Club 80-90 Forums

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone could give me there thoughts on the quality of rear wheel bearing kits, I have an MOT tommorrow at 8:30 and after giving the van a once over and a spin to get the wheel bearing warmed up there is still an amount of play top/bottom of around 10mm, side side is fine and there is no squeeling or grinding of the bearing. However if I need to get it sorted it would have to be done tommorrow after the MOT as it is the only day I have got free so mail order ie brickwerks is out of the question. Seen some at GSF and Euro parts, just wondering if anyone knows the makes of these bearings as they seperate premium brands from others. If they are as bad as I would expect then I will have to have another plan as I dont want to fit rubbish.

Many thanks
Nic

Ask gsf and ecp for the make then come back/look them up on google, these companies often change brand so nobody can tell you without knowing the make on the shelf in your local branch.

No worries, straight through the MOT but with wheel bearing advisories, I know a lot of these vehicles have top bottom movement in the rears but I would like it to be tip top. Has anyone had the housings machined and lined, prior to fitting a new bearing kit

Trouble is these days the brand on the packaging is almost meaningless, you need to see what's marked on the bearing itself. If it's not INA, SKF, Timken or FAG then I wouldn't bother fitting it. Even the 'trusted' named like FAG are becoming a bit suspect now due to so much production being moved to the 'developing world'. Aidan's the best-informed person on such things on here afaik.

syncroandy wrote:Trouble is these days the brand on the packaging is almost meaningless, you need to see what's marked on the bearing itself. If it's not INA, SKF, Timken or FAG then I wouldn't bother fitting it. Even the 'trusted' named like FAG are becoming a bit suspect now due to so much production being moved to the 'developing world'. Aidan's the best-informed person on such things on here afaik.

This is why I originally post the question, hoping for someone with experience in recently using national store supplied bearings as I thought I would have to go down that route for quickness, we frequently fit FAG bearings from a well reputed industrial supplier at work and have noticed the quality doesnt seem to be as good as the lifespan has lessened, we even have to pop the seals to add more grease prior to fitting and loctite them in to new housings as after being pressed in you can still feel movement, and these are big fellas too. Saying that though they still seem better than most.