Your thoughts on bearings

kcm.MN · Jul 21, 2019

I have to replace a couple of bearings. Found some SKF in my size made in Malaysia, and other seller made in France, but double the cost. If from the same company, do you think it matters where they're made?

Other than location of manufacture and price, everything else about them is supposedly IDENTICAL.

Moonlite37 · Jul 21, 2019

Look a bit closer and if you see no difference, buy the lower price. Someone on this forum found some bargain ones with one less balle

RedMF40 · Jul 21, 2019

Other than location of manufacture and price, everything else about them is supposedly IDENTICAL.[/quote]

I've found that French-made products are generally very good quality. Don't about things made in Maylaysia. Just my experience, don't know if this'll have a bearing on your decision or not.

Steve@Advance · Jul 21, 2019

My experience with bearings, the price is set by the number of middle men and what the last one thinks it's worth. But you do have to do some research. There are differences.

Depending on the application, some are "deep groove" bearings, the races are deeper for greater thrust load.

Some have more balls for greater radial load.

There are different seal types.

There is an ABEC rating. The numbers 1,3,5,7,and 9 determine the precision of the bearing. The higher the number, the higher he price, the tighter the runout tolerance. This is concerning high RPM applications, and high tolerance applications like spindles and measuring instruments.

So, if you find a bearing at the bearing supply, and it's 4x the price of the one on Ebay, and they can't tell you what is special about it, or why you would need to pay the difference, my choice would be the cheap one! I've found no quality difference.

Janicholson · Jul 21, 2019

The warranty is the same, go with the less costly. I did not say cheap. Jim

Traditional Farmer · Jul 21, 2019

These days you never know really until you get them in hand and compare.

Philip d · Jul 21, 2019

My bearings of choice are ones made in USA ,Fanir/Timkin or
made in Japan NTN. I?m not sure about France or Malaysia?

rustred · Jul 21, 2019

haa, the warranty might be the same but when you have a million dollar piece of equipment on a drilling rig for example how do you justify the cheaper brg. when it fails. down time is not cheap!we do not use the less costly brgs. stay away from Chinese brg's. skf is one of the top brands. we shop around for apples to apples and best price.

SVcummins · Jul 21, 2019

If the manufacturer says they are the spec then try
the cheaper one . The biggest disinformation on the
internet is that just because a part looks the same it
is and that only one or two manufacturers make the
parts so they are all the same well a lot of times one
two manufacturers do make a part but they make to
different specs for different price points . When
buying parts online it takes a lot of research to
Know what your buying

RBoots · Jul 21, 2019

I always just cross the numbers online,
then look on eBay for US made new, old
stock bearings. I could care less if the
bearing is 30 years old and the box looks
bad as long as the bearing is US made and
in good shape (not rusty). Bought a
package of 2 nos USA made SKF bearings,
big ones, about 5" across for the rear
main bearing on my F20. Sure the boxes
looked bad, but they were US made and I
got 2 bearings that were listed for
around $200 each from a bearing supply
house, and not made in USA, for $4 with
$12 shipping. I pretty much buy all of my
hard to get to or odd sized bearings off
eBay. Just bought 10 more bearings off
there last week to finish up a John Deere
B transmission and differential. Yeah, a
couple of the bearings were $40 each, but
they aren't commonly available anywhere
except JD, and they aren't $40 each
there, more like $200 each.

Oliver 500 Wa · Jul 21, 2019

I've bought some really cheap bearings online and so far (knocks on wood) they have worked fine. Nothing that really loaded them hard, ran really fast, or a bad environment though.

If I was replacing spindle bearings in one of my milling machines though, I'd only buy locally from a trusted bearing supply house.

I sometimes wonder about the brand name bearings online at really low prices maybe being knockoffs.

37chief · Jul 22, 2019

I buy all my bearings off ebay. If I am not in a hurry I usually find us made bearings. Belts the same way. I buy china bearings for my flail mower rear drum. The bearings are right next to the dirt, and easy to change. Surprising, they do hold up fairly well. Stan

Geo-TH,In · Jul 22, 2019

I buy all my bearings locally in Terre Haute, Bearings Inc.

They also make hydraulic hoses, belts, universal joints, brass bushings, seals, make bandsaw blades to
your specs. Even make flat belts.

They may not be the cheapest, but I don't worry about quality. In and out real fast, get the job done.

Mike M · Jul 22, 2019

On that flail mower rear drum/roller ? I switched mine out from greaseable ones to sealed ones.
The sealed ones held up really good. The greaseable ones not so much.

Leroy · Jul 22, 2019

Should they not carry a different part number then?

kcm.MN · Jul 22, 2019

Well, it's done. Parts are ordered. I chose to pay a little more and get the bearings made in France. Why? Well, I kept thinking about all the wonderful products that "used to be" made in the U.S.A., and then what the same products became once production moved to China or Mexico. Same product, same packaging, but vastly different quality.

By the way, kept scouring the net and finally found a supplier that was about the same price as the Malaysia parts.

As for why I didn't buy American....well, I had the SKF part number, I knew SKF were good bearings, and it's been WAY too long since I've messed with trying to order USA equivalents of a metric bearing.

Thanks to everyone for your input.

dr sportster · Jul 22, 2019

What I need to educate myself on is different grades of quality bearings . I know a surface grinder does not take the same "grade" bearing as a weedwacker. I don't know the system for this .

randy hall · Jul 22, 2019

I don't know what you are needing bearings for but all of the standard used ball bearings like you are inquiring about are metric bearings they always have been there is no us size equivalent. the ball bearings in a farmall H or m or a john deere a or B are all metric bearings. The germans invented ball bearings and they have always stayed metric.

showcrop · Jul 22, 2019

I have found HUGE differences in the seals. Seals used to be rubber and they would actually seal. Then they started using plastic covered tinfoil and then least ding would ruin the seal and water would be in there. Looking around I was able to find rubber sealed ones again for very little more money.

Your thoughts on bearings

kcm.MN

Well-known Member

Moonlite37

Well-known Member

RedMF40

Well-known Member

Steve@Advance

Well-known Member

Janicholson

Well-known Member

Traditional Farmer

Well-known Member

Philip d

Well-known Member

rustred

Well-known Member

SVcummins

Well-known Member

RBoots

Well-known Member

Oliver 500 Wa

Member

37chief

Well-known Member

Geo-TH,In

Well-known Member

Mike M

Well-known Member

Leroy

Well-known Member

kcm.MN

Well-known Member

dr sportster

Well-known Member

randy hall

Member

showcrop

Well-known Member

Similar threads