Stupid Cheap Front Wheel Bearings & Hubs

For those of you that believe that all front wheel bearing assemblies are just as good as OEM - and I do not - here's one for the record books. Surfing through Amazon the other day, I stumbled across these:

$64 FKG 515040 (4WD Only) Front Wheel Bearing Wheel Hub Assembly fit for 10-16 Lexus GX460, 2003-2016 Toyota 4Runner, 03-09 Lexus GX470, 07-14 Toyota FJ Cruiser, 05-14 Toyota Tacoma, 6 Lugs With kit

Amazon.com: FKG 515040 (4WD Only) Front Wheel Bearing Wheel Hub Assembly fit for 10-16 Lexus GX460, 2003-2016 Toyota 4Runner, 03-09 Lexus GX470, 07-14 Toyota FJ Cruiser, 05-14 Toyota Tacoma, 6 Lugs With kit : Automotive

Sounds too good to be true, right? I'd propose that it very likely is. Consider the following:

1) Zoom in on the image of the bearing. Notice any brand name? Nope. Red flag.

2) Notice the following statement in the details: "OE quality: ISO ISO/TS 16949 certified, tested to the strictest OE standards, also improved those traditional design weaknesses, to ensure vehicle fitment and product reliability" Lots of folks claim to manufacture and test to various impressive sounding standards. Many just lie about it. As for the design weaknesses that these bearings address, I'd suggest that high price is the only one.

3) A decent OEM quality bearing and hub assembly will cost you at least twice that amount and you have to buy the bearing and hub separately, then get them pressed together. Hmmm.

4) A bearing and hub assembly sold by a reputable member here (@05Taco4x4) will also cost you more than twice as much. His stuff is proven to last, and he uses brand name / top quality bearings. Hmmm.

Sorry, I'm not stupid enough to buy something like this. My purpose in posting junk like this is to warn others that stuff like this exists and you should avoid it.

 

After working in the manufacturing and assembly sector for years ISO statements are meaningless to me. Anyone can state it. I'd rather be a witness to the manufacturing and testing.

 

Yeah fake bearings made in china is a very real thing to the big name bearing manufacturers….I know Timken has a couple pages about making sure your buying genuine bearings and not fakes.

 

So sorry to hear that as far for me before I buy thing especially critical parts like this I will not go far a lot cheaper the OEM price just because the quality plus the labor to installation.

 

Agreed 100% Been there and done that. I remember when ISO Certification first came out and I was working in the boating industry. The very first boat manufacturer to achieve ISO Certification was also famous at the time for mass producing the lowest quality (and lowest priced) boats on the market. I remember a friend of mine quipping, "At least now you can be assured that they build every one of them poorly." I always said that ISO Certification came down to: "Say what you do and do what you say - every time." Nothing in there says anything about high quality.

 

This really goes for anything. You get what you pay for

 

I've had aftermarket hubs on my truck for two years now and they've held up great.

I have 35s and a ton of trail miles on my truck.

 

For one I have never heard of that brand so I would never buy it. I have been running on after market bearings for 4 years and haven't had an issue. Also if you read the reviews for the assembly you posted you can see how bad they are.

Normally I would only buy Durago, Dorman, or ACDelco on rockauto for wheel bearing assembly.

 

I don't think anyone believes this. They buy the cheapest over a variety of reasons - they can’t afford quality parts; they need to get the vehicle on the road and only the cheapest part is available; they are ‘car flippers’ and value profit over quality; etc …

Now, there are many of us that believe aftermarket parts can be as good, or better, than oem. It all comes down to quality control, regardless of where the product is manufactured.

 

I’d venture to say, the people buying those bearing aren’t concerned about quality.
They are concerned about price.

Some people have options.
Other’s don’t, all they have is hope.
I’ve been in both situations, you work with what money you got.

 

well said