Wheel bearings belong to the class of parts that is:

a) relatively high value added

b) possible to assemble from scrap / used / junk components

c) light / small / easy to ship

d) relatively high priced

e) nearly zero anti-counterfeit measures by the OEMs like Timkin

So far, most parts I am seeing in this are high volume, car parts like Toyota, Honda, etc. wheel bearings, but the problems are spreading fast.

Many starving Asian firms in India and China dealt with the business downturn by going heavily into counterfeits.

 

Amazon do not make / market wheel bearings. Read it carefully, it is an affiliate firm that markets via Amazon's web site.

Understood, the bearings I bought shipped from Amazons warehouse, not an affiliate, I typically do not purchase from affiliates for the above reasons as well as added shipping time and they often are not eligible for prime shipping.

Its interesting, the company I used to work for sold Mirka Gold abrasives, high line, high quality high price. Lets say the Gold line was 16.75 for a box of 50 stickit disks, we would get beat out a lot by 3m and klingspore so we went back to the mfg. and said we needed to be at say 9 bucks for a similar product.

No problem, they had 2 "sister products" that put us under the competition and beat our original price by 50%, interesting bit here is that it was the EXACT SAME PRODUCT different package was all, same with 3m and DAP adhesives, we got in situations where they were selling something for 10 bucks, would change the lable and halve the price so they didnt dilute their brand, just business.

The selling price of an item has little to do with the actual cost to produce and more to do with what the market will bear, Ford for instance works in rare air, their market is solid loyal followers that pay top dollar, each tier, Autozone, Amazon, and then the junkyard all have their markets to play to, and the end of the day I think we would be shocked to see what the markup is on most items we buy everyday, especially mass produced items like these bearings.

In any event, thanks for the post, very informative, makes sense that it is so prolific (counterfeiting) , just never crossed my mind.

lj

 

Just one observation... be sure that the product you get from Ford, Autozone, etc. is not itself a counterfeit of what they claim to be selling you.

When most of their sales are to intermediaries like mechanics and garages, it is pretty easy to slip in a counterfeit.

Ford dealers are generally good.... but I know certain other brands whose dealers will not hesitate a second to slip in an off brand / counterfeit part and charge you the factory part price.

 

Does anyone have an assembly diagram for the hub bearing & steering knuckle for 1999 F-250 4x4 ??? I would like to have a visual on the order of seals, hub/bearing, etc.
Thanks Everyone !

 

It appears to be authentic. Refurbished?.... a possibility.
I called timken 4 times. They dropped my call each time after I explained that I was trying to authenticate my hub assemblies.

The threads were just the right pitch. It didn't come with the 4 studs or nuts.

I ended up getting a steering knuckle for $50 at another junk yard.

It's all back together. It went pretty smoothly. The real test will be when I put my 2.5 ton load back on it and hit the mountains.

 

Strange, did it come with the inner yellow O-rings, both my hubs came with new studs and new O-rings.

lj

 

Are you talking about the one shown below? No it wasn't in the box. I got that o-ring from Ed, the parts guy. Did you have instructions in the box? I didn't have anything except the hub, yellow bag, and plastic piece that held the grease in the needle bearings.

One thing that makes me think it's possible that it's refurb is the fact that the area that is covered in red grease in the pic below, was nicked up on mine.

 

is that the new hub? did you replace just the roller bearings or the whole assembly?

There was a bag in the box with my hub assemblies that had instructions, o-ring and the 4 studs shown facing up here.

 

No that's not mine. It's a picture from a write up. I replaced the whole assembly. My hub was shiny and pretty except for that one area.

Hmmm.....

 

Interesting, I read in one of the reviews on Amazon one purchaser did not get the "accessory" bag either, strange, may be worth following up on.

lj

 

Just replaced mine 45 min went to the local parts store got a friends company discount 200 bucks only thing it didn't come with was the new studs. The old studs came out no problem and my truck has 200000 miles

 

try Ford Super Duty Ball Joint Replacement Procedure | Superdutypsd.com there is a link to a diagram right after the parts/tools list.