Wheel bearing quality

I have a V50 Ovlov, and needed two front wheels bearings/hub assembly a long while back. Bought the FAG brand from ECP 18 months ago, not the cheapest nor the dearest, but done around 15k on them so far with no issues. I have a real thing about bearing quality, as all I see on ebay and elsewhere is cheap rubbish and possibly fakes, but how can you tell. It does seem that even known brands these days are not quite what they used to be, but has to be a better choice than the unmarked brands. Also buying from a local parts supplier, you do at least have some comeback if it all goes wrong.

I've only ever gone with SKF or genuine, despite the cost.

I once got bit on a Mondeo Mk3. I got a Vetech bearing Hub assembly for my sister's 2003 Ghia X. In short:

-It worked but the ABS light came on; this had never come on in our ownership
-I was going to take the old ABS sensor out, but GSF at the time warned me that my warranty would be invalidated on the entire part ; It could have been missing a reluctor ring inside bear in mind, which has happened on another Mk3's Gearbox we changed ; that took alot of head scratching to find!
-We returned it, and it took almost a month of going back and forth to GSF as they wanted the item testing prior to even hinting they'd refund us. I must have gone in 4 times to get a refund as it was being processed.

I was lucky that I had a genuine, but 380,000 mile hub off a car I knew worked to fit. I'd have had a trickier time if I didn't. At this point in time, I'd just swallow the cost and pay the money. Just how expensive is it?

I know in those circles, both from my garage and the Mondeo folk, the cheap assemblies barely do 30k before they need changing again.

FWIW We paid as follows:

'03 Mondeo : £45 then £75 for an SKF
'07 Mondeo 3.0 V6 : £80 for a genuine part ; the other side I fitted the high mileage bearing into; the 3rd car that bearing would see. I sold the other fairly easily for £30 to a friend, with others asking me to buy it, with 380k!
'08 Mondeo 2.5T : £90 for a genuine bearing; it wasn't worth me trying something else ; SKFs were more.

Some sites like Mister Auto will sell branded names cheaper but I'd avoid them with a barge pole. IME, they tend to be factory rejects, and their returns department is an absolute joke.

As a heads up, not to make anyone panic, I know my local motor factors are struggling for part deliveries and drivers ; they can't deliver anymore due to this, so think carefully about getting the right parts and getting them now.

Just reserved the bearing (£270) And a couple of drive belts which are due soon (£60) and some filters as it wouldn't hurt (£28)

£234

No, my maths isn't broken, they've got a sale on.

Time to go out and celebrate!

Oh wait...…..

Cheers, i'll remember autodoc for next time, atm I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place, I need to get the part and get it sorted asap and given the current situation I basicly need to 'panic buy' it.

I've found AutoDoc to be a funny one. It's not their fault, but it's just down to how they list the parts and how they can provide cheaper parts for those on a budget.

On my M3, discs cost between £50 to £210 each, which is more than what the dealers want. I can get an ATE branded part, but it won't be the right one. It will fit, and operate in and out of a garage but there is a fundamental design change ; Factory ones are floating discs, and the cheaper ones aren't.

On my dad's 535d, he got caught out by the previous owner doing the same ; it was almost undriveable with the vibration ; it literally shook the car to death being on 1 piece Brembos ; They were the right size and thickness if people are questioning that ; they have warped on the very edge only within 10,000 miles ; I have no idea how my friend drove on those and I've sometimes limped discs on with a vibration admittedly ; they were so bad that you ahd to think about braking, as it felt like something would break on the car ; The only time I've had a vibration that bad was when the Stag's prop wasn't running true, and that slightly cracked the output shaft casing. 2 piece items later on them from Textar and more miles on them, and they are perfect.

I'm not saying they've done it on this occasion, but without a valid part no. reference, you don't know.

ECP have on occasion done that mind you, but generally they tend to stick to the aftermarket manuals, which is another can of worms I won't open .

No, the original price was 270, but with all the other bits I got the total bill was £30 less than the original price for JUST the bearing. But Ive left the bill in the car so cant check exactly how much it was right now.