$130 bucks Lokar, $80 bucks Ebay..What's the difference?

[RagtopBuick66]

Originally Posted by hotrod40coupe

You have to read the complaints before you make a decdision. One of the neutrals says "Great". The rest seem to have been rectified. No, I am not the seller nor do I know the seller, I just know that some people are very impatient and don't want to resolve the issue amicably.

Agreed. And you've also got to look at the volume the seller is moving. Figure on averaging 1 unhappy miserable SOB per 100. If you only sell 100 items that year, then one negative feedback is pretty understandable. If you sell a thousand items, you might end up with 10 negative feedbacks. And while it looks bad when lumped into a red number to the right side of the column, it really is no worse than 1 per a hundred.

SOME people will NEVER be happy NO MATTER what you do to try to fix the issue. Some never even let you know there's a problem and then smack you with a negative feedback before you get the chance to fix it. I learned a hard lesson a long time ago about the importance of OVER-appropriate packaging, since nobody gives a shit about your item between here and your buyer. Once I started over-packing my things, my negative/neutral feedback stopped. Gotta treat it like a business, I guess. I do.

[Mr48chev]

I read down about five pages on the feed back. Both negative complaints were about decals that weren't received. A couple hundred others were happy as hell to have received the same decals quickly. One neutral complaint was about a damage alternator. But they took care of him.
Welder Joe is the Ebay outlet for Hoffman stuff. Not saying that these guys aren't connected but there are several Big hot rod suppliers in the Vancouver Wa area and this may be one of those doing some back door business.

I used to buy engine kits From a supplier in Arizona who advertised in the back of Hot Rod every month. The guy was a racer and passed away a year or two ago. When the parts came they were always on a hand written ticket from a warehouse distributor. They were selling the parts at the same or next lower price than they were selling them to the parts houses but you couldn't walk in and buy a part over the counter on a bet.

[Kramer]

I didn't read all the posts, so someone may have mentioned this. I find it interesting that the pictures are identical. I'm guessing that Mars stole Lokar's picture. I would not buy the e-bay one. Picture may be the same, but the product won't be.

[Cerberus]

In case you didn't realize it, $79.99 is not the BUY IT NOW PRICE. It is the opening bid price. No one has bid on it yet. Reserve has not been met. Shipping is $9.95. You won't know the selling price until you bid on it and meet the reserve.

Summit wants $119.95 plus $11.95 to ship. I bought the Lokar e-brake system from Summit with $420.00 in other parts, and it all arrived in three days. So shipping percentage was only about $4.00 on the e-brake LOK-EC-80FU.

[Dog Dish Deluxe]

From my experience, Lokar stuff sucks no matter who you buy it from. I ran into a lot of their quality issues when I needed a shifter, I finally just said screw it and built my own. Thats the American way anyway. (or used to be)

[54 Chevy]

THe part numbers on the Ebay ad are Lokar numbers. It may be Lokar parts they are selling. I have purchased cheap Lokar look alike cables before and each time I usually end up changing to Lokar. The advantage you have when buying Lokar products is that they have very great service. At least every time I have used them. I use to sell their products and in my experiance the people that had problems most of the time it was installer error.

[stovebolt55]

I just bit the bullet and bought the Lokar at the local rod shop. The guy who helps me is awesome and the price was pretty close to what I would have paid at Summit.

I started thinking that I might actually need the brake in an emergency situation, and that would be the exact moment I would have regretted going cheap.

[metal man]

I've had very poor luck with the Lokar e-brake cables. Those set screws will not keep the cables secure...then the brake won't hold the car still. Ended up going to a factory style U-shaped deal with one cable. Nothing to "slip".

[Cutlassboy68]

Im a lokar dealer and its simple... Lokar doesnt have a MAP policy therefore the dealers can sell them for whatever they want to. Occasionally LOKAR gets over stocked on stuff and dealers can buy it for 50% off and sometimes more. I sell those for $105 plus shipping all day long... and have several in stock...

ps... lokar has a large mark up...

[Cerberus]

Metal Man, I've found that the Lokar cables stretch after setting the ebrake first couple times, and I had to readjust them. No big deal. My Lokar ebrake system holds my car in neutral while idling with no problem on my steep driveway.

[go-twichy]

control cable in santa fe springs ca. will make you what ever you want. very reasonable too.

[39 Ford]

Why would anyone want to spend $$$ for an emergency cable, every rear I ever got had them on it when I got em. A little fabricating skill and some cleanup /black paint they work just fine.

[stovebolt55]

Originally Posted by 39 Ford

Why would anyone want to spend $$$ for an emergency cable, every rear I ever got had them on it when I got em. A little fabricating skill and some cleanup /black paint they work just fine.

Just to save time in hunting down parts.
Every time I try to save money by piecing stuff together it usually ends up that I spend too much time hunting stuff down locally. When I try to do this online, shipping many individual pieces ends up eating into the savings I was trying to achieve.

I did a ton of fabrication when building this chassis and fabricated a new lever
to give me enough mechanical advantage to be able to use the factory emergency brake handle. The Lokar kit had all the goodies and cables that were long enough to be able to route them correctly.

[Cerberus]

Originally Posted by 39 Ford

Why would anyone want to spend $$$ for an emergency cable, every rear I ever got had them on it when I got em. A little fabricating skill and some cleanup /black paint they work just fine.

The Ford four-link rearend I installed came with too long a cable that did a big loop to the equalizer on the Pinto floor mounted hand brake lever. The transmission tunnel is very narrow and I was forced to use a twin cable ebrake system. There are some tight turns and limited space on my '36 Special Construction two-seater and the Lokar system is the best solution in my case. Not to mention the high quality which is worth every penny.

[Some Punk]

Originally Posted by KJSR

One bonus is the service after the sale with Lokar. I bought a few Lokar items from Summit, had an issue with one of them, Lokar stood behind the item and got me the parts to fix it (for free). Worth the extra $ to me....

Things like this are worth the extra dime... IMHO anyway.


Flea-bay is a great place, but I doubt for the 35% off or whatever the price diff is, it would ACTUALLY be the exact same kit.

[oldschool66]

I have a Lokar E-Brake, I went to NAPA and bought a set of cables for a 72 Duster, ( that's what the rear end in my roadster is from ). Hooked right up for under 40 bucks. Lifetime warranty.

[BACAGrizz]

I converted to Wilwood disc brakes and had to go the Lokar route. No issues as yet. Everything works just fine. Good product and service.

[Cutlassboy68]

Ill still save you money if you decide to go with Lokar, Just a fyi

[Johnny Gee]

Originally Posted by Muttley

I've got you beat, mine is a piece of 2x4 with "emergency brake" written in magic marker.

Hmm?, I have a 2 X 4 also. I sometimes ask myself if 1 block is enough. We should have a few hundred of them to throw out the window so we can get stopped in case of an emergency.