Ebay Dodge Caravan Rear Hubs?

Rock_Hudstone · Dec 26, 2012

Any opinions on these hubs on Ebay? I know Timken are the best but cost over $100 each, even the cheapo hubs at Autozone are $75 plus tax.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/512156-PAIR-Left...=item565051c7f4

I was going to get some junkyard hubs but they were stuck tight and I didn't bring my hub puller.

NHGUY · Dec 26, 2012

I had bought one a couple years back that was supposed to be "OEM".Well,I figured genuine Mopar....NOT.No brand just "Made in China" on it and well,it was looser than the original hub.Scary,you could feel how loose it was while cornering! Bought a new SKF hub and junked the China piece,vowed never to do that again.

Chris142 · Dec 26, 2012

I think hub assemblies are one thing you should not skimp on unless you like working on your car at the worst possible time or being personel friends with the local tow truck drivers.

Timkin is usually the best. SKF is good to and I'm sure there are other good brands but I'd stay away from the plain white boxed ones.

Trav · Dec 26, 2012

Those things will let you down in a short time, its just not worth the time and trouble messing with them.
Check Rock Auto. SKF, Timken, National are all okay. IRC National is Moog now.

fdcg27 · Dec 26, 2012

What's $100.00 for a part you'll replace once in the life of a vehicle, assuming you buy a quality part?
These are a safety item, and are no place to scrimp.

The_Jeff · Dec 26, 2012

Does "Dearborn Axle" or "Detroit Axle" on ebay have your hubs? They won't be American (and here's what's scary-- no COO on the box) but I got a front one for my silhouette van that seemed better than adequate in quality.

Says on the listing it's National brand ???

chad8 · Dec 26, 2012

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Does "Dearborn Axle" or "Detroit Axle" on ebay have your hubs? They won't be American (and here's what's scary-- no COO on the box) but I got a front one for my silhouette van that seemed better than adequate in quality.

Says on the listing it's National brand ???

Dearborn axle does get quality parts. I have ordered some from them and they were precision brand. I called them too. The guys working there care. They have been around a long time and spec some parts even they are imports.. Others they rebuild in-house.

Rock_Hudstone · Dec 26, 2012

Originally Posted By: eljefino
Does "Dearborn Axle" or "Detroit Axle" on ebay have your hubs? They won't be American (and here's what's scary-- no COO on the box) but I got a front one for my silhouette van that seemed better than adequate in quality.

Says on the listing it's National brand ???

The listing says its National Brand but further down there is a disclaimer stating brand names are for reference purpose only.

Could be National but probably not given the price. But that is typical Ebay these days; lots of stock photos and ambiguous descriptions.

stephen9666 · Dec 26, 2012

If it was a real National brand it would probably be decent. But, if they're just putting the name in there and possibly using the National part number, then all bets are off.

I'm pretty leery of Chinese white box parts. Unfortunately, even the major brands may be Chinese, but they'll probably be better quality.

BTW - Napa has a 20% off coupon available right now and Advance always has good discount codes.

What's the year/make/model?

stephen9666 · Dec 26, 2012

I just did a little poking around using part number 512156, which is listed in the ebay ad. It appears that's a Timken number.

If I were doing this job and I wanted cheap, I would still get a name brand. Using the Timken number, I found GMB number 745-0024 is the equivalent. GMB is probably the cheapest name brand you'll find. I haven't used much from them, but they're at least a real brand. I bought a GMB water pump recently. It was made in Thailand and appeared pretty good.

Amazon has the GMB 745-0024 for $38 shipped each.

Rock_Hudstone · Dec 27, 2012

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
I just did a little poking around using part number 512156, which is listed in the ebay ad. It appears that's a Timken number.

The 512156 is a common number used across brands, the i.e. the National # would be N512156 I believe.

Same thing with a D591 brake pad for example, manufacturers simply assign their own prefix or suffix.

Advance Auto has the Moog hubs for special order, are they USA made? I would hope so as the price is about the same as Autozone Timken hubs, yet without the Advance discounts of course.

kschachn · Dec 27, 2012

IMHO I would never put Chinese bearings on anything, automobiles included. You can usually tell which ones are Chinese by the price, one will cost (for example) $38 and the other one will be $90. Guess which one is which.

Like everyone else has mentioned, SKF, F A G, Koyo and NSK are all first-world bearings and will work as intended. National and Timken do produce some bearings in China although I have never seen one myself.

kschachn · Dec 27, 2012

Not necessarily. If you email Moog they will tell you where they are made.

Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone
Advance Auto has the Moog hubs for special order, are they USA made?

stephen9666 · Dec 27, 2012

Originally Posted By: kschachn

Like everyone else has mentioned, SKF, F A G, Koyo and NSK are all first-world bearings and will work as intended.

They're companies based in first-world countries, but they source bearings from all over.

I recently bought SKF wheel bearings for my Nissan and they were made in Mexico. I was a little bummed to see this. I paid a premium for SKF hoping for first world production. But, they're working fine so far.

kschachn · Dec 28, 2012

Well, good to know. I bought two front wheel bearings for my BMW, one from a dealer and one from elsewhere. The dealer one was F A G in a BMW box, the other was labeled SKF but was an F A G bearing in the box. Obviously SKF just reboxes the bearing.

Originally Posted By: stephen9666
They're companies based in first-world countries, but they source bearings from all over.

I recently bought SKF wheel bearings for my Nissan and they were made in Mexico. I was a little bummed to see this. I paid a premium for SKF hoping for first world production. But, they're working fine so far.

Rock_Hudstone · Jan 2, 2013

Originally Posted By: kschachn
Not necessarily. If you email Moog they will tell you where they are made.

Originally Posted By: Rock_Hudstone
Advance Auto has the Moog hubs for special order, are they USA made?

I ordered the Moog hubs from Advance Auto to see how they looked.

Turns out they are Korean made and seemed in appearance about one step up from a Chinese made hub, not cheap either- $111.
For $8 more Autozone has the U.S.A. made Timken.

Ebay Dodge Caravan Rear Hubs?

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