Mazda3 wheel bearing brands and price

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I'm looking to replace the integrated rear bearing/hub assemblies on a 2008 Mazda3 in the near future, and I'm trying to get parts together. The car's got 64k miles on it, and I first noticed they were making noise about 6k miles ago. Can't hear anything while driving, but when spinning the wheels off the ground they make a clicking noise. It's not the normal "growling" from a bad bearing but nonetheless there are other complaints about this noise on the web and it seems to be from the bearings. I think it's the same noise covered in this post. I don't think it's gotten much worse but I figure I might as well replace them before it does.

There's another thread active right now about bearing/hub assemblies and the advice seems to be to go with Timken. I don't want to cheap out on this part (not impressed that the OEMs both failed at low mileage). But I'm a little perturbed by what I'm seeing. Autozone lists a Timken part for this application at $226, but RockAuto has the same part number for $106. How can the same part possibly retail with a 100% difference in price? Amazon also has the same part listed for about $108, with a note that says "Note: Timken partners with other manufacturers to supply their complete line of quality parts. This product is in a Timken package, however the part may have been manufactured by an independent Timken supplier."

Is it possible that the same part number actually has two different builds, for instance one made in China and one in the US? Or is the huge price difference just an extreme case of the normal price differences between B&M auto parts stores and online retailers?


If anyone has any input or questions about the bearing clicking noise I'm interested in discussing that as well. I half wonder if the noise is, well, not "normal" exactly but not necessarily a problem. But I'm not sure I want to wait and find out. There's no play in the wheel that I can feel when trying to move it around.
 
autozone has a massive markup on some of the parts.

try to get it from rockauto or amazon.


amazon has it for 108.89 w/free ship.
 
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Originally Posted By: heynow
Sellers can list parts on Amazon for any price they want, similar to Ebay.


The Amazon one is listed as "Ships from and sold by Amazon.com" not a third party seller.
 
I went with SKF from my local NAPA store after doing some research it seems those ones are good for the long run and NAPA has a lifetime warranty on them .

Mine list for $280 but I know the store owner well and he charged me $145 so yes there are big mark ups .
 
For imports Timken COO is usually Korea, Japan (seldom) or China for Japanese imports and China for German imports.
Getting a USA made unit is possible but highly unlikely, it would have to be NOS that you just by luck stumbled on.

F.A.G., SKF, Timken have factories in China for the Asian, US market and other countries with lax Chinese import regulations.
Timken buys and reboxes their German car hubs from F.A.G. China and commonly make their own in Korea for Japanese cars.
SKF apparently doesn't outsource, it appears all are made in house albeit at a Chinese factory.
Moog/National buys from Chinese suppliers for much of their stuff.
You can spot these Mickey Mouse POS because of their lack of info on the inner bearing race, no # or COO and black grease seals with Made in China on the box.

For domestic cars Mexico is becoming a major source as is China and Korea for all the companies.

I would roll the dice on an SKF, you may get one made in France or Germany but probably China.
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
SKF apparently doesn't outsource, it appears all are made in house albeit at a Chinese factory.


This isn't entirely true. I bought some SKF races and bearings and only one was labeled SKF on the bearing and the rest were Timken. These came from Rockauto except for one outside race that was from NAPA. The box at NAPA was labeled SKF but inside the race was Timken.
 
I've replaced all 4 on my 2007 hatchback, had 3 Timken rear hubs in a row come in and it was like they had a detent in their travel so I gave up and got one from O'Reilly. Got SKF for the front and 1 of those had a bad tone wheel. Got one at O'Reilly and was fine.

Moral of the Story, keep it local, exchanges are much easier and faster. O'Reilly had a few choices, some with lifetime warranties, others with above average length, I went with lifetime or longer than a year to keep some piece of mind.
 
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I bought SKF ("reboxed" NOK from Jpn) rear wheel bearings w/ hubs for my late FIL's civic before...so I know SKF sometimes would rebox other stuff as well and not solely on their own production/brand.

Q.
 
Originally Posted By: SVTCobra
Originally Posted By: Trav
SKF apparently doesn't outsource, it appears all are made in house albeit at a Chinese factory.


This isn't entirely true. I bought some SKF races and bearings and only one was labeled SKF on the bearing and the rest were Timken. These came from Rockauto except for one outside race that was from NAPA. The box at NAPA was labeled SKF but inside the race was Timken.


Interesting. I guess no brand is immune from these shenanigans. Thanks for that info its enlightening, the more info we get on the parts situation the better.
 
Originally Posted By: brandini
I've replaced all 4 on my 2007 hatchback, had 3 Timken rear hubs in a row come in and it was like they had a detent in their travel so I gave up and got one from O'Reilly. Got SKF for the front and 1 of those had a bad tone wheel. Got one at O'Reilly and was fine.

Moral of the Story, keep it local, exchanges are much easier and faster. O'Reilly had a few choices, some with lifetime warranties, others with above average length, I went with lifetime or longer than a year to keep some piece of mind.


That sounds like kind of a nightmare. Was the tone wheel problem physical and obvious or did you have to put it on and discover there was an ABS code set or something?

When you did the rears, was the R&R as easy as it looks? Looks pretty straightforward to remove the calipers, rotor, and unbolt the hub, and since it looks straightforward I'm wondering what's gonna trip me up.

Sounds like it's all kind of a roll of the dice no matter what so might as well order the Timkens and see how they look. Was thinking of doing the change when on vacation visiting the in-laws but the story about multiple bad bearings in a row gives me second thoughts!
 
Originally Posted By: Trav
For imports Timken COO is usually Korea, Japan (seldom) or China for Japanese imports and China for German imports.
Getting a USA made unit is possible but highly unlikely, it would have to be NOS that you just by luck stumbled on.

F.A.G., SKF, Timken have factories in China for the Asian, US market and other countries with lax Chinese import regulations.
Timken buys and reboxes their German car hubs from F.A.G. China and commonly make their own in Korea for Japanese cars.
SKF apparently doesn't outsource, it appears all are made in house albeit at a Chinese factory.
Moog/National buys from Chinese suppliers for much of their stuff.
You can spot these Mickey Mouse POS because of their lack of info on the inner bearing race, no # or COO and black grease seals with Made in China on the box.

For domestic cars Mexico is becoming a major source as is China and Korea for all the companies.

I would roll the dice on an SKF, you may get one made in France or Germany but probably China.


That is some great information. Thanks, Trav.
 
Originally Posted By: brandini
I've replaced all 4 on my 2007 hatchback, had 3 Timken rear hubs in a row come in and it was like they had a detent in their travel so I gave up and got one from O'Reilly.


I ordered the Timkens and they came today. When I pulled them out of the box and rotated them I immediately thought of your post!

Are the hubs supposed to feel completely smooth when they rotate or is it normal to feel faint "bumps"? Both of the ones I got today feel the same, and I would describe it the same way you did. Maybe this is just a characteristic of this bearing design?
 
Thanks Trav -- very explanatory link.

I meant to post on country of origin last night but it slipped my mind by the time I finally got to the computer. They came in nice Timken boxes, but I can't find a country of origin anywhere on the box. On the bottom is printed "Distributed by the Timken Company / Timken Service Products are carefully chosen from select manufacturers." So presumably not made by Timken.

I don't see a COO on the hubs that I can decode either. The inner race isn't visible due to the structure of the part (interior ABS wheel). "1DM" and "1DJ" are engraved in the hub flange, "7Z" and "8C" on the outer surface of the bearing housing. Not sure if these are country codes or something else. There's text that looks like serial or date codes etched on the back of the hub flange as well, and one has a "K" and the other a "D" in the middle of the "bowl-shaped" surface where the axle nut would go if they were for driven wheels.

 
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I know when I bought Timken wheel bearings for 2 cars - a Lexus and a Nissan they were Koyo bearings - OEM. YMMV, but a "premium" brand more than likely will rebrand OEM, "value" line will reverse engineer.
 
Originally Posted By: nthach
I know when I bought Timken wheel bearings for 2 cars - a Lexus and a Nissan they were Koyo bearings - OEM. YMMV, but a "premium" brand more than likely will rebrand OEM, "value" line will reverse engineer.


I probably just haven't done enough research yet but how easy is it to trace the bearing to a particular manufacturer based on its markings?

This is really more of a curiosity thing at this point.
 
Without the inner race info or they clearly embed it in the casting its not easy at all, even when it is embedded in the casting its dodgy because they may have sold the mold to someone.

Moog/National go one step further and put the bearing markings inside so you cant see them.
Disassembly of a bad one reveals the source, China. However The box clearly states "Made in China" They are in compliance with labeling regulations.

There are COO labeling laws and IMHO Timken is violating them. I have seen more than a few sealed retail boxes with no COO and none on the part or accompanying paperwork either.
Look at any papers that came with the hub, does it say printed in...?

http://www.sema.org/files/attachments/Government-Affairs-2009-09-SN-Sep04-Country-Origin.pdf

Like you i am curious. This seems to be a dirty business, after reading this stuff you get the feeling you are dealing with organized crime syndicate.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-05-16...l-bearings.html

http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303802104579448901465061872

http://www.allenovery.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/GlobalCartelEnforcement.pdf
 
I don't think I'm missing anything, and I don't see any COO listed on the box, printed materials, any external face of the hub unit, or the bubble wrap. Maybe they have it stamped inside the assembly somewhere but I won't be finding out
smile.gif
 
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