does anyone know where I can get rear brake drums for my 98 3500 dually without going to a dealer

 

Any auto parts store should be able to get them or search online.

 

Autozone, Advance, etc. all carry them. Or, check rockauto.com.

 

i don't about the dealer, but any others are most likley made in china or Mexico.......

 

They are drum brakes, not high tech rocket science gadget. There are drums available at the parts stores that will suffice unless he is using his truck for some extreme application in which case he would have changed already.

 

my experience with Chinese brake drums and rotors tell me they wear out faster (early '90s)....they must make them with a poor grade of cast iron ...............but if you can handle that, go for it

 

My experience was the opposite, most brand name (wagner/raybestos/bexdix etc) have their stuff made overseas, if quality control is maintained they make decent stuff. made in china is stamped on just about everything out there
I used white boxed(made in china) rotors, and I cant count the number of pads I used up on one set of rotors, but pads lasted me 23,000kms or 3-4 months, rotors on these trucks are too small, you'd have thought after 8-10hrs a day on and off the brakes, with all that heat I should have had an issue with the"cheap" rotor, not so, they did not wear out they did not warp, and I used just about every type of pad out there from cheap to expensive from organic to cermaic.
I'll have to go back thru my records to get you actual mileage and how long they lasted.
I have since switched to 3rd gen brakes and one set of pads now lasts a yr (cermaic) and rotors are holding up just fine.
I also have rear drums that are on their 2nd set of shoes (approx 200,000kms) wearing fine no grooves or abnormal wear

I believe I paid 65$ a rotor, I've seen them listed as high as 150$

all that being said, There well maybe really bad rotors/drums

just my experiece having used these rotors/drums in commercial application

 

I agree.

 

You have to choose between pads/shoes & rotors/drums. Cheap lifetime pads are hard & wear rotors. Something like Hawks are softer & wear the pads.

 

You take your chances with MADE IN CHINA drums. Sometimes they are machined to spec, other times not. You will know when you take truck for a road test. I have also found the premium aftermarket rotors costing more then the OEM rotors. You will need to do some price checking if you want to save some $. I would keep away from the V-line pads for 3500 since they will aways be noisy when stopping.

 

In 2003 I put some Chinese wheel cylinders on the rear of my truck. Installing the first one, it cracked like a soda cracker. These were only $9 apiece. I returned them to the parts store and got their Made in USA wheel cylinders, which cost $36 apiece, but were made MUCH sturdier. Ever since then I try to avoid Chinese made parts when they are critical.