That blows
I always look stuff up before I go to the store, and my NAPA is pretty good. They give me bolts for nothing and laugh at me...
They also typically offer 3 grades of parts and tell me where they're from if I ask.
That rod had to have bottomed in the bore and the force had nowhere to go. Got any pics of the old and new parts side by side, hopefully with the rods removed? I'll bet there are differences.
NAPA should take that back w/o a wimper.