Beware Chinese bearings!

[mjncad]

These bearings came out of a friend of a friend of mine's '57 Chevy hot rod with an aftermarket front suspension kit. The following text is from my friend. Fortunately no one was hurt or worse and the car suffered minimal damage from this cheap junk.

Though difficult to tell in the picture, "China" is etched into the edge of the inner race on these bearings. Only 2900 miles logged on these. You can see how overheated the rollers are. When the cage dissolves between the rollers, not much can be done except replace.

 

[Kendall69]

Beware Chinese bearings!....and pet food, clothing with lead, toys with lead, Chinese-supplied wheat and rice gluten that had been adulterated with melamine, Baby cribs that collapse, tooth paste, and on and on.

 

[Killer_B]

And you don't even want to think about their nukes.

 

[BTI]

This should be a wake-up call for us to bring our manufacturing back home.

BTI

 

[Rara Avis]

Timken
the only ones to use...

 

[BlacknTan]

Beware Chinese bearings!....and pet food, clothing with lead, toys with lead, Chinese-supplied wheat and rice gluten that had been adulterated with melamine, Baby cribs that collapse, tooth paste, and on and on.

Took the words right outta' my mouth!

 

[Rara Avis]

Beware Chinese bearings!....and pet food, clothing with lead, toys with lead, Chinese-supplied wheat and rice gluten that had been adulterated with melamine, Baby cribs that collapse, tooth paste, and on and on.

Gee...could you imagine a whole tractor made of chinese parts...

I am now going to find my hardhat...

 

[Tig]

I'd suspect that it wasn't greased properly at the suspension assembly plant, where ever that was.
I've seen the same or similar things happen several times over the past 30 years. I learned a lesson about greasing new parts when I was a kid and bought parts from a place we call "crappy tire" I haven't bought anything from them in 15 years but I still take time to make sure I grease what can be greased when I buy a vehicle or parts.

 

[SnowRidge]

Without a lot more info, it's impossible to know if the bearings were bad from the get-go, or there was some external factor that led to their early demise.

For better or worse, a lot of OEMs are using Chinese bearings these days.

 

[Tig]

Just had another look at the damaged bearing pic. Is that rust I see on the inner race?

 

[mytoys]

I'm not defending the chinese by any means but part of the blame for poor quality rests with us to some degree. For instance, if walmart wants to buy 10,000 $50 air conditioners, where do you think they're going to go? China says, sure, we can do that. We love our low cost goods from there. I certainly agree the quality is questionable.

Sorry, i'm not trying to turn this into a political/economic discussion.

 

[scott_vt]

This should be a wake-up call for us to bring our manufacturing back home.

BTI

Mornin BTI,
Ive been sayin this for years, problem is no one is listening ! Unfortunately the American public, for the most part shops looking at price tags instead of quality ! Ive been guilty of it myself, so I certainly cant condemn others for doing the same thing !

But I certainly agree on bringing our manufacturing base back home !

 

[DieselPower]

Personally I use SKF bearings. Might have something to do with the fact that my brother works at a local SKF bearing plant. If I can't get a bearing from SKF then I use Timken. No Commie bearings for me.

 

[SLOBuds]

Toys are the most horrifying abuse! A Chinese toy recall that didn't make the papers (ouch!):

 

[mytoys]

Toys are the most horrifying abuse! A Chinese toy recall that didn't make the papers (ouch!):

We had one of those at my school when i was a kid. Did i mention I also had to walk to school? 12 miles, uphill both ways.....

Suck it up kid and quit being a crybaby

 

[WBWI]

Japanese, Chinese, Korean... it's getting harder and harder to find bearings made domestically. When you do the price is usually considerably higher. As consumers we are all guilty of wanting the best price which usually means "foreign content".

 

[dbdartman]

Timken
the only ones to use...

After my brother & my experience with Chinese wheel bearings, that's my motto also. Here's the story:

1968 Barracuda, front spindles were swapped for 73-76 spindles to accept disc brakes. Installed are 11.75" discs, single piston calipers & carbon-metallic pads. Tires are BFG KDWS 245/45-16. When we installed the new brakes (along with a complete suspension rebuild) we installed new wheel bearings (of course we knocked out the outer races that came in the rotors, & replaced them with the races that came with the bearings). Bearings were greased with a 2-piece bearing greaser, then finished up by hand (yes, I've pack more than my share of roller bearings, yes it was properly & completely packed). After the brake swap/suspension rebuild, the first place the car went was to the tire shop (a trusted place we've been using for some 20+ years) for an alignment. It was strange, but since we'd made so many changes at once, we thought the noise we heard was simply "noisy tires." Another funny thing, the more we drove the car, the more "funny" it drove. After having the alignment checked, making sure the tires were properly inflated, & rotating the tires, we checked the front wheel bearings. One was bad (material from the race was transfered to the rollers, or vice-versa). Off to the parts store, pick up another new bearing, pack it, install it, & the car drives even worse (wont go "straight," it's constantly turning like the idler arm is bad, but EVERYTHING in the front end checks out as good)! Pop the bearings out again, clean & look at them closely & notice the MADE IN CHINA etched on the races. After a little investigation, we are advised to use TIMKIN bearings, as they are made in the USA, so we order a set. They arrive, are packed & installed. Not only is the "tire noise" gone, but suddenly the car drives like it DOES have a new steering/suspension system installed! This happened about 4 years ago. About 6 weeks ago I borrowed the car for a 250 round trip to the Poconos. It still drives like a new car! Thumb & fore-finger holding the wheel, cruising on the Pa turnpike at 70-80MPH, no problem!

Moral of this novel: No more Chinese wheel bearings for us! First choice: Timkin. Second choice: SKF (former "eastern block" made).

 

[SnowRidge]

Moral of this novel: No more Chinese wheel bearings for us! First choice: Timkin. Second choice: SKF (former "eastern block" made).

What makes you think Timken bearings aren't made in China? Timken has their own plants in China and sources bearings from partner companies located there.

Google timken china bearing for lots of hits.

 

[bones1]

Timken, take a look. Well I remember the good old days of Timken, Bower/BCA National and CR seals.You knew when you built a car it was right not so anymore Boundless Opportunities - Timken 2003 Annual Report

 

[bones1]

quote: Gee...could you imagine a whole tractor made of chinese parts...

I am now going to find my hardhat...
You're brave