Everything you guys have said about wheel bearings is true. In my
previous life (actual employment) in a department I managed, we set up
an assembly operation for a new design of a piece of heavy equipment. We
automated pressing bearings on axle shafts.
Our dear Purchasing department insisted that we set up three vendors for
equivalent bearings, not an unrealistic request.
The bearings we were pressing were a cone-cup roller bearing assembly
and we pressed on the cone portion. We pressed lots of different
bearings into bores and then disassembled them to see the results. We
found that most of them, when treated this way, would leave witness
lines in the cups from the pressure imparted by the rollers -- leading
to future failures. There were only two brands of bearings which did not
do this --- Timken and one other, the name of which escapes me.
All these bearing companies swear equivalency but it just isn't true.
Sadly, most bearings from across the pond are so much cheaper that it
makes it difficult for the really good guys to compete.
--
uncle jack and New Blue
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