CurtP

A couple of weekends ago I decided to repack my front wheel bearings on my '87. Found out the PO had replaced them with Chinese bearings and packed the entire hub full of cheap grease. Looks like he replaced one bearing race, then gave up, so I have Chinese bearings running on German races with some really weird wear patterns and as you spin the wheel around, goes from tight to loose, back to tight. Nice, eh?

I ordered new bearings, races and seals from Pelican. Since they only had NTN bearings for the outers, I ordered all SKF instead - both are listed as OEM suppliers. What I got are bearings made in Mexico. Does anyone carry the German bearings and races? While I'm 100% positive that these Mexican bearings are going to be much better than the Chinese crap that's in there now, I'd really like to replace them with German ones.

I haven't been able to determine where the Elring Klinger seals were made (which are also listed as an OEM supplier along with Kaco).

I'm repacking the bearings with Lucas X-tra heavy-duty grease.

Van

I always order my bearings from the Porsche dealer - because I'm **** that way... and they're rarely from Germany. Usually they're from Spain, sometimes Mexico.

quinnfiske

If you want your car to have all of it's parts made in Germany, you are going to have a difficult time. Manufacturing has become a global business and the country of origin has little or no meaning anymore. Most of the parts that we replace on our cars are specified by Porsche but made by suppliers. These wheel bearings are an excellent example. The design engineer at Porsche picked them out of a bearing catalog many years ago. That bearing is probably used on other cars as well (an Audi perhaps) and any manufacturer can made them as long as the specs are met. There are a number of companies that will make bearings to that spec. As long as the original specifications are met, it really does not matter where the part is made. The problem arrises when a supplier takes shortcuts. The Chinese are becoming well known for this, but I don't know if you can make a blanket statement. I recently bought a DME relay and it was made in Hungary.

spoolin51

You get what you pay for...

shortcuts are a part of their R&D

eniac

*** bearings - Brazil

quinnfiske

These bearings will meet the specs that *** demands. *** is a German company (I think). The fact that they are made in Brazil doesn't matter.

JohnKoaWood

From the Schaefller KG (***) interweb site... (yes they are a german corporation, with global reach...

"We produce precision products in 63 plants across the globe – everything from 2mm drawn cup needle roller bearings to large rolling bearings with an outside diameter of 4.25 meters."

They specifically have factories making wheels bearings from south to north america, as well as in europe...

yes they have A factory in Brazil... but as already stated, doesn't matter.

eniac

Nope doesn't matter. *** is a quality brand and is OEM on many Porsches and BMW.

lee101315

Chinese wheel bearings are bad news. My supplier started selling them to me for customer cars, and the next thing I know I am changing wheel bearings on the same cars three months later.

KuHL 951

You can also get Timken bearing sets for the 944.

TIMKEN bearings

CurtP

I don't mind paying extra to get what I'm looking for, but this is actually proving considerably more difficult than anticipated. Looks like there are more choices out there for the earlier cars (mine is an '87).


I've been looking for *** bearings with little success.


Then in that same note, it doesn't matter where the SKF bearings are made either. SKF (Svenska Kullagerfabriken) is a Swedish company who are a very well respected bearing manufacturer. They are the largest bearing manufacturer in the world. And I don't absolutely buy into the "it doesn't matter where they're made" mentality either. Someone is sticking their name on these Chinese bearings and they are absolute ****.

Again, it isn't really a question about the quality of these bearings, it's me wanting to use German bearings if possible because I'm ****. At this time, I don't think it's possible without jumping through considerable hoops.


Appreciate the link, but I question Timken bearings that are half the price of just about everyone else out there. Normally I'm a big Timken fan, but something doesn't smell right about those.

KuHL 951

I hear you and that's why I put in an inquiry to Timken as to where the 944 bearings are made. They could be China as far as I know. I don't care what company makes them, if a bearing looks like crap it usually is. I wish VBX made tapered automotive bearings, the quality is very good on all the ones I've ordered so far and they are US made. I was also amazed how universal the front 944 bearings are, they are on all sorts of vehicles; probably true for the rears also since they are sealed units.

azmi951

Dont forget Japanese bearings, they are top notch. I NEEDED bearings in short order a few months ago, I was surprised to find the local vato zone had a set of Timken bearings.

CurtP

If you pull up the bearings on RockAuto, it provides a cross-reference on what else the bearing fits.

On my search I have been finding posts saying that there are Timken bearings out there made in India and China and that they're not of good quality. I have a hard time believing Timken would stake their name on low quality bearings, so my assumption is that these are knock-offs.


Again, it isn't about a doubt to the quality of the bearings, it's me wanting to use German bearings if possible (provided they're good quality too). I have found Koyo outer bearings for my application. The picture of the NTN bearings I found drivewire dot com are marked as Japan as well.

Interestingly enough, the picture of the Ruville bearing says *** and Brazil on them.

Olli Snellman

i have Swedish made SKF's