Wheel bearings.

[mickthemaverick]

Just a quick question. I have to source a replacement front wheel bearing and I haven't bought one for years so, in view of the plethora of cheap ones around, I thought I'd get the general opinion on which are the better bearing companies these days?

[NewcastleFalcon]

Looks like you will do well to get the wheel bearing/hub replacement at any sort of reasonable price if its for your Subaru Legacy. The two ECP aftermarket offerings are from companies I have never heard of.

Is that what you have found? Wheel bearing/hub come as a one piece replacement both rear and front.

This article seems to point to a rear wheel bearing Achille's heel on the Legacy.
https://allwheeldriveauto.com/subaru-wh ... d-part-ii/

According to one of the commenters ".... Factory bearings are made by NTN, if you can locate the NTN bearing in the aftermarket than yes it would be the same bearing. However if you bought a Dorman, FEQ, Timken, etc it would NOT be the factory bearing."


Regards Neil

[Hell Razor5543]

GSF are showing DriveTec front wheel bearings (and hub) for £82:28 (including VAT) with use of the discount code (you need to sign up to them to apply the code). They have them in stock at Harlow and Tottenham, so Click and Collect could be available..

[mickthemaverick]

Thanks chaps, I had a rec from a guy on a Subaru forum so I have ordered his suggestion which comes with 2 years warranty and has served him well at £79.90 after scooby discount. They are FAG bearings which I have not heard of but as the subaru dealer wanted £387 to do the job including vat I decided to go for this option and do it myself! I must admit I like the bearing + hub idea as it eliminates the need for presses etc. Its just a many bolts and some fettling job. It was getting a bit too loud for my liking on the way back from Warrington so I decided to sort it out. Nice little job for next week!!

[NewcastleFalcon]

FAG get a mention on the NTN wiki pages so some link with the OEM manufacturer if that's reassurance, and on ecp/carparts4less one of the options but even with discount much more expensive than your source.

The following year, the company (NTN) partnered with FAG Kugelfischer Georg Schafer AG to sell bearings in both North America and Europe. This partnership helped create factories in both Portugal and Hungary.

Some link with NTN, and FAG is one of the brands of the Schaeffler Group. In Germany, the main brands of the Schaeffler Group – INA, FAG and LuK – are marketed by Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG and LuK GmbH & Co. oHG.

Regards Neil

[mickthemaverick]

That is good to know, thanks Neil. I have limited research capability at the moment as I am using the phone and the screen is too small for my liking for researching anything!! So I appreciate your efforts as I do James's, hopefully It will arrive on Monday and get done soon after!