I recently posted a thread about my 99 f350 front end problems and I did get some helpful info from you guys. When I went to my NAPA store to check on a new set of half shafts the guy asked me about the ongoing problems with the front end, after explaining the same thing I told you all about in my other post he asked where I bought my new hubs at. I told him autozone and that I thought they were ok because they were timken bearings the same as NAPA sells, that is when it got real interesting! He told me two years ago NAPA dropped Timken after selling their bearings for over forty years because they started using cheap steal and that their parts are no longer O.E.M. replacement parts but that,{they meet O.E.M. requirements.} He pulled out an old box that had a timken hub assembly in it brand new, and a NAPA hub assembly. The Timken hub had no discoloration from being heat treated and the wheel lugs were not the same and most important when I spun the hubs by hand the NAPA hub was tight and smooth, The new Timken bearing was loose and had a flat spot in it that you could feel catching. To make matters worse if you have a 99 f350 srw 9900 gvwr with 4 wheel abs and it has a build date before 1999 [ mine is 3/98] you can't buy an aftermarket hub from anyone but FORD or DANA. NAPA or AUTOZONE can't get the correct hub. NAPA told me either AUTOZONE bumped my truck up to a 99 model year or they sold me an undersized hub either 8500 gvw or lighter thats why it only lasted about three weeks under the v10. When my correct hubs come in from the FORD dealer I am supposed to return my hubs to Autozone and get my money back because they admmitted to being wrong. Hopefully that will fix the problems once and for all, I hope this stops someone else from having the same nightmare I have been having since I bought this truck.

 

That's very strange about Timken.

To be honest, it might not be Timken, but whoever assembles the hubs mistreats the bearings and they fail quicker.

Can anyone else confirm this about Timken?

That would be very disturbing if true.

 

I can agree with this, THEY DO NOT MAKE THE HUB, for the 99. I had the same problem. Only place to buy the correct hub is FORD. But...if....you can switch over to a newer FRONT END...You can use all the newer parts. I am looking into that!

 

You can use the newer hub they will work. There are no light duty hub's that will fit the SD trucks you must have gotten a bad bearing or the company made a lot of bad one's. I would go to car quest and buy them there....$260.00 or so.

Dick

 

If you see discoloration on the bearing itself from being heat treated, I would not accept it. It is not heat treated correctly.

 

Oh goodness please don't start. Thats not true..


Dick

 

I realize that this is a truck forum, but I'll tell you what happened on my mom's '96 Taurus about a year ago. The front wheel bearings needed replacing and (being very frugile) had me buy two of them from a local national chain store. I'd have to dig up the receipt to correctly remember the brand name, but they were either Timken or National, I can't recall right now. ANYWAY, when I opened one up, it was American made and really looked pretty. The next one I opened up had rough machine marks and poor casting marks all over it and was made in Korea, even though the manufacturing name and part was the same. I put them side by side and the Korean one had too much slop to it and hadn't been assembled correctly. I had them order another one, hoping to get an American made bearing. Much to my dismay, it too was Korean made. At least this one was assembled correctly. However, the Korean made bearing failed after about two months of use. I had them warranty it and they got me another one (Korean made of course) but my mom no longer trusted taking the car on extended trips and got rid of it. It's really sorry that all of our manufacturing is being taken overseas. And in my case, looks like the quality has gone away also.

 

I wonder if someone is counterfeiting Timken bearings...

I know for a fact, that a few rear-ends I have taken apart that were Fords had NTN front pinion bearings. They were already black with around 50K miles on them. I took another one apart, it had a Timken bearing, it was perfect.

And, by the way, about hardening:

I have NEVER seen blue or other discoloration in bearings. If you see blue on the bearing, that's the carbon leaching out of the steel, and it's been overheated.

Again, I have never EVER seen any discoloration on bearings.

 

I work for Timken, and like all companys there is bad product that gets through. It is possible that it wasnt heat treated right. You should take it back and try another one, because I assure you Timken products dont have a bad rep.

 

I checked my new 515021 bearing for 99-05 sd's it has a blue area that looks like flame
Hardening to me. They spin it and subject it to heat and then cool it. Its the outer area that bolts to the truck, the case. Not the actual bearing just the housing, they call the whole thing a bearing though...


Dick

 

Old thread I know , and not Timken, but worth a look if yer having hub troubles.

Safety Recall #07E-106 – Hub Assembly Recall

http://corporate.oreillyauto.com/cor...id=news_60.pdf

 

I sure miss the good old days when 100% of parts were made either in Canada or the US. 3 years ago when I bought my last Warn Trans4mer setup with a 12000lb winch, after installing it I discovered the tow hooks that had to replace the loops had Made in China stamped on them. We really need to whack China with a 20-30% surcharge. I really love it when I go to Diesel websites and they state "Made in the USA". I'd pay extra anytime for products made in the US.

 

Why dont you buy the Unit Bearing Conversion Kit? The kit converts your truck the run the old style repackable bearings like in the 97 and older trucks. You know, the bearings that only cost 25 bucks a piece. The kit is expensive and made by a few different companies BUT.....you would never buy bearing hub assemblys again!!! Thats one thing I loved about my 96 F-250 was that new bearings with new races only cost 30 bucks. So your initial investment would be alot but it would be worth it in the long run. Dynatrac makes these kits as well as a couple other companys. They're all around the same price. Thats the route Im going.

 

You have to go through a lot of unit bearings before you would see a cost saving

 

Ya its really not worth it unless you have big tires and offset..Then you need the kit..Other than that they last 100k on a stock truck with stock tires usually.

Dick