2003 Lincoln Town Car - parking brake parts issue
 

The 2003 Lincoln Town Car parking brakes need repair. I have always believed that NAPA has high quality brake parts for domestic cars. That said, at one time I purchased an alternator for the 1984 300D turbo diesel from NAPA which turned out to not fit or work. so....I took it back to NAPA and was slammed with a 15% restocking fee! OUCH!

Recently, I have had fairly good experiences with Advance Auto Parts. They carry their Car Quest line of brake parts. That said, I don't have any direct experience with their Car Quest parts line.

I would like to use quality brake components on this car, which brand or other brands of brake parts would you recommend?

I assume that your car has 4-wheel disc brakes, and the parking brakes consist of small brake shoes which make contact inside an enlarged hub area of the rotor. If NAPA has them, I would just order them from there. It's a twenty-year-old car, and these are relatively obscure parts.

Do you need the parking brake shoes? Was the parking brake on accidently for a period of time? Normally these shoes will last the lifetime of the car, as they are usually only applied after the car is stationary.

Most parts, especially for older cars, are often made by only one or two manufacturers, but are sold under many different brands including "house brands", and brands you might be familiar with like Bendix or Raybestos for brake parts.

In the vintage Corvette world (and other vintage domestic marques) virtually all electrical parts (ignition, starter and charging systems) are made by Standard Motor Products, a current Tier 1 parts supplier for the automotive industry, and in addition to their house brands, Standard and Blue Streak, they are offered in traditional brand names like Echlin (NAPA), Niehoff, Borg-Warner -even Delco - same SMP-manufactured part, just a different name on the box and marketing channel.

Delco hasn't made these kinds of small parts for three decades since GM sold off most of their parts manufacturing operations. It's just a GM marketing outfit.

So ask some of you sources who manufactures the parts. They might know, and if it's a name you recognize they should be okay even if manufactured offshore, but I'm hearing more and more reports from the vintage car community that replacement part quality is deteriorating.

Duke