Yes, sad state of affairs for sure. All the more reason to seek out and buy made in USA when available.
Timken bearings made in china?
- Thread starter Rust_Belt_Pete
- Start date
Well, the best warranty does not equate to the best part, was the nature of my question. There are plenty of parts makers out there that have lifetime warranties on stuff that suck.
Bearings are one of those things that are susceptible to two things:
improper installation: seating the race, preload, etc
improper lube or contamination during install
if the above is done correctly bearing life increases exponentially
either one of these not done right will kill a bearing no matter what the warranty
Call Timkin, they are still in the USA.
China is very capable of making top quality stuff. Main problem is sometimes they choose not to with some items.
I got a Timken bearing about 2 years ago for a certain project, it was made in India. I would have preferred it was China instead, it worked but not as nice looking as a German made bearing used on the other side of the unit.
I got a Timken bearing about 2 years ago for a certain project, it was made in India. I would have preferred it was China instead, it worked but not as nice looking as a German made bearing used on the other side of the unit.
With all the online shopping, and the ability now for states to collect sales tax, I think its fair game to demand all online retailers list the country of origin of the product.
We have a trillion useless laws on the books. How about adding one good one.
We have a trillion useless laws on the books. How about adding one good one.
Wonder what kind of tools they use?Over 30 million vehicles were manufactured in China last year. I wonder if they used American made bearings.
German. Not kidding
German exports to Asia rose by 7% last year. Accounting for a share of 17%, China is the most important target country of all. Compared to the previous year, exports grew by 6% to a volume of €1.6bn but remained well below the last peak year of 2018. Many companies are finding it difficult to do business there
https://www.machinery.co.uk/content...stry-posts-a-strong-year-for-exports-in-2023/
Yep.German. Not kidding
German exports to Asia rose by 7% last year. Accounting for a share of 17%, China is the most important target country of all. Compared to the previous year, exports grew by 6% to a volume of €1.6bn but remained well below the last peak year of 2018. Many companies are finding it difficult to do business there
https://www.machinery.co.uk/content...stry-posts-a-strong-year-for-exports-in-2023/
They don't like USA tools.
The bearings from China in the 1990's cost Precor a ton of money in one of their products. I had to go in the field..........
I believe I explained your first point in my post.
Before the part gets to your door there are supply chain concerns, material certs, metal treatment requirements/certs...etc. Quality inspection, learnongs from historical parts ..the list goes on and on.
But yes all the items you listed are correct once you receive it. You and I can control installing it correctly but we cannot control if the "China" bearing rolled elements were hardened correctly.
Sure. But are all the bearing failures having to do with quality of the metal? I would argue that most failures are not, was my point
Years ago, I toured a Timkin bearing manufacturing location in RIDC industrial park in Blawnox Pennsylvania (N.E. from Pittsburgh). Inside that big warehouse like building they had a decent size room in the middle of the huge building. That room was insulated and had it's own heating and AC system. The lights inside it were dim, and the temperature was kept within a narrow range. It was the room where they measured the bearings and races they made, and it also had some manufacturing equipment for making some small tight tolerance bearings and races, and some bearing assembly equipment.
In other words, they even take into consideration the temperature of the bearing or race and the measurement equiptment when they check if it is within specifications. And bright light may interfere so the lights were dim.
In other words, they even take into consideration the temperature of the bearing or race and the measurement equiptment when they check if it is within specifications. And bright light may interfere so the lights were dim.
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ACDelco is just a reboxer these days.
I don't purchase Timken or SKF, I'll do a little more homework and go for the Jap stuff. I have a little more confidense I'll do the job once and done. Europe, NA, Taiwan, Korea is second. No chinesium for me- it might be great gear but that's the thing.....it might be total hash.
I would thank the US$ being the worlds reserve currency, where an artificial demand for dollars means an overvalued dollare by 40%, exports not competitive, and imports are.. Good for wall street though
Yup it's amazing what a small temperature delta can do when you are measuring down .000X".
If they need to measure any parts from outside that room, they have to bring it in and let it acclimate for at least 24hrs.
Japan’s auto industry is one quarter the size of China’s. The times they are a changing.
Yep, Teslas come with a lot of Chinese parts as OE. I saw a content sticker on a new 2024 Prius that said it has 10% Chinese parts in it. GM has been using Chinese engines and transmissions for a while. There’s already Chinese buses on the streets of LA/Long Beach for a while.
Skf sales on their box NTN bearing now!
It's all about what quality they choose to make at a Chinese plant. Making bearings is not like designing a quantum computer. They can choose to make quality parts and have proper QA or choose to make the cheaper crap.
The key is if companies like Timken are doing quality control inspections of what comes out of the plant with their name on it. One would think Timken would want to keep the same high standards for their bearings no matter what plant they came out of. One would think. I would if I was Mr Timken.
Why would I want to pay the same price for a Chinese bearing over a USA bearing - even if the quality is the same and they both say Timken? When I go to walmart I buy a China TV and pay a fraction of what I would pay to have the same TV made here - even if we could.
Timken bearings from China now cost the same as if it were made here. No way I pay the same for a China bearing. Give me a 75% price cut, then sure.
This attitude of not caring where it came from explains a lot.