Are Timkin bearings junk now too?

[Qumanchew]

I just bought a set of Dodge unit bearing. The actual "Timken" box was nested inside another box that said made in China. So it is still worth paying the premium for Timkins or what?

 

[Got4wd]

Koyo

 

[Tricky Dick]

My day job is industrial maintenance so I have a lot of exposure to different bearings, have been to bearing classes, and hear from others in the industry. Yes, Timken is a shadow of their former selves.

 

[JB Fab]

Timkin bearings also come from India now too..........

 

[jeffncs]

I posted this thread on another forum. Some guys are still fans. If I can buy Made in USA… and be quality, I will.

https://carolinafirearmsforum.com/index.php?threads/trailer-bearing-advice….177405/


Personally, I’m a skeptic. Sounds like cheap labor and lower quality. Prove me wrong.

 

[bronco italiano]

Look on Ebay for sellers that have old stock. Won't find the 88128RB bearing made in USA again (rear axle bearing). I look for Koyo-NTN-Nachi/-NSK-IKO (Japan)/FAG-Schaeffler (Germany)
I used to work at a bearing supply warehouse in the mid 1980's and one of the old pros taught me about bearings

 

[Broncobowsher]

The German FAG bearing company had a manufacturing facility in Missouri back in the 90s.

Don't rule out counterfeit packaging as well. eBay, Rockauto, Amazon are all filled with sellers selling stuff with no tracability. There are youTube videos of spotting different fake auto parts.

 

[DirtDonk]

Timken bearings are made in at least 15 countries. Probably many more.
Haven’t checked lately, but many are (or were?) still made in the USA. I’m sure that number has gone way down since I was involved with them directly.
Up to the late nineties that number was about 40% or so (if they could be believed). By the end of the next decade it was about 25% or so. Again, if the numbers were from legit sources.

I’ve never had to buy one online, fortunately. When I buy locally, I ask to look at the boxes so I can check the labels.
I’m OK with the usual suspects. US, Japan, France, Germany, England, and maybe one or two others.
My last two rear wheel bearings for a bronco were USA and Japan. That was about ten years ago now. Got them right off the shelf of my local parts store.
Probably not going to find them quite so easily next time.
I’ve never gone down our shelves and looked through all the boxes to see what all the labels say on all of our Timken products.

We should start a thread, keeping track of where all of the different products we buy come from.
We know where most of them come from, of course. But I’d be interested in seeing what’s what and from where.
Specifically things like Timken and other previously USA parts would be interesting to know what most of the labels say.
I think someone even found a Motorcraft starter relay recently that was made in the USA. I think I have one in a box from another company somewhere that says the same thing.

The good news is that, even from cheap countries, many bearings, and u-joints are still of very high-quality. Or at least reasonably high-quality.
The really bad news, as far as I’m concerned, is that even some USA products are getting worse and worse. Presumably to try to compete profit-wise with the cheaper markets.

 

[bronco italiano]

Timken bearings are made in at least 15 countries. Probably many more.
Haven’t checked lately, but many are (or were?) still made in the USA. I’m sure that number has gone way down since I was involved with them directly.
Up to the late nineties that number was about 40% or so (if they could be believed). By the end of the next decade it was about 25% or so. Again, if the numbers were from legit sources.

I’ve never had to buy one online, fortunately. When I buy locally, I ask to look at the boxes so I can check the labels.
I’m OK with the usual suspects. US, Japan, France, Germany, England, and maybe one or two others.
My last two rear wheel bearings for a bronco were USA and Japan. That was about ten years ago now. Got them right off the shelf of my local parts store.
Probably not going to find them quite so easily next time.
I’ve never gone down our shelves and looked through all the boxes to see what all the labels say on all of our Timken products.

We should start a thread, keeping track of where all of the different products we buy come from.
We know where most of them come from, of course. But I’d be interested in seeing what’s what and from where.
Specifically things like Timken and other previously USA parts would be interesting to know what most of the labels say.
I think someone even found a Motorcraft starter relay recently that was made in the USA. I think I have one in a box from another company somewhere that says the same thing.

The good news is that, even from cheap countries, many bearings, and u-joints are still of very high-quality. Or at least reasonably high-quality.
The really bad news, as far as I’m concerned, is that even some USA products are getting worse and worse. Presumably to try to compete profit-wise with the cheaper markets.

Don't check the boxes. Timken boxes are made in the USA. That was pointed out to me years ago by my bearing mentor buddy.
You have to check the bearing itself. If it has no markings then it is probably from China.

 

[Apogee]

Just my experience, but Timken is still a world leader in certain bearing production, including tapered roller (wheel) bearings, spherical rollers, etc, and they've always had very good material control IMO. That said, they've never been a leader with respect to the unit-bearing assemblies, and don't even manufacture most if any of the part numbers they sell, they just rebrand other units, so with that said, I would stick with SKF for unit-bearings. I've had the best luck with the SKF X-Tracker hubs when they're available (which they tend to be for the higher performance applications), though SKF sells hubs to a bunch of other auto parts suppliers as well, including but not limited to ACDelco and others.

There is an app you can download the verify the authenticity of bearings: https://www.timken.com/product/authentic-bearings/

 

[savage]

I just did my unit bearing on my dodge and they come in the same yellow box with a box inside that said Timken, so far, no problem. We'll see if they last, only reason I changed them was doing a brake job and a 97 dodge Cummins which has the unit bearing pressed on the rotor.