Bought a pair of hubs from Advance Auto’s liquidation - gamble with them?

[nthach]

ICYMI, Advance Auto is closing out their West Coast stores and I’ve managed to snag a set of brake pads and a pair of hubs. Advance’s catalog lists them as their DriveWorks line but they were actually ProLine Platinum, which is Pep Boys’ house line, since the CA stores were Pep Boys.

Now, for things like wheel bearings I try to avoid Chinesium. The price was $26 before tax for the pair, so I figure if they go out I’ll just order a pair of BCA hubs from Rock. Should I gamble on these hubs? They’ll be going onto an 09 Prius with 222K on the clock.

 

[Lubener]

You already bought them why not use them?

 

[dnewton3]

I don't understand why you'd buy them, then ask if you should use them.

 

[D1dad]

I used the drive works on my 09 Altima on the front left and about 2 yrs later all the symptoms and test indicated the front right was going out. I used a timken for that repair, which was ultimately the front left. I then ordered a timken and the drive works was of course out of warranty. The cars probably got 50k on the timken and no issues while the drive works only lasted maybe 20k and wasn’t any cheaper. If I was able to get them @$26 a bearing I’d have been OK with it.

 

[4WD]

This seems like too much intrusive labor for questionable parts …

 

[eljefino]

I got 70+k miles from a DW bearing on an 05 Prius but it was an "honest Chinese" one from a presumably different supplier.

When AA took over PB they probably reboxed a bunch of parts in the stock room. In your case it was a "virtual reboxing" where they just updated the computer. It can take years to move through all the old stock and that underperforming store never did in your example.

I'd run it, to answer your question. They aren't too awful hard to change out.

 

[D60]

I'd absolutely run it. You have it. It was inexpensive. Quite often cheap bearings give good service life.

 

[cptbarkey]

Since its a safety item, no, I wouldn’t.

 

[D1dad]

It’s not going to fly apart (hopefully). It’ll just wear out well before a higher quality bearing. I was able to replace one in about 45 minutes so it wasn’t an all day deal. Plus it was what was in stock the day I decided to do it. I replaced a pair of bearings on my wife’s 07 Murano from Detroit axle, yeah I know. I was selling it and didn’t wanna dump a ton into it and even told the guy who bought it, that they were new but not the greatest quality. That was 6 yrs ago and they’re still going strong. He bought the suv for his son to run from Ohio to college in Louisville and the whole cars going strong. His son has since graduated and he uses it as a work car driving it 80 miles round trip a day. So sometimes you get lucky with cheap. My lucks never been that good.

 

[Nukeman7]

If you are providing the labor, I would use them in a millisecond. If you are paying a mechanic to install them, maybe not.

Objectively, the Prius is 16 years old and high(er) mileage, plus you only have $26 invested in the parts. That's not much to gamble in my book. Who knows how much life is left in the car or if it might be sold or totaled in a wreck next week?

 

[D60]

If you are providing the labor, I would use them in a millisecond. If you are paying a mechanic to install them, maybe not.

Objectively, the Prius is 16 years old and high(er) mileage, plus you only have $52 invested in the parts. That's not much to gamble in my book. Who knows how much life is left in the car or if it might be sold or totaled in a wreck next week?

^^ this. It's called perspective

 

[CarlB]

Depends on how you drive. The parts stores hubs can eventually shear from hard driving.

 

[nthach]

I got 70+k miles from a DW bearing on an 05 Prius but it was an "honest Chinese" one from a presumably different supplier.

When AA took over PB they probably reboxed a bunch of parts in the stock room. In your case it was a "virtual reboxing" where they just updated the computer. It can take years to move through all the old stock and that underperforming store never did in your example.

I'd run it, to answer your question. They aren't too awful hard to change out.

If I can get 2-3 years out of it, I’ll be happy. I’ve been watching a few videos about doing the job. The bigger concern is getting the old hub out. The car has been to Tahoe a few times. I do need to get new axle nuts, and while I’m in there, reboot the CVs.

 

[nthach]

If you are providing the labor, I would use them in a millisecond. If you are paying a mechanic to install them, maybe not.

Objectively, the Prius is 16 years old and high(er) mileage, plus you only have $52 invested in the parts. That's not much to gamble in my book. Who knows how much life is left in the car or if it might be sold or totaled in a wreck next week?

The plan is to see how long I can keep the car running - my goal is get it over 300K before I look into another car. It’s in good mechanical shape but of course we have bad roads and bad drivers around here.

 

[D60]

The plan is to see how long I can keep the car running - my goal is get it over 300K before I look into another car. It’s in good mechanical shape but of course we have bad roads and bad drivers around here.

This year for us has been particularly bad for deer strikes. I see a lot of "beaters" with tons of good "parts runner" life discarded because they're just not worth fixing.

Again, if you do all the labor yourself with JY parts, you can do ok. But as soon as you start paying labor or for a professional paint job, it's a losing proposition.

My buddy just had a '17 Mini totalled because the adjuster was an a***ole. All it really needed was body panels ‐‐ the rad support and engine were untouched. Using magic math the adjuster managed to get it to $20k and then said it was close enough to their book value of $21k they were totalling it because he said so.

 

[nthach]

I used the drive works on my 09 Altima on the front left and about 2 yrs later all the symptoms and test indicated the front right was going out. I used a timken for that repair, which was ultimately the front left. I then ordered a timken and the drive works was of course out of warranty. The cars probably got 50k on the timken and no issues while the drive works only lasted maybe 20k and wasn’t any cheaper. If I was able to get them @$26 a bearing I’d have been OK with it.

I got these for $13/bearing. If they go out quickly, I’m not going to be terribly upset. Retail is $150ish I think.

 

[D1dad]

I got these for $13/bearing. If they go out quickly, I’m not going to be terribly upset. Retail is $150ish I think.

Even better. I’d have bought a couple as spares for that price

 

[nthach]

Even better. I’d have bought a couple as spares for that price

I should have done that in hindsight. Oh well, if these go out, BCAs.

 

[Nesterenko]

The plan is to see how long I can keep the car running - my goal is get it over 300K before I look into another car. It’s in good mechanical shape but of course we have bad roads and bad drivers around here.

Consider yourself lucky, you could add salt, slush and giant potholes to the mix here in the
Northeast.

 

[nthach]

Consider yourself lucky, you could add salt, slush and giant potholes to the mix here in the
Northeast.

Hey, cars can rust out here in California too - if you live near the ocean or in Tahoe/the Sierras.