Who knew homedepot sold auto parts? (beware bolts in GMB U-joint strap kit)

[MoPar~Man]

This post is about 2 fundamentally different things, feel free to comment on either one.

About a year ago when I bought (the wrong) U-joints for my '67 Monaco (from rock auto), I also bought GMB 260-0266 strap kit (the 2 half-circle straps with bolts for connecting the rear U-joint to the differential). I'm just now looking at this, and I see the bolts that come with the kit are significantly shorter than the factory originals. So I'm not going to use this kit. Maybe I'll use the lock washers and the actual straps - given the different cap sizes that are possible here I don't know if these straps are made exactly for a specific cap size or not.

The other thing - when I punched 260-0266 into google, one of the hits I got was this:

GMB Universal Joint Strap Kit - Rear Shaft All Joints 260-0266 - The Home Depot

HomeDepot?

Who knew Home Despot sold auto parts?

I've seen HD show up before when doing parts searches, I've always found this curious. Walmart also. These are HD USA and Walmart USA (not .ca - Canada).

I'm curious about how the supply chain works here. Do these consumer brick-and-mortar retailers, that (to me) are not traditional or usual auto parts vendors bring something else to the table for buyers? Is it price? Convenience? Connections for getting rare(er) or old(er) parts?

 

[SPF Required]

I think this is about the manufacturer of a particular widget (in the case auto parts) trying to reach the broadest market possible. And they are willing to let the likes of Walmart, Amazon, and apparently Home Depot take their cut to gain access to thier e-commerce presence. I am no expert on this in anyway, but my gut tells me you’d order this part through HD and it is drop shipped from the manufacturer…. Never actually touching the hands of an HD employee.

 

[CBODY67]

HD, Lowes, and Harbor Freight sell auto waxes and related products, too. Have for a good number of years, only expanding the selection over the past few years. HF seems to be a good place to find Meguiar's products, for example.

ALWAYS compare prices, as car parts from WalMart are NOT always the least expensive.

CBODY67

 

[Big_John]

FWIW, concerning thread length or really the better term is thread engagement length. The rule of thumb for steel fasteners is 1 to 1 1/2 length. So with a 1/4" bolt, you want a minimum of 1/4" and if you multiply that by 1.5 you end up with 3/8" thread engagement. For other materials, it may be better to add more engagement length, but that's another story. Anything longer than that does nothing to add strength as the bolt will break before the threads pull out.

So, the short bolt is probably OK based on my eyeballing the picture. That said, I would also choose the longer bolt and no matter what, use a lock washer like the factory did.

BTW, I broke a set of these bolts on my drag car years ago. Broke it on the first dry hop after the burnout. The solution was to drill and tap the yoke for a larger Grade 8 allen head bolt.

Regarding the Home Depot, yea, they aren't carrying it in the store, but like Walmart et al, they are just selling it like Amazon. Order it online and have it on your doorstep in a couple days. I'd do Amazon or Rock Auto before Home Depot only because based on past experiences, HD will somehow drop the ball.

 

[413]

GMB is generally junk parts, I avoid them.

Yes they HD and Lowes sells auto parts. When I look up something there many show up not available that I look up.

 

[CBODY67]

ALWAYS check the bolt length against the "hole depth", so that the bottom is not reached before the item is secured as it needs to be. Resulting in a false torque reading in the process when the bolt bottoms-out rather than getting tighter.

CBODY67

 

[Just Carbs]

With a dozen old cars here, I often use the least expensive parts I can get.
I Google all the interchange part numbers I can find. That leads me all over the globe. I save a lot of money from store fronts that don't stock auto parts. Even more from sellers that don't even sell auto parts. Last year a fabric shop in Kansas sold me a pair of 1 ton van rear drums for $20 apiece to the door. I called and they said they don't know what they are for, but they have a part number and can get them for me. Four days later the drums were on the front porch.
Yesterday it was a new Four Seasons ac compressor for the same Dodge 1-ton van. $95 to the door from a kitchen pots and pans store in Oregon. Same deal, they have a part number, so it ships.
I do have good success with Home Depot, but Google finds it with the part number. Because the Depot don't know jack about car stuff.

 

[commando1]

Yesterday it was a new Four Seasons ac compressor for the same Dodge 1-ton van. $95 to the door from a kitchen pots and pans store in Oregon.