Hub/wheel bearing

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I have to replace both front wheel bearing/hub assemblies on my Dakota. I can get Raybestos Professional Grade hub/bearing sets for $61.99 each plus $12.00 shipping from Rock Auto. Total price about $130.00.

I can also get the National brand at AAP for $84.00 each, Regular price is about $119.00, but if I use the BIG35 discount code, pay online and do two separate transactions it brings the price down to $84.00 each, and my local AAP has them in stock on the shelf.

Question is, which one is better? I can't really find much online and I did search here, I found one old post that didn't tell me much. There was one guy who had problems with a National bearing, but I think he may have torqued the nut incorrectly. I read that National is owned by Federal Mogul, and I think Federal Mogul owns Fram and Autolite, and if that really is so then I expect their hubs to probably be made either in China or Mexico. I don't know where Raybestos hubs are made. I read a post online where a guy bought Raybestos brake rotors that were made in China. Does anyone know if there is a good quality American made hub I can buy?

I'd like to get the best part I can at a reasonable price. So far Rockauto has been the only online parts supplier I have checked. I will look for other online prices today.

Thanks for any help.
 
I have a National brand hub from Advance on the driver's side of the Buick. It was made in Korea. It's working fine so far.

The cheaper Chinese-made NTP hub on the passenger's side went on me after 3 months almost to the day. Advance honored the warranty without issues.

Both of mine were torqued correctly with a new torque wrench, so improper installation wasn't the issue. The differences in quality between the two hubs was shocking. The National had far better machining and finishing work than the NTP.

I'd get the more expensive one locally in case it fails inside a year and you're stuck re-doing it.
 
If you have an Autozone handy they carry Timken assemblies for your Dakota.I know they are top notch quality but,they are a little more cash than what you are looking at.National is to my knowledge a mid line quality,have used in the past on a couple ocassion without issues,can't speak for the Raybestos never used anything from them other than brake pads and shoes.
 
Thanks for the info. The Timken hub at AZ is out of my budget. Plus it's a special order only item. If I wind up ordering the new parts I will see what I can find online.

I went up to AAP a few minutes ago and took a look at the National brand hub. It says on the box it is made in Korea and it looks to be excellent quality construction. I did read a few posts last night that said the Korean parts are pretty good quality. National also includes a new spindle nut in the box, which saves me a trip to Napa or the hardware store and 5 or 6 bucks apiece for new spindle nuts.

I will shop online today, see what I can find and if I can't find a better deal/better part that is within my budget I will probably just use the AAP discount and buy the National brand hubs. I think Sciphi has good advice about buying locally in case I need a warranty exchange.

Thanks for the help here.
 
That is pretty expensive and no free ship? If you can find it at autohausaz.com they have free ship after $50.00 or more in your order.

Check partsgeek.com? Shipping is $6.99 per order
 
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I have the same dilemma with my GP hubs.
The Raybestos hubs are Chinese made by affina under the PG brand for Raybestos,the quality may not be on par with other big names.

Timken a good name but is IMHO maybe a little tarnished since they started making a lot of hub stuff offshore,their U.S. made hubs are relabelled in some cases (i read this in more than one place but cannot verify).
This along with the lack of technical information drove me away from their product.
I chose SKF they are made in Kentucky and have use a new heavy duty design for SUV and light truck as well as some cars called X Tracker,check them out..

http://www.vsm.skf.com/en-US/Automotive/WheelEnd/PremiumHubUnits.aspx

Edit: Did you try Rock? The SKF were cheaper than AZ wanted for Timken by far.
 
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Thanks for all the help. I searched online, I tried Partsgeek, Amazon and a general Google search for the hubs. There are cheaper deals out there, and that's exactly what they are: cheap parts. No thanks on those. The best deal I could find was at AAP with 2 transactions using the Big35 discount code on each. Each part with tax came to $89.87 and I can pick them up in the store a little later today.

I think this will be about the best deal I can get on a good quality hub. If I could have bought the SKF parts locally I would have, they look like a very good quality part too and were only $94.00 on Rockauto, but I need to fix my truck as soon as I can. I don't have the time available to to wait 4 days to receive parts on UPS or FedEx. Plus I like the idea of buying locally in case I have a warranty problem.

Thanks for your help on this.
 
Trav, the National hub on my car was made in Korea. Then again, seemingly everything for any older GM sedan is made overseas nowadays.
 
Wow it seems like they are making them all over the place.
Still Korea or Taiwan doesn't sound as bad to me as PR of China or India,at least Hyundia comes from Korea and seems to do okay.
I don't know it maybe all baseless hog wash and all these factories based offshore owned by U.S. firms are producing decent stuff,
i guess i am just getting to be a geezer and have a tough time going "global"
 
Yeah the hubs do say "Made in Korea" on the box and it says "Korea" on the back side of the bearing seals. Still they are a good heavy part and seem to be built very well. The machine work on them looks excellent. I figure these National hubs should do fine.

I did pick the hubs up from AAP this afternoon but I have not installed them yet, will do that tomorrow. I had too many other things to get done today. I try to buy American when and where I can, and if a US-made hub in my price range had been available here locally, I would have bought it.
 
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