good quality parts.

Looking online at Ames they have a complete brake overall kit with new drums, shoes hardware etc. I took a look on rockauto and can probably get the parts a bit cheaper.

However my question is - are the Ames parts any better quality/has anyone had any experience in using their brake parts?

I’m not against spending an extra bit of money if the parts are actually better quality than say your generic rock auto stuff

Any advice would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

Doubtful the ames parts are any better quality than good name brand parts on rock auto. Does ames say what brand the parts are?

For stock street car needs or even light dag racing any name brands like raybestos or bendix or ac delco will be fine... powerstop are good too, have their slotted rotors on front of a firebird for 10+ years with some drag use and they work good & seem to be lasting as good as OEM parts.

Thanks for the replies - I definitely agree Ames service is great and use them for a lot of the Pontiac parts I need. In this case I’m probably talking about $150-200 difference in price (plus probably duty and taxes)

9.5" brake restorations here...

- built on the best condition clean correct style brake backing plates, not new import junk.
From a serious restoration point of view, there are over a half dozen different styles of backing plates for GM 9.5" rear drums, not that hard to note the differences if aquainted w several different styles.

-either rebuilt Delco wheel cylinders in correct size /or/
....new wheel cylinders which come in below "Brake In The Box" kit.

-Brake in the box kit from www.Musclecarbrakes.com provides high matrix shoes that dissipate heat much better than parts store OEM shoes of any brand. These shoes are special composition similar to the old Porterfield shoes used on vintage SCCA cars. The brake in the box kit does come with much stiffer springs (which take a serious work around to install). the wheel cylinders provided in the brake in the box kit also have 1/16" larger bore. For rear brakes, have instead used NOS nos Delco specced for Olds VistaCruiser Ina's I had them.

-Nice Thick unpittted fresh turned original brake drums.
There are half a dozen different styles of 9 1/2" rear drums. Just sorted & moved 3 dozen of four of the different 9 1/2" styles. Occasionally, use nice thick used G-body alum rear drums that have been cryo'ed locally. These save 9.5lbs of weight. 9 1/2" alum rear drums were brought out in repro form about 10 years ago by Cardone, but have been discontinued, great if you stumble on to a pair.

building on OPH's post, I would source good useable core drums locally - not new chinese-ium, but rather old OEM drums that can be turned;
Piston Ring might have some in stock, and you could look at them to see if they are new vs reman parts - if you really want drums to come in a box.

Then you can source the remaining parts elsewhere - because the drums are the biggest parts, and will be the most expensive to ship over the 49th.

Lots of options for this, but I would definitely ask ames what brands they are selling, aside from potential better service, ames doesnt make their own parts nor do they have any parts made to their specs when it comes to brakes or suspension parts etc etc. Buying name brand parts like this rarely requires any "service" after the sale, so it comes down to how much you want to spend.. RA & Summit etc ship international all the time & probably have better shipping rates & prices for parts than a smaller niche company would.

As for parts & drums, I agree good OEM parts are best if you can locate them, but Ive been using good brand repro parts for decades & never had a problem with a name brand rotor or drum, most are made very good & last a long time... there are also aluminum OEM type drums made by A1 cardone that a member here was involved with getting them made, supposed to be very good quality and frees up some rotational weight, if that matters.

With the mention of import duties & taxes for canada, I gotta ask, dont you guys have auto stores there to buy common auto parts from? Cant imagine the entire country doesnt have auto parts for sale to avoid paying import fees from the states.

We do.

I started regularly visiting my cousin in Portland about twenty years ago;
Immediately I started buying parts (from NAPA) there because the prices MURDERED our local prices.
Often Rock Auto is but a fraction of the local parts house prices;
I believe that in Canada, for the most part, these brick and mortar auto parts places exist for professional automotive shops - they are doable for the hobby mechanic, but if you are concerned about cost of parts, buying from an american retailer is generally the way to go.

@ OP - I just remembered, there is a "canadian" competitor to RA;
It's: https://www.thewrenchmonkey.ca/

Thanks guys - yeah we have parts stores (Napa, piston ring, partsource) but again prices are often double to triple of online (same exact parts)

around here 'piston ring' goes by 'autovalue';
I used to frequent those stores...
Not so much any more.

It sure doesn't help that they still employ parts-jokeys that seem to think their crap doesn't stink;
Often you get attitude if you don't give a run down that allows them to look for a part for a specific application: "does that have a/c and a third row cup holder?"

They still have parts books, but iften refuse to open them.