Seems my wife's Buick Rendezvous needs a new LF hub bearing again (a common problem with the W-body platform). What would be your pick from the following choices?
Chinese brands I've never heard of - $30-$47
Dorman - $68
Raybestos - $78
Timken - $91
Moog - $96
SKF - $118
Thanks for your input!
I'd buy the Timken or SKF bearing out of those picks. Both are generally quality units. I dunno if anyone used Timken as OEM, but SKF was the OEM for a lot of Chryslers / Jeeps.
I buy Timken for everything
Timken or SKF, whichever is easier to get. Have you checked rockauto.com yet?
I went timken for mine. Seem to be good quality.
On the old bearing, if you can pull either seal out, see how much grease is in the bearing. I bet there's none.
If the seal on the new bearing can be removed without damage, pack some hi-temp wheel bearing grease.
We were having major front wheel bearing failure every 14hrs of endurance racing on our SHO. When we took a new bearing(Timken) apart the reason was obvious, very little grease. Since packing them with hi-temp grease we have raced over 40hrs on the same bearings.
Whenever I hear Timken, I think of this promotion they did for their roller bearings on the New York Central Niagra-class engines. They had 4 models actually pull the locomotive with ropes tied to it to demonstrate how smooth rolling they were. Pretty cool stuff. Kinda sells me on Timken stuff
I use Timken now.
I used an SKF on SWMBO's W-Body Grand Prix at around 95K miles. Had to do it again 3 years and 25K later.
sergio wrote: On the old bearing, if you can pull either seal out, see how much grease is in the bearing. I bet there's none. If the seal on the new bearing can be removed without damage, pack some hi-temp wheel bearing grease. We were having major front wheel bearing failure every 14hrs of endurance racing on our SHO. When we took a new bearing(Timken) apart the reason was obvious, very little grease. Since packing them with hi-temp grease we have raced over 40hrs on the same bearings.
A agree, if you can remove the seal without damage do pack better grease in the bearing. Just don't over do it. I did this to a bearing on my race car and when it got hot is expanded and pushed some of it out past the seals. No real damage but it made a mess and if it had gotten on the brake pads or rotor it could have caused me problems.
I've been beating the hell out of some Timken wheel bearings (or more like axle bearings on the rear) in my Samurai over the last couple of years, no problems so far.
I used to go with only timken but I had a problem with some I installed a couple years ago and someone said timken started out sourcing? I'm not sure if it's true but since those bearings went out in less than a year on a stock car I've gone back to skf
Edit: quick google search and the first link says they have moved production to India and China...in 2002. Now I guess I should look up skf,
Edit2: looks like skf outsources too. What I came across is that many big name bearings stamp the country of origin on the bearing. So if you care, go to the parts store and see if they have a country you like, if not, whatever I guess it doesn't matter when everything is produced overseas now and a name is just a name
China makes just as much high-quality kick-butt stuff as we do. The difference is that Americans will only pay for the cheap crappy stuff, so that's what they send us... My guess is that the high-end stuff is still high-end.
In reply to kb58:
Precisely, the high end stuff made overseas is for the most part still high end.
I've heard nothing but good things about Timken from Miata racers. I've personally not had an issue with Raybestos on the Intrepid.
kb58 wrote: China makes just as much high-quality kick-butt stuff as we do. The difference is that Americans will only pay for the cheap crappy stuff, so that's what they send us... My guess is that the high-end stuff is still high-end.
Exactly this. Getting good quality stuff made in China is only slightly cheaper than making it in the US, a lot of times, so it's only done for certain types of products. But making garbage products in China is much cheaper than making them in the US, so we tend to see more good products from the US and crap from China, even though that's not a hard and fast rule.
My experience (from my Exocet, YMMV but I doubt it):
Shopping for some replacement hubs for my Exocet. I know I can go with blueprinted and rebuilt OEM units for ~$100 per hub, but I was browsing Rock Auto and saw two brands:
WJB Bearings - $23/hub Dura International - $25/hub
Googled both, found this link on Dura:
OK great, so they're out. Then I googled WJB, and found their somehwat professional looking site stating they have their HQ in North America (in CA) but couldn't find anything on the web about them, good or bad.
http://www.wjbgroup.us/
I purchased the WJB hubs to see the quality and then compared them to a Moog unit at a local auto parts store. Guess which one I took home?
Honestly, I would be afraid to even use the WJB units. They are about half as thick as the Moog units, which is a HUGE difference when we're talking about the part that is responsible for such trivial things like holding your brakes and wheels on your car.
The bearings are also night and day. The WJB units are clearly stamped made in China, and the bearings are either plastic sealed or not sealed at all and packed with terrible grease, depending on if you're looking at the front or the back. When I bolted one to the car, it didn't even spin (at all, even pushing on it) when torqued down.
The Moog units are made in Japan, have nicely sealed bearings and are overall much better fit/finish wise. You'll also notice that the body of them doesn't taper down like the WJB units do, which is pretty clearly a cost saving measure by them. The Moog units are better in every way.
C/N: Don't buy cheap suspension parts.
WJB on left, Moog on right:
Outside of WJB bearing:
Outside of Moog Bearing:
Inside of WJB bearing:
Inside of Moog bearing:
to be honest i dont have much experience with any of those options except moog and there stuff has always got the job done. They also make good steering components
I've got Timkens on the Camaro, which is a notoriously hard car on front wheel bearings. No play yet after one full season of auto x on 275 street tires (which is admittedly not that much use, but its not uncommon for these cars to burn through a set in a single track day.)
I hear good things about SKF as well. They actually have a plant across town from my work, so clearly they still do some US manufacturing.
Lotta love for the Timkens from you guys, so I think that's what I'll order. Thanks.
Incidentally, the original LF hub bearing failed at 55K miles - primary symptom was loud growling and vibration through the wheel. A buddy whose wife had a Chevy Venture gave me a new-in-the-box hub bearing he'd bought at Advance, and a quick part# check showed it would fit. It is still quiet at 102K miles, but when I rotated the tires last, I noticed there's a lot of play in it now, and it's the same amount of play whether you grasp the tire at 12 and 6, or at 3 and 9, so I don't think it's tie rod ends or ball joints.
Oddly enough, the original RF hub bearing and both rear bearings are still tight and quiet.
I offered to buy Mrs. Barchetta a second-hand RX330, but she says she loves her Buick "and besides, it's your turn to buy a new car." She's a keeper. 
Buy Timken and support my local economy
In reply to BTD:
Your Moog unit is actually an SKF. 
Finally ordered the Timken bearing and installed it last weekend. So far, so good, and RockAuto dropped the price by $12 since my initial post. Winner, winner, chicken (nugget) dinner. Thanks, you guys.
Just to add, when I worked in our mechanic shop at my company, we used timken on all of our final drives on our Caterpillar crawlers without an issue. Drought you will put that kind of punishment on your street vehicle
Javelin wrote: In reply to BTD: Your Moog unit is actually an SKF.
TIL
Good to know!
One of my grandfathers retired from Timken so I am a little biased. On the other hand the 82 SAAB 900 my Dad bought when we lived in Germany had Timken wheel bearing in it and was going strong at 210K miles when I wrecked it with the original WBs.
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