Back in the 1990s, I broke from the recommendation to bleed the full brake system after a master cyl replacement. I found the kit of plastic nuts and tubes to screw into the fluid output fittings and direct any fluid back into the respective master cyl reservoirs. That worked pretty well, with the master cyl alread on the car.
Then I realized that some air might get into the lines when that mechanism was removed and the normal lines installed. Why push that air to all corners of the car? So I went ahead and installed the lines quickly. Then quickly patted the brake pedal in a higher frequency manner with the orientation of light pressure spikes, followed by no pressure, cycle repeat at about 120 cycles/minute. That should draw any remaining air to the top of the lines, into the master cyl itself, then into the fluid reservoirs. And, luckily it worked. Then for a few days, I'd be paying attention to how the pedal felt and the brakes stopped the car. If no issues, recheck the fluid level, adjust as needed, and go on down the road. And that became my way to avoid bleeding the brakes after a master cyl installation.
ALL I'm going to say is that these things worked for me. They MIGHT work for y'all. YOUR determination as to try it or not. BUT only for master cyl swaps, nothing else.
At the assy plants, like the cooling system, they first draw a vacuum on the brake system (at the master cyl), just as you would with an a/c system, just not as deep or high. When the vacuum level is reached and held, then the fluid goes in. No bleeding at the wheels. Then the car goes to the next station on the line. Same with coolant. I watched those things happen at the GM-Arlington assy plant on a few night tours we went on.
I know that lots of people will buy something from a nationwide parts vendor just because they feel it is a good brand which has been investigated by the seller. Nothing wrong with that. Sure, it's a "good part" and one does not have to be troubled by going to a local auto parts place and dealing with people behind the counter, plus the key "free shipping". This has exposed many regional brands to nationwide/worldwide customers. The customers go through the various look-up menus (being asked the same questions the auto parts person at the counter willl do on their computer) to get to the correct part. No problem there.
But, just like your local auto supply (whose product lines usually parallel what their regional parts jobber has), the fact they carry particular lines means they can make a decent profit on them, no matter the "return/defective rate". Sometimes, the halo effect of the national source selling a particular brand can override the fact the particular brand can be flaky in performance, quality, or quality control of their parts. Of course, we never consider that, as we get the prestige of dealing with that well-thought-of national vendor.
BUT, these national vendors can and do change their cataloged products from time to time. I've noticed that looking at wheels in Summit's online catalog over the past 5 years or so. Some brands are deleted as other new ones are now sold. Relates to effective use of their massive warehouse space and . . . corporate net profit.
Same with the auto parts stores. They are either owned by or source from a regional vendor which delivers to them. They usually carry brands of items we haven't heard of, but as we are buying them from local, trusted companies, we trust them to have "good stuff". Only thing is that with them, if a bad part is received, or fails soon after installation, we don't have to pay shipping to send it back. Just a short trip back to the store for another one.
Back in the 1962 time frame, we suddenly started to get a new JCWhitney paper catalog on the main. That, to me, was better than the Sears-Roebuck catalog (which also had auto parts in it). Because those brands were in this JCW catalog, they MUST be good, I thought. I learned a lot from that catalog, just reading about the various parts in there. Lots of magical stuff in there, too. As time progressed and I kept seeing ads in car magazines, I determined that many of the brands in that catalog were not "Class A" brands, but sometimes more like "B-" levels. Good enough, but not the best, although they did have a few "Class A" brands.
So, the message is that whenever a new brand is seen at a vendor, ALWAYS look at it with a bit of skepticism until you have time to investigate it online (NOT specifically looking at eBay for reviews), but reading the manufacturer's website to get an idea of what they do and how. Lots of the "ISO" certifications can mean a high-quality product, but that does not mean they are always designed as well as they should be OR will last for a projected 100K miles, just that their production procedures meet some high quality control specifications (determined to be good by an outside entity). BTAIM
Looking at "customer reviews" can also give a decent idea about the product or company IF you look at what is said and how it's said. Then look at how recent they might be. A "0-1 Star" followed by "Broke on installation. Poor return procedures, stayed on phone 2 hrs." could be accurate, but if its 3 yrs old, might not be that accurate for current times. On the other hand, lots of "4-5 Star" reviews which are a month old can mean it's a decent product to consider. Lots of things to consider and learn what they might mean.
Sorry for the "tutorial" length. Learning which brands are good or not-so-good (for the price) is an on-going process. Whether in the 1950s or 2000s, or in current times. Just something we have to learn and experience in our own situations. Price vs availability vs quality is a continuous purchase decision . . . whether for car parts or at the grocery store. And, sometimes, we discover something new and great (for our uses) in the process!
Y'all take care!
CBODY67
