Dealer Vs. Non Dealer for Bearings

Only a couple companies make bearings? SKF for one and maybe China has a factory now. I would stay away from the later. That is probably why yours have gone!Hal

 

If you don't get a Toyota bearing, bet a good brand name bearing, not the cheapest bearing you can find.

There are a few common but different ways wheel bearings are done. The Prius is not unusual.

 

Tom, are you sure it is not a tire? I am guilty in changing bearings in the past only to find out it was a beat up tire. Rotate tires and see if noise moved.

with respect to bearings and dealer vs independent, bearings are cheap for most part, <$10 (not sure for Prius). Price it out from different sources good luck

PS try online rockauto or autoparts

 

They should disconnect the 12V battery before starting repairs, so as to not accidentally eject the piston from the caliper, or cause a code if they have to compress the piston to get the caliper back on the rotor.

 

The bearing assy is sold as a complete hub. The dealer will replace it free under a 3/36K warranty. If OOW the hub costs $200 last time I looked.

I lost the driver side on my 07 at 35,000 mile and was replaced under warranty.
It made a peculiar wup wup sound from 15 to 50 mph's.

The telltale sign is it will change sound momentarily if you gently swerve back & forth putting load on the front end suspension.Easy to tell then which side is unhappy. At the time I had stock GY Integrities on the car so they were suspect. Bad name for one of the worlds worst tire.I swapped tires to no effect.

 

Both of my front bearings are noisy. I got three quotes (none from dealer) which ranged from $436 to $838. The lowest & highest were with after-market parts. Quote for $487 includes Toyota bearings. I'm going with that one.

 

SKF has plants all over the world including China. Typically though you should stay away from any Chinese mfr'd bearing unless it's branded by a well known mfr.. In general large mfr's like SKF will require the plant to meet certain quality standards, so you should have some confidence when purchasing a namebrand like SKF regardless of the country of origin.

Although, it sounds like these are part of a complete hub assembly which always sucks for the consumer because it limits your options.

Other quality brands include Timken, Torrington, NTN, KOYO. There are others, but these are some of the more reputable mfr's. It's a pretty safe bet if the country of origin is Japan or Germany as both countries are known for producing high quality bearings.

 

I have been expecting a bearing repair anytime on my car since the original owner of my car said that he never replaced the bearings.

So 241,000 miles and this car still has the original bearings???

Is that even possible?

 

In a word, "yes".

- Chris

 

Absolutely.

With the technological advancements is bearing steel, precision mfg processes, and pre-shipment testing (some mfr's noise test every bearing the make) the quality of bearings is quite remarkable.

Another equally important and often overlooked factor is the advancement of lubrication (grease) technology. Some of the greases produced these days have much better longevity than they did just 10-15 years ago. So when properly applied and sealed from contaminants the grease and therefore the bearings have an exponentially longer operational life.

 

Anecdotally, I currently own four cars. All have spent their "lifetimes" in this rustbelt area that we call home. My cars range in age from 10 years to 15 and in miles from 102,000 to 170,000. All on their original bearings.