Wheel bearing quality

[bmcnut]

I need to get a front wheel bearing for my Cube. Ok, its a modern, its expensive because it comes in the hub with an ABS sensor. For this reason, I'm trying to avoid getting a genuine Nissan one (or pair). Ive looked on ECP and they do SKF bearings, quite costy but I will if I have too. Ebay is awash with various brands and at various prices, and the web points out that some might be fake, so all in all, its a complete mindfield. RRers always seem to come up with confident answers.

Could anyone out there recommend me a decent/good aftermarket brand at a reasonable price. With the Cube being heavier than the Nissan Note that its based on, I figure its worth spending out on something that's a little better than fudge. The last time I bought a bearing it came in a Leyland box, and that doesn't help me at all!

[kenb]

I have a V50 Ovlov, and needed two front wheels bearings/hub assembly a long while back. Bought the FAG brand from ECP 18 months ago, not the cheapest nor the dearest, but done around 15k on them so far with no issues. I have a real thing about bearing quality, as all I see on ebay and elsewhere is cheap rubbish and possibly fakes, but how can you tell. It does seem that even known brands these days are not quite what they used to be, but has to be a better choice than the unmarked brands. Also buying from a local parts supplier, you do at least have some comeback if it all goes wrong.

[stealthstylz]

I fitted some Fahren (iirc, super cheapo about 8 quid a side) wheel bearings to the front of my Saxo and they're still fine 80k miles later. That's on a car that has much heavier wheels than stock, wheel spacers and tiny tyres so they're getting some hammer.

[ChasR]

I've only ever gone with SKF or genuine, despite the cost.

I once got bit on a Mondeo Mk3. I got a Vetech bearing Hub assembly for my sister's 2003 Ghia X. In short:

-It worked but the ABS light came on; this had never come on in our ownership
-I was going to take the old ABS sensor out, but GSF at the time warned me that my warranty would be invalidated on the entire part ; It could have been missing a reluctor ring inside bear in mind, which has happened on another Mk3's Gearbox we changed ; that took alot of head scratching to find!
-We returned it, and it took almost a month of going back and forth to GSF as they wanted the item testing prior to even hinting they'd refund us. I must have gone in 4 times to get a refund as it was being processed.

I was lucky that I had a genuine, but 380,000 mile hub off a car I knew worked to fit. I'd have had a trickier time if I didn't. At this point in time, I'd just swallow the cost and pay the money. Just how expensive is it?

I know in those circles, both from my garage and the Mondeo folk, the cheap assemblies barely do 30k before they need changing again.

FWIW We paid as follows:

'03 Mondeo : £45 then £75 for an SKF
'07 Mondeo 3.0 V6 : £80 for a genuine part ; the other side I fitted the high mileage bearing into; the 3rd car that bearing would see. I sold the other fairly easily for £30 to a friend, with others asking me to buy it, with 380k!
'08 Mondeo 2.5T : £90 for a genuine bearing; it wasn't worth me trying something else ; SKFs were more.

Some sites like Mister Auto will sell branded names cheaper but I'd avoid them with a barge pole. IME, they tend to be factory rejects, and their returns department is an absolute joke.

As a heads up, not to make anyone panic, I know my local motor factors are struggling for part deliveries and drivers ; they can't deliver anymore due to this, so think carefully about getting the right parts and getting them now.

[bmcnut]

Mar 21, 2020 7:04:10 GMT ChasR said:

I've only ever gone with SKF or genuine, despite the cost.

I was lucky that I had a genuine, but 380,000 mile hub off a car I knew worked to fit. I'd have had a trickier time if I didn't. At this point in time, I'd just swallow the cost and pay the money. Just how expensive is it?

As a heads up, not to make anyone panic, I know my local motor factors are struggling for part deliveries and drivers ; they can't deliver anymore due to this, so think carefully about getting the right parts and getting them now.

Its £270 that's the bearing in the hub with the sensor. It doesn't state on the site if its a pair or not, There are SKF ones on ebay but the prices are all over the place,so I'm not exactly confident. I havnt tried main dealer and probably wont, but I'll be making the phone call to ECP on Monday. Ive been down the route of buying cheap and doing the job twice in the past, so id rather pay up to get something decent, but the last hub bearing I bought was a genuine BL one for a fiver, so £270 was a bit of a shock. The reason the bearing is shot is my own silly fault, I swapped the wheels front to rear and must have nipped the nuts up on that wheel instead of tightening them, they came loose a week or so later and caused the wheel to wobble on the hub. I tightened the wheel up and it was fine for a couple of months but then started to get noisy. MOT man said there was no play in it but noisy enough for an advisory, for the last week or so its got noticeably worse, to the extent its doing my head in enough to justify £270!

Thanks for all the advice, I always find the answers to a question on here usually point me in the right direction.

[bmcnut]

Just reserved the bearing (£270) And a couple of drive belts which are due soon (£60) and some filters as it wouldn't hurt (£28)

£234

No, my maths isn't broken, they've got a sale on.

Time to go out and celebrate!

Oh wait...…..

[gryphon]

I may be a little late here - www.autodoc.co.uk/skf/7182049

I saw the thread a couple of days ago, checked autodoc and thought £95 for a wheel bearing?! ouch. Hadn't realised how much ECP was asking...

There is another £8 postage from autodoc and a wait while they make it over from Germany (I think) but I've ordered a lot from them and other than one substituted part a few years ago haven't had an issue with them. They're consistently cheaper than anywhere UK and have a much better range of brands for each item.

Edit: And for what it's worth I fitted some Borg and Beck/First Line wheel bearings to the 944 a few years ago. They didn't get noisy, but the wheels had play in them after around 2k miles. Removed them and found the inner ring had cracked.

[bmcnut]

Cheers, i'll remember autodoc for next time, atm I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, I need to get the part and get it sorted asap and given the current situation I basicly need to 'panic buy' it.

[nukelaars]

Is that £270 with a discount code? ECP are a bit like DFS, always got a sale on. Alternatively, have a look at carparts4less.co.uk, same site as ECP but cheaper and also have sales. SKF are a quality brand, ditto FAG.

[ChasR]

Mar 24, 2020 7:51:59 GMT gryphon said:

I may be a little late here - www.autodoc.co.uk/skf/7182049

I saw the thread a couple of days ago, checked autodoc and thought £95 for a wheel bearing?! ouch. Hadn't realised how much ECP was asking...

There is another £8 postage from autodoc and a wait while they make it over from Germany (I think) but I've ordered a lot from them and other than one substituted part a few years ago haven't had an issue with them. They're consistently cheaper than anywhere UK and have a much better range of brands for each item.

Edit: And for what it's worth I fitted some Borg and Beck/First Line wheel bearings to the 944 a few years ago. They didn't get noisy, but the wheels had play in them after around 2k miles. Removed them and found the inner ring had cracked.

I've found AutoDoc to be a funny one. It's not their fault, but it's just down to how they list the parts and how they can provide cheaper parts for those on a budget.

On my M3, discs cost between £50 to £210 each, which is more than what the dealers want. I can get an ATE branded part, but it won't be the right one. It will fit, and operate in and out of a garage but there is a fundamental design change ; Factory ones are floating discs, and the cheaper ones aren't.

On my dad's 535d, he got caught out by the previous owner doing the same ; it was almost undriveable with the vibration ; it literally shook the car to death being on 1 piece Brembos ; They were the right size and thickness if people are questioning that ; they have warped on the very edge only within 10,000 miles ; I have no idea how my friend drove on those and I've sometimes limped discs on with a vibration admittedly ; they were so bad that you ahd to think about braking, as it felt like something would break on the car ; The only time I've had a vibration that bad was when the Stag's prop wasn't running true, and that slightly cracked the output shaft casing. 2 piece items later on them from Textar and more miles on them, and they are perfect.

I'm not saying they've done it on this occasion, but without a valid part no. reference, you don't know.

ECP have on occasion done that mind you, but generally they tend to stick to the aftermarket manuals, which is another can of worms I won't open .

[ballbagbagins]

She has a yaris for going to the station for work. It needed a rear wheel bearing two years ago, it's one with the abs sensor.

Toyota want £250, ebay sell them for £20. The £20 one last two years so I've bought any Ebay special. Car will be long dead before it would make financial sense to be the genuine one.

[bmcnut]

Mar 28, 2020 21:41:58 GMT nukelaars said:

Is that £270 with a discount code? ECP are a bit like DFS, always got a sale on. Alternatively, have a look at carparts4less.co.uk, same site as ECP but cheaper and also have sales. SKF are a quality brand, ditto FAG.

No, the original price was 270, but with all the other bits I got the total bill was £30 less than the original price for JUST the bearing. But Ive left the bill in the car so cant check exactly how much it was right now.

[gryphon]

Mar 29, 2020 15:10:07 GMT ChasR said:

I've found AutoDoc to be a funny one. It's not their fault, but it's just down to how they list the parts and how they can provide cheaper parts for those on a budget.

On my M3, discs cost between £50 to £210 each, which is more than what the dealers want. I can get an ATE branded part, but it won't be the right one. It will fit, and operate in and out of a garage but there is a fundamental design change ; Factory ones are floating discs, and the cheaper ones aren't.

On my dad's 535d, he got caught out by the previous owner doing the same ; it was almost undriveable with the vibration ; it literally shook the car to death being on 1 piece Brembos ; They were the right size and thickness if people are questioning that ; they have warped on the very edge only within 10,000 miles ; I have no idea how my friend drove on those and I've sometimes limped discs on with a vibration admittedly ; they were so bad that you ahd to think about braking, as it felt like something would break on the car ; The only time I've had a vibration that bad was when the Stag's prop wasn't running true, and that slightly cracked the output shaft casing. 2 piece items later on them from Textar and more miles on them, and they are perfect.

I'm not saying they've done it on this occasion, but without a valid part no. reference, you don't know.

ECP have on occasion done that mind you, but generally they tend to stick to the aftermarket manuals, which is another can of worms I won't open .

Now you mention it, the set of brembo front disks (from autodoc) I fitted to the Mazda 3 developed developed a serious judder after ~5k miles. Replaced with Mintex from autodoc and haven't had an issue since. They were the correct discs for the car in every dimension. I didn't particularly have autodoc as the culprit, especially as a mate had Brembo discs from ECP do exactly the same on his XF. I'm just steering clear of low end brembo discs and pads now!

On less common cars I do always double check the autodoc offering - for instance on the 944 CV joints they will sell you VW ones which have a few degrees less articulation than the Porsche ones. A lot cheaper but not worth the risk imo. For daily cars and MX5 etc they've seemed to be spot on.

I've also never tried buying cheap/unknown brands from them - or STARK which seem to be their own brand? Had no issues with Meyle/FAG/SKF bits.

Sorry for the derailment bmcnut!

[dog]

Go to your local motor factors and ask them for advise and warrenty info, what alot of peeps don't realise is the warrenty on alot of car parts these days can be upto 3 years but don't often make it known.