Wheel bearing brands?

[mercdudecbr600]

interested in opinions from the group: has anyone had good experience with raybestos wheel hub assemblies, or moog, or timken, etc.?

 

[LibertyTC]

Mopar hub would be the best, they last a very long time. ya $.
Or .."Stick with quality unit bearings like Timkin,SKF,and National"
see post 3 here: https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/wheel-bearing-cost-question.49130/
mercdudecbr600 it would be appreciated if you could add the year of your Jeep, to your Signature line please. Thx.
https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/wheel-bearing-cost-question.49130/

 

[CrazyDrei]

Here is the main question, are you going to replace them yourself or pay someone to do it?

If you have couple basic hand tools and 30 minutes per side you can do it yourself. Takes less than 10 minutes to do it with power tools. Only 13 bolts to undo and bolt back up, that includes lug nuts.

Hubs are $55 shipped for a pair on eBay with lifetime warranty. $70 for a pair with ABS sensors.

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If you are paying a shop to do it then go with more expensive because more expensive is ALWAYS more better, LOL. Both cheap and expensive parts have same lifetime warranty, only difference is that more expensive tend to last say 50k miles where as cheap ones last 25k miles. So if you are going to pay a mechanic for 2-3 hours of labor to do approximately 30 minutes of actual work definitely go with more expensive.

If you have the tools and 10-15 minutes of your day to replace a wheel hub every couple years you would have to replace it 10 times to break even with more expensive part and shop labor rate.

 

[tommudd]

Timkin,
SKF,
or
National

 

[mercdudecbr600]

I do nearly all my own wrenching and I’ve had the front of my kJ apart more than a few times. I realize that the hubs are fairly easy to replace so I guess I’m just curious what everyone else has used and their experience with the different brands.

I’m attracted to the lifetime raybestos hubs due to the warranty. But I also like moog though I think either will have non USA bearings. Timken is pretty spendy and I’m not sure those will be USA bearings either and they only offer a 12 month warranty. Moog offers 3 years and raybestos lifetime.

 

[tommudd]

Warrantys do not mean jack to me, since I have to take my time to change them out
I'd rather pay extra for a great product then spend time every year or so changing junk out

 

[Rough]

I do nearly all my own wrenching and I’ve had the front of my kJ apart more than a few times. I realize that the hubs are fairly easy to replace so I guess I’m just curious what everyone else has used and their experience with the different brands.

I’m attracted to the lifetime raybestos hubs due to the warranty. But I also like moog though I think either will have non USA bearings. Timken is pretty spendy and I’m not sure those will be USA bearings either and they only offer a 12 month warranty. Moog offers 3 years and raybestos lifetime.

I replaced OEM's at 86K (noisy but no play) with Raybestos 2 years ago. 10K street miles since, no issues. Appeared to be good quality parts.

 

[tommudd]

I replaced OEM's at 86K (noisy but no play) with Raybestos 2 years ago. 10K street miles since, no issues. Appeared to be good quality parts.

Man , you must not go many places , only 10,000 miles in two years ?
I average at least 30,000 on just one of mine a year, other two maybe 15-20,000 miles
Oh the 03 at 165,000 and the 05 at 120,000 miles have stock wheel bearings yet with no issues
The 04s were changed at 190,000 miles with over 170,000 of those lifted miles

 

[Rough]

Man , you must not go many places , only 10,000 miles in two years ?
I average at least 30,000 on just one of mine a year, other two maybe 15-20,000 miles
Oh the 03 at 165,000 and the 05 at 120,000 miles have stock wheel bearings yet with no issues
The 04s were changed at 190,000 miles with over 170,000 of those lifted miles

Daughter's Jeep, LOL. haven't worked on many but it's the first one I've seen with noise and no play. Just the right side was noisy, probably sees more curbs and potholes than the left.

 

[mercdudecbr600]

Interestingly... I think mine are also noisy, but I can't detect any play. I'm at 135k miles on oem so I figure its about time.

That said... I'm sure I didn't do them any favors when I had my rear locker engaged (stuck) on pavement and the front end was being pushed/dragged around during turns.

I ordered a set of the Raybestos and I'll post my thoughts when I get them. But to me, the lifetime warranty (especially on things like wheel bearings - which seems like a crap-shoot of quality) was too hard to pass up.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Interestingly... I think mine are also noisy, but I can't detect any play. I'm at 135k miles on oem so I figure its about time.

That said... I'm sure I didn't do them any favors when I had my rear locker engaged (stuck) on pavement and the front end was being pushed/dragged around during turns.

I ordered a set of the Raybestos and I'll post my thoughts when I get them. But to me, the lifetime warranty (especially on things like wheel bearings - which seems like a crap-shoot of quality) was too hard to pass up.

mercdudecbr600,

Your front diff is open and completely independent of the rear no matter if the rear is locked or not. So a locked rear will not affect front hubs when locked in 2wd. Only way a locked rear will affect your front hubs is if you are purposefully making tight turns on pavement in 4x4 low.

Wheel bearing are quick and easy to change with tools found in most garages, lifetime warranty is worth it especially when it takes less time to change a hub than it takes to change your oil.

 

[mercdudecbr600]

mercdudecbr600,

Your front diff is open and completely independent of the rear no matter if the rear is locked or not. So a locked rear will not affect front hubs when locked in 2wd. Only way a locked rear will affect your front hubs is if you are purposefully making tight turns on pavement in 4x4 low.

Wheel bearing are quick and easy to change with tools found in most garages, lifetime warranty is worth it especially when it takes less time to change a hub than it takes to change your oil.

Right. And while my rear ox was locked (though the indicator said otherwise), I did figure 8's on the pavement thinking the 4wd was engaged (the oversteer felt similar). So the locked rear literally pushed/dragged the front end in my figure 8 turns. It was not a pleasant experience. And that's why I said the above... probably wiped-out a wheel bearing doing that alone.

 

[tommudd]

Replace a front hub faster than doing an oil change ??
From the show Laugh In, " Veerrry Interesting "

 

[CrazyDrei]

Right. And while my rear ox was locked (though the indicator said otherwise), I did figure 8's on the pavement thinking the 4wd was engaged (the oversteer felt similar). So the locked rear literally pushed/dragged the front end in my figure 8 turns. It was not a pleasant experience. And that's why I said the above... probably wiped-out a wheel bearing doing that alone.

mercdudecbr600,

Yup, that would do it. Never mind, I thought you just drove it normally on the highway.

 

[CrazyDrei]

Replace a front hub faster than doing an oil change ??
From the show Laugh In, " Veerrry Interesting "

tommudd,

Takes me 8-9 minutes to replace a wheel hub, 13 bolts off and on including lug nuts if I remember correctly. Oil change usually takes me 15-20 minutes to let the oil drain completely.

Once again I am not a shop that charges people by the hour. It is very interesting that it should take longer to loosen and tighten 13 bolts with a power tool than waiting for all the oil and sludge to drain out of the motor, sounds like someone is cutting some very important steps in a oil change....

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11,000 hard desert off road miles on a going hub.

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I was planning on replacing the hub next day, and decided to drive the truck to work anyway.

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There was no more hub left, I drove 15ish miles with the front wheel only held on by the brake caliper bracket and CV axle.

 

[tommudd]

On a KJ ?
and once again I am not a " shop " per se that charges by the hour all the time
I do charge per job no matter how many rusted, broken bolts I run into
and some jobs if the person is willing to learn and actually shows interest in helping , no charge
and no I take no shortcuts in oil changes, that is why all of the new vehicles I have bought over the last 45 plus years ran up into 350,000-400,000 miles before someone came along with stacks of hundreds wanting to buy them. All due to the way they were maintained, the way they were built etc

 

[CrazyDrei]

On a KJ ?
and once again I am not a " shop " per se that charges by the hour
I do charge per job no matter how many rusted, broken bolts I run into
and some jobs if the person is willing to learn and actually shows interest in helping , no charge
and no I take no shortcuts in oil changes, that is why all of the new vehicles I have bought over the last 45 plus years ran up into 350,000-400,000 miles before someone came along with stacks of hundreds wanting to buy them. All due to the way they were maintained, the way they were built etc

tommudd,

You are silly to assume that I am calling you a shop. When I say shop I mean am ASE mechanic that every member in this forum takes their KJ to get serviced if they do not do it themselves and most legitimate shops will have a minimum hourly rate based on the state license requirements and a specific hourly rate based on the job.

You've gotten 350-400k miles out of a KJ motor without rebuilding or replacing? Do tell me more.

 

[Doing10to20]

You guys should go out on a date

 

[Aceofspades]

Go to rock auto, look up wheel bearing , close the economy tab and you’ll see the Mopar brand still cheaper then aftermarket. Scroll a bit more and you may find an interesting 3 letter named brand as well ......

 

[tommudd]

tommudd,

You are silly to assume that I am calling you a shop. When I say shop I mean am ASE mechanic that every member in this forum takes their KJ to get serviced if they do not do it themselves and most legitimate shops will have a minimum hourly rate based on the state license requirements and a specific hourly rate based on the job.

You've gotten 350-400k miles out of a KJ motor without rebuilding or replacing? Do tell me more.

Did I say KJ, no I did not
Now I did get that mileage out of two of the 3 XJs I had , all bought new, did all maintenance on time and right etc Also 3 different Ford pickups with the 351, and one old beater Olds Omega ( belonged to an EX and she left it in my driveway) It died a terrible death at 493,000 miles, after jumping it LOL
and yes I was an ASE certified tech back years ago before I started using my brain ( and becoming a Compliance Analyst for the State ) more instead of my back, arms , legs etc LOL
In 1972 I went to school to become a Suspension and Brake Tech, then from there every year got more certifications up to and including body and paint
and yes when " some people " want me to work on theirs and demand certain things I do charge accordingly since they are jerks LOL