Wheel Bearings: Are they all created equally???

[JLS]

So I am rebuilding my front end and my old wheel bearings look good but have at least 60k on them so I figure I should go with new. Autozone sells Timken, Carquest sells SKS, and Napa has there own now so which are better? I am assuming the Timkens are but your imput would be greatly appreciated.


OH!!! Also, the lower swivel pin bearing, it too looks good but is a pricey booger at the local parts stores, should I replace it too?

Thanks,
Jeremy

 

[diesel&mud]

Timken

 

[61rover]

x2 Timken. Just replaced all four in front. Autozone had them in stock.

 

[Roving Beetle]

X3 on Timken.

 

[Finn]

X4 Timken

After I replaced mine and just for shits and giggles I called the dealer for a price on ONE bearing - $120!!!! ROFL!!

 

[JLS]

Thanks Guys....

 

[antichrist]

Timken and SKF (never heard of SKS bearings) are equal in my experience. I've been using both for over 30 years in vehicles and haven't been able to see any difference. FAG are also good, but usually only carried by bearing supply houses. The NAPA bearings will have the mfg stamped on the bearing and race.
I'm about to put in a mix of Timken and SKF hub bearings this weekend or next.

 

[ptschram]

If you only have 60K miles on your wheel bearings it is highly unlikely that they NEED to be replaced. I put more than 200K miles on the wheel bearings on my truck and they did not need to be replaced when I replaced them.

Cleaning them up and repacking them would probably be more than enough.

 

[antichrist]

If you only have 60K miles on your wheel bearings it is highly unlikely that they NEED to be replaced.

:rofl: yeah, driving in to work I realized I'd forgotten to mention the obvious.

Jeremy, I'd buy a couple, either Timken or SKF, whichever is closest/cheapest, just to have on hand. Then just clean well (don't spin bearings with compressed air) and inspect them. Odds are they don't need replacing.

 

[BaldEagle]

x5 or whatever on timken, but as said, grease them up and put em back on. no need to replace now. i replaced one for shits and gigles but have 245k miles on the other three, two of them being greased again for the first time recently.

 

[Lutzgaterr]

Hey Tom,
I have seen that advice before, don't spin these with compressed air. Is this after you clean them, before, or it does not matter, just don't do it? Can you explain what happens when you use compressed air or is this the spinning of dry bearings?

Damn, I think I have been doing this ever since, come to think about it...

 

[JLS]

I ended up just repacking them. They looked very good.

Thanks again,
Jeremy

 

[ptschram]

Hey Tom,
I have seen that advice before, don't spin these with compressed air. Is this after you clean them, before, or it does not matter, just don't do it? Can you explain what happens when you use compressed air or is this the spinning of dry bearings?

Damn, I think I have been doing this ever since, come to think about it...

I don't know if this is an old wive's tale or not, but I have not spun a dry bearing in ages.

If you think about it, do you want to spin a DRY bearing at high speed? Can't be good.

 

[maxyedor]

Having just installed new Timken bearings on Wednesday, their QC blows donkey balls! I had 2 different runs of bearings, 5 of them came in plastic bags the other 3 came wraped in a plastic sheet, the ones in the plastic sheet didn't fit the spindle. They were close, and a BFH would have gotten them one, but sledge hammers and bearings are a bad combo. Took me a could minutes to figure it out, but the center bore was the correct size, but there was a small ~.001" lip at each end of the machines surface, nothing a quick spin on the lathe can't fix, but not everybody has a lathe at the ready. Just my $0.02, once I machined the lip off they worked fine, but without it I would assume you'd have to use a die grinder and pray.

 

[antichrist]

I don't know if this is an old wive's tale or not, but I have not spun a dry bearing in ages.

If you think about it, do you want to spin a DRY bearing at high speed? Can't be good.

I doubt it's an old wives tale. Especially since every beraing mfg I know of says not to do it.

That's funny about the Timken bearings, after everyone saying they are the better than SKF. :smilelol:

 

[Lutzgaterr]

Thanks PT and AC.
Yea, it does make a lot of sense.
I have used compressed air to dry my bearings after cleaning since I do not want residual minernal spirits or whatever I am using, mixing into the new grease.
Guess I could have let them dry in the sun, but that takes time...
Did I spin these when using the air, maybe but not intentionally, however I will make sure in the future there is no spinning going on.

 

[davidz]

i was taught not to spin dry them also, but the reason was that they can fly apart. the cage will spread and allow the brgs to come out. i dont see any reason other than safety why it would be a bad ting.

.

 

[gardrover]

just installed 4 new SKFs this weekend, the timkens had 175k on em and were a little more loose but would have been fine for another 100k

 

[antichrist]

Thanks PT and AC.
Yea, it does make a lot of sense.
I have used compressed air to dry my bearings after cleaning since I do not want residual minernal spirits or whatever I am using, mixing into the new grease.
Guess I could have let them dry in the sun, but that takes time...
Did I spin these when using the air, maybe but not intentionally, however I will make sure in the future there is no spinning going on.

Giving them a spray with Brake Kleene will flush out the parts cleaner and they will dry faster.
If you do use compressed air, just direct it along the axis of the rollers.