front bearings/hubs; any brands to avoid?

[762mm]

Yes I do. I spent 10 years selling aftermarket parts to people. Saw a lot of junk come back. Wouldn't put anything with MOOG stamped on it on my wheelbarrow. About the only one I'd trust is SKF. The warranty on the Motorcraft parts seems to be as good or better than the aftermarket stuff in a lot of cases.

I work at a dealership now, and for my situation, and price I paid it was well worth it!

Lol, I put MOOG tie rod ends, sway bar links, ball joints and wheel bearings on my old Explorer and they performed better and longer than the OEM Motorcraft... did the same on a Chevy Blazer in the family, with excellent results as well... a lot of that stuff has (or had?) a lifetime replacement warranty too.

Perhaps you got some of them bootlegged parts with MOOG printed on them?

 

[Trainmaster]

Moog has changed. Used to be first rate American stuff. A real go-to company for the best. About three years ago they stopped manufacturing and changed to reselling rebranded Chinese crap at higher prices.

Their American factories closed and their manufacturing people put out of work.

Was reading last week that their automotive aftermarket sales have plummeted.

 

[darmahsd]

I put Timkens in about 5 years ago on my 2005.
Not sure if they were Chinese, but still holding up.
ABS sensative to worn hubs, makes a good warning for that. ABS light was on, changed rear hubs, light went of.

 

[TobyU]

Moog has changed. Used to be first rate American stuff. A real go-to company for the best. About three years ago they stopped manufacturing and changed to reselling rebranded Chinese crap at higher prices.

Their American factories closed and their manufacturing people put out of work.

Was reading last week that their automotive aftermarket sales have plummeted.

Sadly along this line I just heard that there are no longer any steel foundries making steel in the US.
High quality engine and head manufacturers have to have the metal forged overseas and finish and heat treat it here in house.
They WANTED to use all US material because price is not an issue with what they sell but the said NONE available!!!

So sad. WE were once the steel makers for the world. Didn't we invent the steel industry???

 

[Alex Lopez]

Raybestos has a made in China "r line" bearing that has a lifetime warranty. comes without an abs sensor. available at rockauto. will be putting them on daughter's 07.

 

[Trainmaster]

made in China "r line" bearing that has a lifetime warranty... will be putting them on daughter's 07

Why in the name of God would you do a thing like that?

 

[TORNIT07]

I've had TERRIBLE experiences with MOOG wheel bearing assemblies for my expy. Same with their suspension parts. I will never buy ANYTHING MOOG again. I went with TIMKEN hub assemblies & so far they have served me well. 3 years on driver side & almost 2 years on passenger side. Many miles.

 

[762mm]

Moog has changed. Used to be first rate American stuff. A real go-to company for the best. About three years ago they stopped manufacturing and changed to reselling rebranded Chinese crap at higher prices.

Their American factories closed and their manufacturing people put out of work.

Was reading last week that their automotive aftermarket sales have plummeted.

Holy crap... This is beyond unfortunate. It's actually quite disgusting.


F**k Moog, out of pure principle in that case (regardless of quality). I won't buy their brand again, these cheap greedy basterds!


Thanks for the heads up.

 

[ManUpOrShutUp]

Yes I do. I spent 10 years selling aftermarket parts to people. Saw a lot of junk come back. Wouldn't put anything with MOOG stamped on it on my wheelbarrow. About the only one I'd trust is SKF. The warranty on the Motorcraft parts seems to be as good or better than the aftermarket stuff in a lot of cases.

I work at a dealership now, and for my situation, and price I paid it was well worth it!

I've heard nothing but bad about all the big chain brands, I had really good luck with some NAPA store brand hubs on a Suburban though. I had to replace both front hubs and they were still going strong about 20,000 miles later

SKF makes many of the wheel hub assemblies for MOOG, Timken and NAPA. As is usually the case with NAPA parts, you can identify the manufacturer by the part number (or you can just go down to NAPA and look in the box). For Timken and MOOG, you can find the SKF logo stamped on the part displayed in their respective stock photos for the front hub assembly. Having purchased both a Timken and MOOG bearing for my front assemblies, I can also confirm both bore the SKF stamp.


MOOG




Timken

 

[richs fishes]

So I finally got around to dealing with this. Ordered up the front hub and went with the OE motorcraft piece. Got the car up in the air, and to my surprise I found some play in the rear left hub! Went and ordered up the motorcraft rear hub and got it installed yesterday. Was quite the PITA to get the hub out of the knuckle as it was seized in there pretty good. But about half a can of PB Blaster and what felt like a few hundred whacks with a 3 lb sledge finally knocked it loose.

Happy to say that after a test drive my problem is definitely fixed. I was never even thinking the rear could be the problem since I could sort of "feel" the hum underfoot from the driver's seat and could make it go away when turning left. I was pretty sure I'd be replacing the front right hub! But its all fixed...now on to replace the alternator to hopefully get rid of a whine thats getting worse by the day (which I assumed was power steering pump but some poking around with a "stethoscope" under hood guided me to the alternator).