On Mon, 15 Jan 2018 14:19:40 -0000 (UTC), Mad Roger
wrote:
On Sun, 14 Jan 2018 17:58:04 -0800 (PST),
wrote:
That's retail.
That's why I say those who say "you get what you pay for" are misguided
because a $157 pad "might" be just as good or bad as a $20 pad, where I can
prove this statement for the $300 20W Panasonic speakers in a Toyota since
I know the specs on the $50 speakers at Crutchfields.
You still have not learned ANYTHING?????
The specs on speakers are known to be some of the best fiction ever
written, followed only by the specs on consumer stereo equipment.
Even at Crutchfields, you can get a good $50 speaker or a less-good $50
speaker, and the price is exactly the same.
So if someone tells me "you get what you pay for", they'll get the same
rant from me that everyone loves to pick products off a number line, but
the real number line is a bunch of specs, and not a simple price.
You "only" get what you pay for - and then only if you are both lucky
and astute. You SELDOM get more than what you pay for
You can take THAT to the bank.
That's retail for you! 
And really the difference is greater, I once bought a set of 4 brake
shoes for +AKM-1, that's under $2. They performed without any issue. Why?
Because someone was unloading something they didn't need, at a price
to get it off their shelves - and your requirements were not severe
enough to require anything better.
I've also been "lucky" enough to pick up some real "bargoons" by
being at the right place at the right time. I often buy what no-one
wants any more - nobody inOntario wanted a 1972 Pontiac Firenza in
1974 or 1975 - so I gor an almost pristine Vauxhaul Viva HC Magnum
coupe for $75 - and it served me well for a number of years before I
sold it to a friend of my wife, who needed a car and had no money for
something "good" - and she drove it another 7 years untill it required
a part that was not readily available or available at a decent cost .
I got "more than my money's worth" - I got "more than I paid for".
The same with my current pickup truck which I bought for $1500 because
nobody wanted a meticulously maintained 16 year old ford Ranger with
over 300,000km on it. It's been virtually trouble free for 6 years -
I've spent about $1500 on repairs over more than 50,000km, and all
indications areI'll get a few more years out of it. I got more than
my money's worth.
In both cases It was because I new the "value" of what I was buying
better than both the seller and other potential buyers.
You are FAR more likely to get less than you paid for - particularly
when buying any commodity new at retail - where you are SIGNIFICANTLY
less likely to get more than you pay for.
Price is not an accurate predictor of quality, but with a few other
often obvious clues, it is a pretty reliable indicator.
I think price is not an indication of anything other than what the
marketing can make people pay. It's certainly not an indication of quality.
It is, as I have stated, an indicator, but not a predictor or
guarantee of quality.
No-one here wants to buy brake parts from scrapyards, even though
they're the same parts you get in the shops.
No they are not - and in MANY places it is illegal to sell used brake
parts and used exhaust/emission parts.
I'm not sure what you mean by "scrapyards". To me, that means a junk yard,
which contains dead cars. I wouldn't buy brakes off a dead car for a
billion reasons which are obvious so I shouldn't need to state it.
Sometimes a car ends up in a scrapyard with lots of brand new parts
on it. The owner puts $3000 into making it safe to drive - new brakes,
suspension,and tires - the either has it hit, or blows a motor or
transmission, and decides not to keep it and repair it - or they spend
all kinds of money fixing it up - making it into their ":boy racer's
wet dream" and then cannot get it to pass smog - and it ends up in the
scrapyard with LOTS of good and/or expensive parts on it.
That said - as a matter of principal - unless no other adequate
source of brake parts was available, I'd be looking elsewhere - first.
Have I used "used" brake parts in the past??
Yes. I put a complete used rear axle from a '63 Belvedere into my '53
Coronet - brakes and all - as an upgrade when the originals failed and
OEM parts were not readilly available, and the old design was less
than optimal.
ANd I put used parts on my '49 VW in Livingstone Zambia. Where was I
going to get new parts??????? On a Sunday afternoon half way between
Choima and Macha - (look it up on Google Earth - and keep in mind
this was 44 years ago - - - - .
What's the difference between my concept of a junkyard (which contains
entire cars that were thrown away) and your scrapyard?
Are you talking about *used* brake pads or *new* brake pads?
if both do the job ok, $20 is the intelligent buying decision.
Not necessarilly.
There is no other logical conclusion to be made, given the information we
have. Price is NOT the determinant of a good or bad brake pad.
Perhaps not of a good one, but quite often of an inferior one
The sad thing is that there is no determinant we can make that will hold
true other than there is no difference practically that you can do anything
about.
again, bushels of bovine excrement.
I'm NOT saying they are all the same. I'm saying we consumers can't tell by
having two of them in our hand or having two of them sold online.
And why do you, like so many "millenials" (I'm aking an assumption
here from significant evidence) INSIST on buying everything
on-line????
Moving to historic vehicles, how would I find out which friction rating
of oak is?
Obviously not sufficientfor a 3 ton vehicle going 100MPH - and
definitely not as good after a long downhill stop - -- but likely, at
low speeds - al ot better than you suspect!!!
Or rubber in bicycle brakes.
There is SIGNIFICANT difference between different compounds of
"rubber" pads for rim brakes - includingin their stopping power and
their destructive effect on rims - some better for chromed rims, and
others for Alloy rims - some working better for side-pull, and others
for center pull (different amounts of pressure available)