WJB Wheel Bearing & Hub Assemblies

RockAuto now offers WJB wheel bearing & hub assemblies as well as stand-alone hub units. WJB was established in 1992 to provide quality hubs at value prices. WJB recently reduced prices across their line to provide the best deal possible for RockAuto customers.

• WJB’s manufacturing process is ISO/TS16949 certified and all units are triple checked for the highest quality.
• WJB bearing & hub assemblies are manufactured with either 1040 or 5010 steel to maximize durability. Grade 8 bolts and induction hardened bearing raceways further ensure WJB hubs are ready to handle the load.
• Hub assemblies include improved sealing designs and are pre-lubricated to provide a longer service life.

If a summer brake inspection, erratic handling or noise reveals your wheel bearings are failing, consider WJB. These hub assemblies are affordable and available for a variety of trucks and cars, everything from the 1980 Cadillac Eldorado to the 2000 Ford F-450 Super Duty to the 2015 Toyota Prius. Find wheel bearing and hub assemblies under the “Brake/Wheel Hub” category in the RockAuto catalog.

For the DIY Dad

Father’s Day is rapidly approaching. Have you thought about what to get your "Do-It-Yourselfer" dad? Here are a few ideas from the RockAuto catalog!

Body Parts: Does your dad's car have a cracked grille, shattered fog/driving lamp, broken outside mirror or some other relatively minor body damage that he feels bad about but thinks is too expensive to fix? At RockAuto, these parts have reliably low prices (starting at around $25 for some vehicles). Surprise him with the parts he needs to erase that exterior damage. (Look under "Body")

Cabin Air Filter: If your dad’s car was built in the last 15+ years, then it likely has a cabin air filter. June is a good time to replace the filter because it will maximize airflow through the A/C system and keep summer dust and pollen from entering the interior. (Look under “Heat & Air Conditioning”)

Floor Mats: Does your dad have stained or heavily worn floor mats? Help him quickly restore the look of his interior by getting a set of new floor mats, original style or with a new custom color or logo. (Look under “Interior”)

K Source Camera System 30% Rebate

K Source has extended the back up and forward facing camera instant rebate for RockAuto customers!

Through 7/31/2015, an instant 30% rebate will automatically be deducted from the price in your shopping cart for:

• K Source VS8 back up camera system
• K Source VS55020 system that includes both a back up camera and a forward facing camera with DVR

Find K Source automotive camera systems, specs and instructions in "Accessories" under the "Tools & Universal Parts" tab or simply click here.

Forum of the Month

Here at Our8thGens, you'll find mountains of knowledge around the 8th generation Honda Accord. Everything from maintaining the stock vehicle to complete customs, you'll find the info here. This forum thrives off of priceless user experience, time, and 8th generation Accord expertise.


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 flamur@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

My neighbor called one Saturday morning and said the passenger side power window on his Isuzu Trooper stopped working. I grabbed my tools and went over to help him. Since he has no electrical or mechanical skills, I was explaining everything along the way. I told him the first thing to check was the fuse, which turned out to be fine. Then I checked the switch, which required some disassembly of the passenger door. The switch was OK too. At that point, I told him it could only be the motor. The motor was buried inside the door, so I had to take apart the rest of the door and remove the window to access it. This took much longer, and now we were deep into the project. After some time, we had the motor on the bench and found that it too checked out fine. By now I had given up the best part of a Saturday and my neighbor kindly offered to relieve me of my duties and bring it to a professional mechanic on Monday. A couple of days later, I ran into him and asked what the mechanic had found. He said it was a simple fix, the lock out switch (to prevent kids from using the power windows I suppose) had been in the lock mode!

Lesson learned: start with the simplest possible fix and work from there.

Glenn in Colorado

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 e-mail 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

Since the 1920s, "souped-up" engines/cars have had additional horsepower or other measures of performance. What do the dictionaries most often cite as the source of the English language slang, souped-up?

A. Horse Racing (less scrupulous horse racing teams injected their horses with "soups" of narcotics)
B. Superman (the powerful comic book hero)  
C. Soup Harbor Road (the location for several silent and early talkie films depicting alcohol prohibition era car chases)

Testing Coolant

I know I am supposed to replace engine coolant before it degrades into a good electrical conductor that encourages electrolysis to corrode the heater core, water pump, radiator and other metal parts. However, there are more cars than drivers in my family. Sometimes the years pass faster than the miles. Repairs over the years might have necessitated replacing some, but not all of the coolant in an engine. Here is a quick way to use an inexpensive multi-meter to check to see if engine coolant (in most engines) is preventing or encouraging electrolysis.

Switch the multi-meter to one of its smallest voltage settings. Take the radiator cap off the cold radiator and stick one electrical probe in the coolant and put the other probe on a grounded metal part or the car’s negative battery terminal. A reading of 0.4 volts or above indicates the engine coolant is encouraging electrolysis and should be replaced.

A reading of 0.4 volts or above indicates the engine coolant is encouraging electrolysis and should be replaced.

Experts recommend starting the cold engine with the radiator cap off (so no pressure builds) and then allowing the engine to warm up before measuring the voltage. The thermostat opens up and coolant starts flowing through the engine and radiator, so not just the stagnant pool of cold coolant below the radiator cap is tested. This might be an especially good tip for engines with the radiator cap located in the middle of a hose or on a small reservoir separate from the radiator. I first measured voltages on the cold coolant in my cars' radiators and found the voltages changed by only a few hundredths of a volt after the coolant was circulating and heated to operating temperature.

My family’s old cars from the previous century all use the same type of (usually green) coolant. The engine coolant in my wife’s ’93 Ford is only a few months old and it generated the lowest voltage, 0.06 volts. My ’86 Mustang has the oldest coolant in the fleet, about 12 years old, and its voltage reading was the highest at 0.12 volts. Even the Mustang’s old coolant was well below 0.4 volts. Miles must degrade coolant faster than time.

Surprisingly, the second highest voltage reading, 0.11 volts, was from the coolant in our car built this century, a nearly new ’14 Dodge. It uses special purple engine coolant. It is good we now have a baseline for what that coolant’s normal voltage reading should be.

Checking to see if the coolant has a voltage reading less than 0.4 volts is just one basic test. Coolant might also be “bad” if it is so diluted with water (typically significantly above 50%) that it does not prevent freezing, if it is loaded with debris that clog the narrow tubing inside the radiator or if it fails a test recommended by the engine manufacturer. RockAuto has a coolant and battery refractometer for owners who want to more thoroughly measure acidity, concentration and other coolant (and battery electrolyte) parameters. A Father's Day gift for dads who are most serious about taking care of their cooling systems!

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

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