Front Wheel Bearings/hubs - What Brand To Get?

[PhilMeUp]

Is there a difference in different brands and sources for front bearings?

I got a price of $77 each from one place. CBC Bearings quoted $104. Ford's price (for taxis) was $148 inc GST.

Then there's eBay.

This listing has them for $49.95 for the pair. Blimey.

http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=280708793418

A search of eBay for "BF Falcon bearing" shows various other cheap options.

Sure, I can go with the belief that the more I pay the better the quality will be, but that also depends on profit margins along the supply chain. A bit like how you can pay $133 for a key blank from Ford, $25 on eBay or $8 from China.

So, is there a good, valid reason to not buy the cheap eBay ones?

Is there any particular brand or supply of front bearing hubs that can be confirmed better than others?

[hypnodoc]

Been there, done that twice in under 30,000 ks. You get what you pay for and the Ebay ones I got were complete crap. Go for the Ford ones, at least if they crap themselves too early they will replace them. The peace and quiet is awesome when you do them but you won't have it for long with the E Bay jobbies.

Edited 21/07/11 05:00 PM by hypnodoc

[kovac]

I just recently replaced mine and it cost me $266 for the pair from cbc for my bf

[PhilMeUp]

I was mumbling about it to my regular Ford spare parts guy yesterday afternoon and he asked me what I wanted to pay.

I said, "about $100 each would be alright".

He said that he could do a pair for that price.

I left with two genuine Ford bearing hubs and a huge smile on my face.

I'm having brake shudder problems at the moment and this is one of the possible causes that I can now sort out.

However, a look at: http://www.carsrus.com.au/ymm/product/list/?Make=Ford&Model=Falcon&Year=2007&limit=40

shows

http://www.carsrus.com.au/ford-falcon-au-ba-bf-brand-new-front-wheel-bearing-hub.html ($47.40 each)

and

http://www.carsrus.com.au/ford-falcon-au-ba-bf-new-front-wheel-bearings-hubs-pair.html ($107.90 for the pair)

Don't know what brand they are, and have no idea why it costs more for a pair than buying them individually.