CVPI

Tow Vehicle Brake Pads

What pads are you guys using for your tow vehicles? The guy who had the truck before me apparently liked the Auto Zone specials, but I've already had problems with heat management and as a result smells (stop and go traffic while towing was especially a problem, even with the trailer brakes set quite high). I'm thinking that for towing i'd want something that operates well at higher temps, but for when it's empty i'd be better off with something with a better cold temp bite. Thoughts?

For that matter, do you guys put ATE Super Blue or other high performance brake fluid in your tow vehicles, or just stick with the factory Ford (or Toyota as the case may be) stuff?

Counterfeit Parts

So I think I've had an experience with counterfeit BMW parts. You Ford guys may not know but the control arm bushings are one of the Achilles heels of the style 3 series I have as they fail at low mileage and it seems like you are always replacing them. BMW, at least trying something, have re-designed the part a few times both during and after production on the series finished, but alas, its still a problem.

My experience, however comes from ordering the bushings online instead of at the dealer (which i had been doing before). I installed new control arm bushing as well as new control arms at the start of this season and just last month had to replace them already. When looking at what i took off the car and what i put back on (purchased from the dealer this time), there were some obvious differences. The take offs had what appeared to be cast part numbers, where as the dealer parts had what appeared to be etched numbers. Additionally, the main part of the take off bushings appeared to be a rubber ring pressed into place, where as the dealer part was solid. What caused me to need to replace them so soon was that this rubber ring would work it's way out after a hundred miles or so (see picture). After pushing it back in with a screw driver and mallet a few times i finally broke down and bought the new parts.

Have any of you had experiences with counterfeit parts?