alpine003

You're not understanding the point. The point is whatever bearing that LN is using(whether off the shelf or proprietary to their specs) and assuming they've been using the same manufacturer, has held a lengthy and healthy track record. So in other's eye's it's a proven product with very minimal risk.

Just because you use an off the shelf "new" bearing doesn't exempt you from potential premature failures which can come about from manufacturing defects, quality of materials, tolerances, etc. There's simply no historical data in terms of reliability from Pelican's kit since it hasn't been around and used in a huge volume to date. That's a fact.

Now some people such as yourself would be willing to take a chance(odd one at that) while others would rather spend a few hundred more than to gamble with their $15-20k engines.

One of my theories of the Porsche single IMS has always been that due to Porsche using many various IMS manufacturers through the 996 and some 997 run, there's a chance that some of the IMS manufactured from some of the origins could've not been as robust or had some very minute manufacturing defects that would've caused it to go bad. I don't know and this is pure speculation on my part.

By using an unknown source, one could argue that you are doing the same thing that Porsche originally did and pick out a bearing blindly with no real long term testing or mass historical data. Remember there have been members that have reported broken IMS with low mileage cars as well(under 30k).

It really boils down to the individual and whether they are comfortable in taking that chance. All I'm trying to say is not everyone will be and they will not be "wasting" a few hundred dollars more for a proven track record and peace of mind.

Imo000

Mine was a dual row and got it online from BOCA Bearings. Haven't checked prices since I bought mine late last year but then was and might still be, $99+shipping. The single row would be cheaper but since I didn't need one, never checked it.

KrazyK

BOT

David Meads

Hope this is an appropriate place to post this:
So, what are the odds of getting one with a bad bearing? 100% 50/50? I am new as well but don't roll your eyes. This is a great forum . I have always worked on my cars because I had to buy beaters. Never worked on a porsche. I'm not scared of basic stuff and some more technical repairs....but the IMS scares the crap out of me. I am looking at a 1999 911 Carrera 4. 24 service records and 1 owner. Previous owner replaced water pump, fuel pump, rear seals, window regulators, crank shaft position sensor in Nov of 2012. All done by the dealer that I talked to my self yesterday. But have not replaced the IMS. Car has 103000 miles.

KrazyK

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318touring

K, where are you getting your ceramic hybrid from? Thx

KrazyK

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AU_911

Says the guy who stresses over driving the car 300 miles. I bought my car 6 weeks ago with 46k miles. It now has 52k and runs like a champ. If sh*t hits the fan my warranty will cover it.

Sell your car, quit adding to the depreciation of these cars with your paranoid threads.

KrazyK

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alpine003

Bump for more classic KK that's relevant to a more recent thread.

5CHN3LL

I think this deserves a public service announcement: The engine that was retrofitted using the $35 ceramic hybrid bearing that OP mentions suffered what appears to be an IMSB-related failure 7,000 miles after retrofit. Caveat emptor.

*Edit for clarification* The bearing provided with the Pelican IMSB upgrade kit was NOT used by OP and is not the bearing mentioned in the above sentences.

RRTEC

I bought the NSK dual row and combined it with the budget Pelican kit.. what budget ceramic did he buy?

alpine003

You already felt the pain of blown heads, why would you still gamble with generic bearings? I just don't understand it.

RRTEC

It's not generic. It's the same part number from the Porsche bearing. I wanted to put a dual row OEM bearing back in as mine has lasted over 100k miles.

I'm confused apparently.

5CHN3LL

RRTEC, I don't know precisely what bearing OP used; I only know that it was not the bearing Pelican supplies.