Technical Chinese wheel bearings

I purchased front wheel bearings from speedway that will allow me to install F1 front hubs on my 1940 Ford spindles. When they arrived I was disappointed to see they were made in China. Bearings are one thing I hate to get cheap with as I don't want to be stranded somewhere with a failed bearing.
Does anyone have part numbers for Timken bearings and seals that will work for this application?

Thank you
Scott

 

Wheel bearings and seals usually have part #s on them which can be cross referenced ; have you tried that ?

 

I've had Chinese wheel bearings in an OT van. The bearings were OK (nice machining actually) but the seals were junk.

 

There's reason Speedway's kit costs $40.
The bearings in the latest kits do look better than the unmarked bearings they had when they first started selling them.
Attached is a copy of an order with the Timken/National numbers.
Remember you should still grind the radius on the inner bearing with either the Timken or Speedway bearings.

 

I despise off shore wheel bearings,I have woke up hurting every morning since 4/7/74 because of a cheap ass sealed wheel bearing on the front of my motorcycle

The front wheel bearing locked up on my bike and at 55 MPH it starts ripping spokes out of the hub,I had a hellacious wreck resulting with bones protruding through my boot....Never,ever skimp on important parts. HRP

 

Are Timken bearings still USA made?
I just installed some Currie rear axles with the supplied Chinese bearings and seals. Seals failed within 20 miles. Currie said there is nothing wrong with the seals, I must of installed them wrong. Yeah, OK, I've been doing this for 40 years so I must not be doing it right. Talked to Speedway (where I bought them) and they sent me free "upgraded" seals so at least they acknowledged there is a problem with the seals.
Sure be nice if we could buy quality parts from anywhere again!

 

Funny I have read this for years but never had to do it, the bearings [timkin] that I got on several occasions already had a large radius...

 

Rich, thank you for taking the time to post a copy of your invoice. That will save a bunch of time, and thank you everyone else that replied.

I wasn't aware of the need to check the inner radius, now that you brought it to my attention I'll check it out.

Scott Hohensee

 

When did it become ok to sell crap? When did going to an import junk tool store and buying garbage tools become something anyone did?

Someone bumped a thread about Chinese Halibrands and I couldn't believe there weren't more people jumping in on the conversation. They keep sending crap over here because we keep buying it.

It is so hard to find made in the USA parts these days. Don't get me wrong, I have Chinese made stuff in my shop, but I try to avoid it. I bought some grease caps for the front of my coupe and they are stamped with China right on the top of the cap, I don't want that visible on my car. I wish there was a choice when ordering parts, a choice to buy made in the USA parts.

Sorry for the rant.

 

the only bearing that you need to switch out when doing the f-100/f-1 to `40 spindles is the inner bearing. that part number is 14116. i see Summit Racing has them for $22 each. Tinken brand , maybe they can tell you where they are made

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/TMK-14116/

O'reillys has national for $24. when i got some last year for my project the box said Made in Japan....maybe they are better?

http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/BCA0/14116.oap?ck=Search_14116_-1_2126&keyword=14116

you also need a different seal , i'm sure Rich B covered that

 

I have some SKF bearings on my Ford and I don't think they are made in China. SKF is a Swedish company known for good quality-control practices.

 

The problem isn't really foreign made bearings per se, some very fine parts are made by American competitors. Japan makes some good bearings for SKF, Germany makes good steel, found some bearings in my rig that were Romanian and wore well for many miles. At some point economic policy plays a role (heh) if we send them fake money don't be surprised when they send fake parts in return.

 

What you and everyone else is failing to realize is that Chinese goods are improving vastly over what they used to be.
These things go in cycles.
If you are old enough to remember there was a time when anything made in Japan was looked upon as junk.
Now they have a reputation for producing some of the finest cars and motorcycles in the world as well as other things like consumer electronics.

It was the same way early on with tools and other goods from places like Taiwan and China.
South Korea too.
Look at what Hyundai first produced and look at what they build now.

These days China or Chinese made does not always mean poorly made.
They have upped their game and continue to do so.
It's a natural cycle.

 

The problem I had was a lousy seal letting road dirt into an otherwise healthy bearing. I make sure I buy quality seals now.

 

Just remember, bearings are important. In WWII we targeted the German bearing factories.....you are not going anywhere (win a war) without bearings. I wonder how many bearing making factories we now have in the good old U.S.A.?

 

I could tell from 10 feet away they were cheap knockoffs they appear to be very poorly made.
Speedway should know better than to sell crap like this. A cheap fan shroud or hub caps are one thing but bearings that require exact tolerances and metallurgy are another

 

I found an old guy at Hershey this year that had a shit load of old Timken, BCA. New Departure, National , SKF, Victor, and other GOOD USA MADE old stock stuff and he had the parts books too! I looked thru the parts books and found every thing I needed for my 55 Buick. Fifty bucks and he even gave me a cold beer! I asked him for an address in case I run into someone else that needed good bearings and seals. He said"Buddy, I am damned near 90 years old and can't see for shit, I don't look parts up any more and I damned sure can't box up stuff to send out. I set up here in the fall and if anyone wants to dig thru it I sell it to them cheap. Otherwise I just sit here and drink beer and shoot the breeze"

 

We were on our way back to NY from the Street Rod Nats in Louisville and had a rear axle bearing give out in West Virginia. Luckily I found a great shop and had me back on the road in two hours. The bearing was from China and lasted only 12,000 miles. Don't use their junk!

 

As an owner of too many trailers, I have far too much experience with cheap foreign bearings and none of it is good. Today even buying Timken does not assure you of getting a USA product, however they are still, at least for the time being, a quality producer. For those who care to learn more of what is happening to our US companies and Timken in particular you can go to this link http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/business/timken-bows-to-investors-and-splits-in-two.html?_r=0

 

It's a 'world economy' now, so the brand name on the box has little to do with where it's made.

And that's a great link about US industry.....

 

The last SKF Bearings I purchased were made in Mexico. Suprized me, since I also thought it was a Swedish company. Have had no problems with them however.

 

Why the Hell anyone buys anything from Speedway continues to amaze me.
Thread after thread telling stories about poor quality parts,breakage,fitment issues etc.
Is there a better quality part available? Probably.I'm not doing the research to find out.
When I need to buy something it won't be from Speedway and most likely will cost more.

 

My Carson enclosed trailer came with Russian bearings. Made it to Baker Ca on the way to Bonneville when they got way to hot...regreased them with new grease and have never looked back. Good bearings, st---y grease, who would have guessed it.

 

To anyone interested, I have obtained 1986 versions of the International Bearing Interchange and International Seal Interchange books. Given a bearing or seal number, I can find most if not all manfacturers, users, and their part numbers

 

I'm with you partsdawg. I don't even have one of their catalogs. All the crap I hear about their 97 carbs and other junk breaking parts all the time. I have no idea why any good ol car guy would buy from them. They are a middle man for china junk. Like grandpa always said you get what you pay for. Buy USA or German or Japan hell even Mexico/Southern California.

 

The company that I worked for decided to outsource a lot of their parts manufacturing to China ten years ago. They let on that it would be just a few things but as a supervisor I was in meetings that it would be almost everything. I told them I was retiring but had to wait six months for my birthday. What I learned in those six months was that in China you have choices in the quality that you want and are willing to pay for. Most choose cheap shit that is really junk or maybe the next step up a little better but still junk. The company that I worked for had so many problems that they bought to of the companies that were making parts for them in China. It was the only way that they could see to not get junk. It is just sad that the salaries saved of your American workers go to buying this crap.

 

My son put on a disc brake kit on the 1040 Ford Deluxe Coupe with stock axel and drums, from Speedway.
The wheel bearings failed while I was driving it from Denver to Los Angeles, broke down in Beaver Utah.
The repair shop gave me this:
Front Wheel Seal: NAPA# CR18562
Inner Wheel Bearing Set: NAPA# BR13
Outer Wheel Bearing Set: NAPA# BR2
Hope this helps or gives you a place to start.
Mike

 

What's ironic, drum brakes when setup and adjusted as advertised aren't really that bad at all, certainly not going to swap them out for a cheap "kit" or bunch of junk anyway.

 

Depends on the vehicle; Detroit didn't always put the best brakes on everything. I've owned a few that had marginal brakes at best...