abe

Okay, here it goes. I ordered from Pelican a bearing. They have OEM and a German Flag next to it on the web site. You assume its German made, right?
Wrong, made in MEXICO......why put the German Flag next to it....I think that is grossly misleading.
IMHO
abe

J. Brinkley

You know we're sitting on four million pounds of fuel, one nuclear weapon and a thing that has 270,000 moving parts built by the lowest bidder. Makes you feel good, doesn't it?

old man neri

Right from Pelican's site

I don't think it's miss leading at all. All you have to do is click on it and it explains what it means.

Besides, you got your OEM bearings, what does it matter where they are made?

Steely

It would bug me too. I think the catch was that - at the time - the part was probably made in one location and sourced/supplied to Stuttgart. Now, years later, if the OEMfr has moved their Mfg facilities to Taiwan or Mexico, they still meet spec and are of course OEM.

I'm guessing your talking SKF* - funny thing was my german g-dad worked at their philly location as a machinist when it was an art - we're talkin' 60 yrs ago - now it's push-button. Place is long gone now.

And to bore you some more, I once had an (american motors?) jeep, that I found out was fab'ed in Canada, and the tranny had synchros from China. (edit: guess what broke?)

Something sacrilegious about parts hecho de mexico in a Porsche, but the times they are a changin'.

*Remind yourself it's a genuine part from Svenska Kullagerfabriken.

jwilson95

Abe-

I work for an industrial distribution company that sells several hundred million in bearings per year and is one of SKF's largest distrbutors. SKF is a Swedish company (not German) and they have bearing plants all over the world including Germany and still Pennsylvania (Steely-Hanover, PA now, not Kulpsville)

Like the auto industry, the bearing industry is a global industry and many bearing mfr's even German ones like ***/INA have plants in their home countries and in other sites all over the world.

Many of the smaller 50 mm bore and under bearings are made in countries like Mexico and India due to the extreme cost pressure across the world.

SKF is/is among the top quality leaders in the business, so I would feel good about your purchase and go on down the road.

The biggest potential hazard to this or any bearing is the quality of the installation, not the quality of the construction. As someone mentioned these bearings today are mostly made by robots.

Jeff

jakeflyer

I hate to sound old school, but if I buy a German car, I would like it to be made in Germany and have German parts. It is part of the trust/legend. If I buy a Chevy truck, I want the engine, tranny, diff made in the USA. But, as jwilson states, global production is everywhere-- and maybe not transparent as to where it is made or the quality of steel used. I would question failure rates of quality of materials vs mal-installation.

Daviboy

jakeflyer I also am also old school but outsourcing especially with manufacturing costs the way they are these days. I have had three BMW's all built in South Africa so unfortunately one cannot stick to old school principles any more

jwilson95

I understand what you guys are saying about quality/OEM part, but Porsche has never made bearings. I would not mix/match engine/tranny parts that were non-Porsche, but you are safe on bearings if you go with a quality manufacturer.