I get the intent, but I started this thread months ago looking for suggestions of brands to use or avoid. Little late to offer up input on that aspect of this conversation now that the job is done. I suppose when I exaggerated and said I used half a can of penetrating oil I opened myself up to critique, but trying to spray a stuck bolt is a bit different than trying to free a hub seized in a knuckle. Lots of surface area, and no good spot to introduce lubricant. I only resurrected the thread so anyone else looking at this later wouldn't assume that hum I felt was actually a bad front hub since it ended up being the rear in my case (which was quite unexpected as for some reason my brain said it had to be the front).
I also have not bought many name brand parts through the years. I usually get off the shelf parts from the big box stores specifically for the longer warranties. That seemed to equate to me doing the same job quite a few times on certain cars. So instead of doing the same thing this time, I asked for opinions. Based on my own experience plus everyone else commenting about how just about everything out there is crap right now, I chose to go with what was in theory the same part the vehicle came with originally which lasted 100K miles. I'm tired of doing the same job over and over because I used a cheaper part with a longer warranty. I shouldnt expect any better results if I do that same thing again, so decided to spend a bit more now to hopefully not have to do this job again anytime soon.
If you're not often using motorcraft or other similar parts, can you really say the price difference doesn't reflect the amount of extra life they might provide? I'm with you in theory, but thought I'd try something different this time around and really find out for sure.