I am in the process of ordering wheel bearings for my 67. I see LMC has them, and for a pretty good price. I called them, to see what brand they sold, and I was told they will not give out info on their vendors, which I find a little ominous. Has anyone ordered bearings from them in the past? I'm thinking I should go with the local parts store bearings, but thought I'd check here first.

 

97nukeford,

When I redid the front wheel bearings and races on my 72, I found there is a bit of a learning curve. Here's what I found:

You can buy the cheapest, usually made in China,

or you can specify "made in USA"

or you can specify a matched set (bearing and race together) "Made in USA"

If LMC won't tell you, try elsewhere.

It always pays to buy Made in USA

If it's not marked as to country of origin, it's not made in the USA.

There you go, and I hope it helps...

Regards,

John

 

That's kind of the way I'm looking at it John. I only want to do this once, so I don't mind spending the extra cash. I just think it's odd that they won't tell you what brands they sell. I'm with you, though, I'd much prefer to buy American. That's why I called and asked them.

 

Are these front wheel bearings? If so they and the races have Bearing Industry Numbers stamped on them.

These are the numbers autoparts stores go by, so there is no need to buy them from LMC or any other repro parts seller.

NAPA, indie and chain autoparts stores may have them in stock or can order them.

Autoparts stores will usually tell you the maker of the bearings.

Why didn't LMC tell you? The answer is, they prolly don't know. Why don't they know? Because they prolly don't have them, that's why!

LMC is a middleman operation, so they don't carry much of anything listed in their catalogs. Middleman operations use the J. Paul Getty method of making money.

When you send in your order, they use your money to buy the parts, sometimes from the local autoparts store down the street!

What in the world? It's just the opposite!

There is a Federal Law that has been in effect for over 100 years that states: ALL imported goods must be marked with the country of origin.

If the goods are not marked, chances are they are made in the USA, but...

In today's world, some imported goods use stickers listing the country of origin. These can be peeled off, so Caveat Emptor!

 

Bill is right these guys use distributors who stock and more than likely drop ship right to LMC's customers. LMC can then afford to work on low margin etc...because they have a limited amount of capital invested in actual inventory that they own. Hey, I have used LMC for plenty of things but when I can buy parts from the local auto store and from Dennis Carpenter (DC manufactures a lot of parts from original Ford Tooling).

 

I buy only Timken or NTN-Bower, U.S. made bearings. It's not worth skimping when it comes to safety items such as bearings. My rear axle bearings were $100 a piece.

 

You gotta be kidding! Where the hell did you buy them, Ben Dover Auto Parts?

D8AZ1225B (replaced C1SZ1225A, C9AZ1225A) .. 9" Axle Bearing / Bearing Industry Number: F-208-HL

MSRP: $59.82 / PARTSGUYED.COM price: $47.86.

 

No, mine are the big bearings. Nobody had them except CarQuest. Bearing industry number is 1580. (RUB 1580-EBFR to be exact).

 

"There is a Federal Law that has been in effect for over 100 years that states: ALL imported goods must be marked with the country of origin.

If the goods are not marked, chances are they are made in the USA, but...

In today's world, some imported goods use stickers listing the country of origin. These can be peeled off, so Caveat Emptor!"




OK, ND, You caught me! I can say in all honesty, I had no knowledge of the Federal law. In my experience, the cheap bearings do not indicate country of origin. I've bought bearings from first world countries, such as England, Germany, Japan, and the USA. All indicated country of origin. I feel you get what you pay for, and if I cannot discern where said bearing came from, I won't buy it.

Thanks for setting me straight on the Federal law, but now I feel compelled to lobby my elected official to introduce legislation requiring all imported items to indicate country of origin...(no stickers, please!)...anyone want to sign my petition?

Regards,

John

 

FWIW, Japanese and German bearings are quality bearings (at least the ones that I've got from A&P Bearing were) but when I can, I buy U.S. made.

 

Nobody had them except CarQuest? Really?

Gee whiz, Bobby...I just looked, found 28 @ FoMoCo Dealers and 60 @ obsolete parts vendors.

And...I'll betcha you can buy the genuine Ford made in the US of A bearing cheaper from the FoMoCo Dealers than at Ben Dover CarQuest!

Since the bearing is obsolete, it can no longer be returned to Ford for credit, so the dealers are STUCK with it. You prolly knew this since you worked for LPTM.

DOTZ1225A / Industry number 1508

You know, of course...that the axle seals (C9VY1177A) are also different with the 9 3/8" rear axle.

FYI: 40 are available from FoMoCo Dealers, 59 from obsolete parts vendors.

 

Yes sir
They were also the only ones that would press them on for me. Rock Auto lists them for $95 a piece. I'm a hands-on kinda guy. If my local shop has them for a few bux more then I'm o.k. with it so long as I can have it NOW
I wound up getting u-joints, brake shoes, combi-kits, axle seals, bearings, wheel cylinders and got the drums turned from them all at the same time. I like this CarQuest because on weekends the guy lets me look up and retrieve my own parts.

 

timken huh?

For Suppliers

The Timken brand, on every product produced in Timken plants around the world,

 

From experience.
Read the above posts. It has to say where it's made if it's in the U.S.

 

Well, I'm going with parts from a local supplier. I'm just not comfortable with something like this being from an unknown manufacturer.