Twelve Days of Christmas at RockAuto

On the Twelfth Day of Christmas,
My true love sent to me:
Twelve Sealed Power Valve Stem Seals,
Eleven Fram Air Filters,
Ten Dorman Lug Nuts,
Nine Wagner Headlight Bulbs,
Eight Moog Ball Joints,
Seven Stant Fuel Tank Caps,
Six Bosch Spark Plugs,
Five sets of Raybestos Brake Pads,
Four ACC Floor Mats,
Three Trico Wiper Blades,
Two Bendix Rotors,
And one Marshall Remanufactured Engine!

All of these parts and much more can be found in the RockAuto catalog! Not sure what your true love needs? RockAuto E-Gifts are a great solution and delivery is fast and free! Click here to purchase a Gift Certificate today!

Forum of the Month

The Grass Roots Jeep Club forum is a community open to all offroad enthusiasts. There are many a wide range of topics for everyone to enjoy. There is a project section to post your latest project or just see how others are doing with their builds. Our tech section is a great place to ask questions. There is always someone that has experienced the problem you may be having! The trail report section is the place to let people know how your last trail ride went. There is a general outdoors section to discuss fishing, hiking, biking or any outdoor recreation activity you enjoy doing. You can discuss issues that concern you in the environmental section. Join the Grass Roots Jeep forum. It is fast, free, and easy. Don't forget to post your rig in the members introduction section.

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 jessa@rockauto.com.

Repair Mistakes & Blunders

I was working the graveyard shift as a paramedic in a rural area of southeastern Pennsylvania, and we just finished up on a call around 3 am. We were heading back to the hospital in our 1997 Chevrolet Suburban, when the serpentine belt broke about 30 miles away from the hospital in the middle of nowhere.

We attempted to drive on battery power alone; however, the current draw was quickly killing the reserve capacity. I once heard that pantyhose could be used as a substitute belt in emergency situations; however, I never tried it. Fortunately, our EMS crew that evening was a female registered nurse...who happened to be wearing a pair of pantyhose under her uniform trousers. A quick trip to the bushes and she returned with our "emergency belt".

A quick wrap around the alternator pulley and the crank pulley, a boy scout knot, and we were back in business with over 14 volts coming from the alternator. Not only did we get to civilization in 30 miles, we elected to go an additional 20 miles back to our home base...all on the original makeshift belt.

For Christmas that year, the nurse who donated her pantyhose to the cause gave me my own pair so I wouldn't have to borrow hers again! Since then, all of our emergency response vehicles carry extra belts.

Jim in North Carolina

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 awhile!). Please email your story to flamur@rockauto.com. Include your mailing address and shirt size (large or extra large) and we will mail you a RockAuto "Do it yourself?" t-shirt if we publish your story (see the t-shirts under Extras 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!

I Felt like an Optometrist

Early this month I visited Puerto Rico. The warm weather, sunshine, friendly people, food, and scenic Old San Juan were much appreciated! I enjoyed seeing rust-free old cars and classics tooling around.

Unfortunately, I was also disturbed to see many '90s and even newer cars peering at me through yellowed, crazed headlamp lenses. All that tropical sun is tough on plastic composite headlamps. The paint and interiors often still looked fine, but the headlamps were nasty. How could those cars be safe to drive after dark? I felt like an optometrist surrounded by beautiful people wearing scratched, dirty eyeglasses in the wrong prescription!

Puerto Rican and other cars do not need to peer through bleary, yellow headlamps. With usually just common hand tools, new headlamp assemblies can quickly rejuvenate a car's appearance. Even more importantly, the vehicle driver will be able to see the road at night! Cost varies by vehicle model, but for many cars a new headlamp assembly is less than $50. Look under Body-Exterior in the RockAuto.com catalog to see the new headlamp assemblies available for your specific car or truck.

Tom Taylor,
RockAuto.com

Hi,

I just wanted to show you the car RockAuto is helping to keep alive. It’s a 1983 Nissan Skyline RSX Turbo. I recently imported it from Japan as the car was never offered for sale here in the States. It has an FJ20 turbo engine that was also not available here. You can imagine what an issue getting parts for the car is. But RockAuto is great for cross referencing parts from other models, and being able to enter a part number for my car to see if it comes up linked to a common model in the States. My most recent purchase was a timing chain tensioner.

Thanks for helping to keep this old J-Tin running. RockAuto Rocks!

Thanks,
Chris in Virginia

Share Your Hard Work
Do you purchase parts from RockAuto? If so, RockAuto would like to feature you and your car or truck in our monthly newsletter. Please email flamur@rockauto.com with details.

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