Westin & Wade Truck, SUV & Jeep Parts

RockAuto now carries Westin Automotive's Westin and Wade brand parts and accessories to protect and enhance the look of Jeeps, trucks and SUVs while 4-wheeling, at work, or simply driving around town.

Since 1977, Westin Automotive has provided world-class products to the automotive aftermarket industry. Their parts are designed to fit, function, look good and last.

Westin
Westin Bumper Guards, Nerf Step Bars, Grille Guards and other steel and stainless steel parts look good and offer protection from serious off-road and job-site hazards. Lights, Light Bars, Winches (both steel and synthetic rope) and other accessories let you build your Jeep, truck or SUV the way you need and want it to be.

Wade
Wade acrylic and high impact ABS Wind Deflectors, Bug Shields, Headlamp Covers, Tail Lamp Covers, Cowl Scoops and Bed Caps protect the outside of your vehicle while molded rubberized copolymer Floor & Cargo Liners protect the inside.

Westin and Wade parts can be found under the "Accessories", "Body", “Interior”, "Electrical" and “Electrical-Connector” categories in the RockAuto catalog.

Get Your Holiday Shopping Done Early This Year!

Are you going to get your holiday shopping done early this year? There is no need to awake at dawn to chase down the sales or deal with the commotion of Black Friday crowds. RockAuto's prices are reliably low every day of the year. Make your gift giving easy this year with a RockAuto Gift Certificate! Whether the recipients need to replace a yellowed headlamp, fix the weak lift supports that no longer hold up the hood/trunk or get molded carpet for a restoration project, a RockAuto Gift Certificate will let them get the parts or tools they most need!

Gift Certificate
Purchase gift certificates with your choice of currency and amount. Have a paper certificate shipped to you or directly to the recipient or choose E-Gift.

E-Gift
E-Gift delivery is immediate and free. Simply select Email as the shipping option and your friends and family will conveniently receive the gift in their Inbox.

Purchase a Gift Certificate or E-Gift today!

Forum of the Month

ImpalaSSForum.com is your home for all 1991-1996/GM B-Body discussions. Topics range from engine performance and maintenance to interior/exterior, drivetrain, electrical, suspension and more. The main focus of this community is the Impala SS, but you will also find discussions on topics related to the other GM B-Body cars such as the Caprice, Fleetwood, Roadmaster and their wagon variants.

Registration is free, fast and simple. Join the Impala SS Forum community today!

If you are the administrator or member of a forum and you would like to see your website featured in an upcoming newsletter and receive a discount code to share with your members, contact megant@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

My first car while in high school was a Dodge Aspen. As I started to tinker with it, I noticed a minor oil leak from a valve cover gasket. It looked easy enough to replace, so I got the gasket and pulled the valve cover off. I noticed the bolts in the valve train were not very tight, so I tightened them. I installed the new valve cover gasket and put everything together. But, surprisingly the car did not start!

After some debate and discussion, my friend and I decided to push the car a couple blocks to a small repair shop. I did not think mentioning the valve tightening I had performed was important. The shop called the next day to say they could not get it started and suggested we take my car to the Dodge dealership. Later that day, the dealership mechanic called and asked if anyone messed with the valves, and I sheepishly told him that someone might have. Luckily it was an easy fix after the diagnosis.

That experience taught me that just because something is not tight, does not necessarily mean it should be! (Editor's Note: Chrysler's earlier versions of the venerable 225cid "Slant-6" has solid (rather than hydraulic) valve lifters. Each tappet has its own adjusting bolt.)

Joe in Illinois

Tell us about your most infamous auto repair blunder or unconventional fix. Use your woe to help others avoid similar mistakes or share off-the-wall solutions that worked (at least for a while!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and if you would like a RockAuto T-Shirt (please let us know your shirt size) or Hat if we publish your story. See the T-Shirts and Hats under Tools & Universal Parts in the catalog. The story will be credited using only your first name and your vague geographic location (state, province, country, continent, etc.) so you can remain semi-anonymous!

Automotive Trivia

The ACDelco name came from merging AC Spark Plugs with Delco. Delco was founded by Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds in 1909. It was purchased by GM in 1916. Where did the name Delco come from?

A. The name recognized the major investment Deeds' mother, Susan Delcourt, made in the company.
B. Dynamo Electric Commutator
C. Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company

Answer below

Bulbs Became a Top-Priority

Some repairs can wait and some are urgent. Burned out license plate lamp bulbs became a top-priority after my wife was pulled over and scolded by the police about five years ago. In the same minute, my spouse learned that license plates have bulbs and that she was on the wrong side of the law.

The two license plate lamp bulbs on my wife's 1993 Ford Tempo are mounted on the trunk lid. One of the bulbs burned out again last week, but after five years and at least 1,500 slams of the trunk lid, I had no complaints. It takes only a few minutes to replace the license plate bulbs, especially with my wife's encouragement.

One of the bulbs burned out again

The bulbs in the instrument panel are a different story. They are the same bulbs, but it takes more than an hour to get to some of them. After multiple attempts over several years, I still have not been able to find the burned out bulb behind the temperature gauge. Hard to reach bulbs like that should be replaced with one of the new LED bulbs.

A LED bulb does not have a filament wire like an incandescent bulb. Slam the trunk lid as much as you want, a LED bulb is able to withstand vibration.

A LED bulb in the instrument panel will last longer and use less power. Its much lower temperature will slow the aging of surrounding sockets, wiring and other parts. A few drops of water touching a hot incandescent bulb in a side marker light may burn it out while a LED bulb would keep on working.

Dorman green and white LED bulbs

LED automotive bulbs typically give off more light. There are even multiple color choices for some bulbs. If I ever find that temperature gauge bulb in our Ford, I can celebrate by installing a red, blue, amber or green LED!

Another great thing about LEDs is that there are fewer part numbers. Incandescent bulbs may look identical but have different wattage ratings. Installing a bulb with higher wattage may risk overheating the wiring. A LED will use less power than the lowest wattage incandescent bulb. The same LED bulb can light up the license plate on my wife's 1993 Tempo or the side marker light on my neighbor's 2014 Lexus ES300H. It will also work fine in the instrument panel of a 1968 Volvo 142 and countless other vehicles. That spare LED bulb for your old car still sitting on the garage shelf is more likely to work in your next car too.

LEDs cost a lot more than incandescent bulbs, but that is less scary when you consider that many incandescent bulbs start at less than $0.25 (at RockAuto). It would be worth $10 or even $20 to avoid disassembling an instrument panel multiple times or having my wife become a burned-out-bulb repeat offender. Find all types of bulbs, with choice of brands, under the "Electrical-Bulb & Socket" category for your vehicle.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

To read more of Tom's articles, click this link and choose from story titles on the Newsletter Archives page.

Steve's 1964 Buick Wildcat Convertible

My 1964 Buick Wildcat Convertible with a 401 cubic inch "Nail Head" engine has 96,300 miles with the original running gear, interior and chrome. The paint has been redone and color sanded to a perfect finish. It is a driver, so there are a couple of light scratches and chips here and there. Plugs, filters and brake parts are just some of the parts, with rock bottom prices from RockAuto, I use on all my cars.

Thank you for help keeping the cost of parts down and allowing me to do a better job of maintaining the other daily drivers in our fleet (2004 Dodge Durango and 2009 Chrysler 300) and this classic Buick!

Steve in Massachusetts

Automotive Trivia Answer

The ACDelco name came from merging AC Spark Plugs with Delco. Delco was founded by Charles Kettering and Edward Deeds in 1909. It was purchased by GM in 1916. Where did the name Delco come from? A. The name recognized the major investment Deeds' mother, Susan Delcourt, made in the company. B. Dynamo Electric Commutator Answer: C. Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company (Delco was in Dayton, Ohio) Back up to trivia question

© 1999-2016 RockAuto, LLC - Madison, Wisconsin USA. RockAuto name, logo and ALL THE PARTS YOUR CAR WILL EVER NEED are registered trademarks of RockAuto, LLC. Manufacturer names and logos in the RockAuto catalog are trademarks of their respective companies and are used only to identify their products. All rights reserved.