The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk LMC, Brothers, Chevy Duty: Good, bad?

Looking at rebuilding the front suspension on my '62 Suburban. Price shopping between LMC, Brothers and Chevy Duty.
Looking to get feedback on the three fo them. What are your experiences with them, good, bad or indifferent? Like to get a little info on a company before I send them my hard-earned.

Thanks,
Brad

Chevy Duty (Now Classic Parts) is great for some things, LMC is great for others, Brothers has always been overpriced for the same items. There are others to consider also such as American Classic, Truck Shop, Jim Carter, Yogi's, Chevy of the 40's, and others.
Look for the best price since the products all come from the same basic suppliers. These outfits are just resellers/retailers.
I have never had a bad experience with any of them that did not get resolved to my satisfaction.

I agree with Houston54, but even if I wasn't buying parts I'd keep an LMC around as a guide as they seem to have the better illustrations.

In the end, compare the prices in each catalog for the same parts, it's amazing what the cost differences are.

Agreed, this same post seems to pop up from time to time, I think this last time, we kinda nailed down that its all the same stuff basically, and to shop for price. I personally like to shop LMC for their cheaper priced stuff (you gotta watch them though because some of their stuff is priced very low and competitively, while other stuff is way overpriced) For most of my other needs I generally use Jim Carter, they have friendly staff and their shipping rates are real fair. They sometimes have issues getting things to you timely, but I guess thats a never ending battle between the consumer and the supplier no matter what line of business you are in. Ive never used Classic Parts, but I hear lots of good things about them.

Just rebuilt my 61 panel front end (it has 63 front set up) and ordered everything from LMC. It was my first order from them and I was very pleased. The entire order was correct and I received it in 3 business days. There prices were lower than others, thats why i tried them. I also ordered a new desert cooler radiator from Chevy duty and they said it would be dropped shipped from the manufacturer and it would take 4-6 weeks. Got it in 3. For my AD I got everything from Carter. Bottom line I am happy with all of these guys.

I thought Chevy of the 40's was good..sometimes over priced but seem to have everything in stock. Brothers has small things, not everything in stock...which is bad because I live 20 minutes from them....Jim Carter is good but takes a while in shipping...LMC is good but takes a while in shipping. I just ordered a part from Chevy Duty..we will see...

I have the luxery of being right close to Classtc Parts & LMC. They are both pleasant places to buy parts & they know me buy first name. Lets not forget American Classic. They sponsor this websight & from what I,ve heard have great service.

WHAT ABOUT NAPA? THEIR SUSPENSION PARTS HAVE LIFETIME WARANTY. IS YOUR TRUCK STAYING STOCK IF NOT IT WOULD BE A GOOD TIME TO UPGRADE TO DISC BRAKES

I have bought from both Chevy Duty and Brothers.Had good luck with both.Only difference was that Chevy Duty got it to me a lot quicker,being located in KC.Brothers took longer coming from the west coast.

Its funny I live in southern california temporarly and can not find a good parts place...everything is too far away....and if they are close they don't have it in stock...so I always have to wait....you guys are sooooo lucky.

The only thing about LMC I have seen is their replacement panels are of lighter gauge than the ones I can get from my local guy,other than that prices on the small stuff is pretty good in comparison

I have ordered from most of the suppliers and agree with the comments here. I do feel the need to rant a little about Jim Carter at the moment. Last summer they had a one day internet sale and I ordered a lot of parts for my '50. As always some were back ordered but no big, I wasn't ready to install most of them anyway. I was test fitting the bed and I realized the front bed panel I got from them the mounting holes were drilled wrong, had to go through the hassle of sending back. This weekend was mocking up the bed floor and I noticed that one of the bed strips had the holes punched wrong, figured I might just eat that one due to the hassle of sending back. Then I noticed that the bed wood I got from them is cut wrong. I ordered from them due to the sale and that I wanted the southern yellow pine. 5 of the boards are about a 1/4 inch too wide. Add that up and you are over an inch too wide. Add you can't just cut them down as the groves won't be right to fit the bed strips. Now this is something that they cut themselves. I am used to the asian stamped repro parts not quite fitting, but you would think that a company that prides itself on knowing these trucks could make the bed wood right. I haven't contacted them yet, and I am sure that they will make it right, but boy is it frustrating. I decided not to cut the wood myself due to the "ease" of just ordering it and having it cut right. So much for that.

Holcomb, there is also the Truckshop in Orange CA, they generally have good prices, but I have heard others complain about their customer service.

I like Jim carter for the selection, lots of things they have that others dont. Then again you can probably find stuff at your local FLAPS, 62 is almost new! I can find lots of stuff for my 53 there.

I had a bad experience asking questions and getting smart a$$ answers with American classic so they lost me for life.

I just put in an order with the Filling station and they called me 2 hours later letting me know 2 parts werent available and what would they like me to do. Pretty prompt, I like that.

Nifty 50, you by chance don't know the name of that truck shop in orange do you?

This is site for the Orange CA vendor

http://www.truckandcarshop.com/

my understanding is that they the retail outlet owned by the company that wholesales repro parts to all the vendors, counterpart

I agree that MOST of the parts come from the same source, but check into what you are getting, especially if it's sheetmetal. Find NOS if you can; if not try and find USA made. Simply put, it fits better. Pay attention if parts are listed for 60-72. They are made for 67-72 and are close enough for an experience body guy, not the average Joe. American Classic and Golden State are at the top of my list for suppliers and I have used almost all of them

Here's my 2 cents.When I bought my first Bolt, I called LMC to ask a basic AD truck question about the difference between a 53 and 54 frame. I called them because someone had given me one of their catalogs. I remember the guy saying, " Oh no, I can't answer questions like that because of possible liability." I thought, "What the h*ll is that all about." I thought they were a hobby related business! My next experience with them, my neighbor builds cars and trucks for customers. He bought door rubber from LMC for a 51 he's building. He installed it and the door wouldn't close. He screwed around on it for hours and finally took it off. He ordered the same door rubber from another vendor and if fit and sealed perfect. Now, my experience with Chevy Duty, AKA Classic Parts. I've bought most of my parts from them. I love their website. I think it's the easiest and best to get around on. The down side, every order I've ever placed is a back order. You've just got to accept, that's the way it works.

Sometimes I get the feeling back order is just another way companies operate on YOUR money and not theirs. If its "back ordered" it could be that they do not really "stock" the items but have them sent direct. This allows them 30 days to pay their supplier which by that time they have your money and have invested none of theirs. The few companies I've worked for over the years do the same thing. We would order raw material, unload it, process it and ship it out the door and bill the customer within days. That way your cash flow isn't used up. Now, Yes, I know much is kept in stock and I applaud the companies for that but there is a reason for some certain items/parts being back ordered!!

phils, I am glad you mentioned that about the car and truck shop. I have also heard that they are the one and the same as "Counterparts" which seems to be the supplier of most of the repro parts out there. I have heard this from folks that work in the parts business. I do know that these same parts folks whine about them because they sell at swap meets for the same prices that they sell wholesale to other vendors. They are at the Portland swap meet each year and the prices are cheap. They do not travel with a huge selection, but any thing I can buy from them I buy it at the swap meet. Eg the Counterparts AD chrome bumpers you see in catalogs at 120 to 140, they sell for 100 at the meets. I hear the other vendors grumbling at this practice.

Yep, Achipmunk. Inventory is bad business. Back order is reality.

Brad,
Been ordering parts into the thousands of bucks for the last four months from Chevy Duty and the only thing that they have back ordered on me has been the hub caps for my 1950 3/4 ton. VERY prompt (call Monday, ups on Wednesday), several minor mistakes on the pick but they had the correct parts to me the day after I called, no questions asked.
Also I have compared all the major suppliers when ordering and they have the best prices on the majority of their catalog.

The major problem is no single vendor carries every part you’re gonna need. One has this but not that, etc., so your going to end up buying from all of them eventually if your doing a complete restoration.

One thing to keep in mind is a lot of the reproduction parts from all the vendors are not up to the standards of the original part. Not sure but it does appear that they are the ones that are being manufactured off shore. At least the ones that I have had complaints about were labeled Chin! The acceptation is that the parts from India have been as good as the parts from the States.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Did a search for "Counterparts" but came up empty, any information about them???
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Chevy Duty has managed to irritate me several times, and a big part of it is the way they handle, or at least used to handle online orders. I'd order on Sunday, they would ship late Tuesday and I would not get my parts until the following week.

That would be true even when I paid for 2-day shipping. I decided they see a request for quick shipping as giving them to take more time to ship, not an indication the customer was in a hurry.

I've not ordered from them in the last couple years as a result and probably won't until LMC makes me mad.

LMC always manages to get parts to me when I expect them. I rarely compare prices anymore because I like the catalogs and love the service.

I ordered an Okie set up from the Filling Station. I asked at the time the shipping cost to Canada. I was told $10.00. When it came the shipping was $26.00 because they included a catalog, which I did not want, in the package. Seems the catalog made it over-sized.
There is one place I deal with in Canada and is Scotts Supertrucks. Never had a problem with service and they have good prices considering they have to bring in parts from the States.

blu - the Old Car Centre in Langley is good too, and tho they hafta charge BC sales tax, shipping is free by mail so it usually works out cheaper ... they have a US branch/warehouse in Blaine or Bellingham

Bill

Don't, I repeat DON'T use Heavy Chevy, I spent 3 months trying to get an answer....by email, by phone (full voicemail recording), and fax. I got them once on the phone and got the "right away sir, it'll be out on wed" treatment. One monthy later....NOTHING!. Finally threatened to drive up to get my Debit card credited and got the "right away sir" thing again, one more month later....nothing!! Finally had to get my bank to recover my money. I have talked to others who had the same problems....Pass this on. I never got nasty till the end of the 2nd month.

Being fairly new to the forum I was just planning on sitting back and reading other people's experiences. Well that changed tonight. I got a call from The Truck Shop to discuss shipping charges. I called them and they were calling to tell me that my shipping charges (from CA to SC) for the rear axle brake lines (just the two 3' lines, not the whole set) was going to be $56.00. I told them that was crazy, but they stated it was the price because it was "oversized". Now that this was my second order with them and my other order took darn near two weeks to get here and the dash lens was scratched I think I'm done buying from them.

Lee

Just ordered the same stainless brake lines from FineLines.com for $40... $8.50 shipping.

Lee

Just my .02, I ordered a bunch of parts from american classic few years ago, for my 40 burb.
three or four days later parts were at my door and looked good, fit good, reasonable price, the exhaust pipe and muffler are still as good as when I bought them three or four years ago. I would order again from them.
jbennett
40 burb

Old Sub, I noticed the same thing about Classic Parts(ne Chevy Duty)-if you call, they get it right out-order online-few days. Excellent results w/Amer.Classics. Brian

anyone use Bowtiebits out of Wichita KS? I have heard some good things about them, and the owner, who has experience with the old trucks.

Mike

That link is finelinesinc.com for brake lines.

I had a '63 K10 when I was stationed at Luke AFB in the mid '90's and had good experiences with a company here in Phoenix called Grumpy's Truck Parts. They're also on the web. I now have a '63 C20 and a '66 Burb. I've been doing some prelim site surfing, magazine reading and came across Classic Performance Products. Prices look good, warranty looks good but have no personal experience buying from them yet. (lack of funds)

I had the same experience with LMC that Ron Thompson mentioned ... when it comes to door rubber, LMC has a brain-fart going on!

Chevy Duty (now Classic Parts) rules.

Brad you can always try Tuckers in Neveda. They have a good selection and arent overpriced.

I just did my door seals...I had good luck with chevy of the 40s...so far my favorite store..

During the restoration on my '56, close to 95% of what I ordered came from Chevy Duty (Classic Parts). I believe the remaining 5% WOULD have been purchased there IF they had the part available at the time I needed it, or even carried the part. I was pleased with their quality of items, shipping times, return guarantee (and there was a couple things I did return for various reasons) and not least of all PRICE of their products. I dealt with "Angie", at Chevy Duty, and have never had someone who was so customer friendly, and showed a genuine interest in your order. When it is time to order another item for Dusty, Classic Parts of America will definately get my business.