4 Advice to Choose a TIMKEN Bearings Distributors

I want to buy Timken US bearings for my Oliver Elite II and have not had any luck in find a supplier at a reasonable cost. 

For more information, please visit Beijing SKF.

I do not want to buy through Amazon because I am afraid they will be selling Timken Chinese knock offs bearings, not real US Timken bearings, as I have seen mentioned in other Oliver forum threads.

I spoke to Timken direct and was able to confirm the bearing and cup part numbers along with a part number for a National Seal but they would not sell to individuals,

It seems I have been getting the "run-around" from Timken on where I can buy their bearings. The told me to go to their web site locator and the site will tell where I can buy Timken bearings. Timken's web site directed me to VIP Discount Auto. VIP no longer sells parts and VIP sent me over to their parts cousin, O'Riely Auto, and they do not sell Timken bearings either.

I contacted every automotive parts store in my state and they do not sell Timken Bearings.

I then contacted Dexter Axle and they would sell me their bearings but could (or would not) tell me who made the bearings they sell. 

Dexter then referred me to Southwestwheel.com and they would sell me Timken bearings. To buy one set of timken inner bearing and its cup, the outer bearing and its cup and a National Seal they wanted $61.18 per wheel which is $245.92 for a set of 4. 

HELP! Has anyone found a place to buy legimitate Timken bearings?

Thanks in advance for your help.

I have found Timken bearings hard to find and there appears to be some relationship between Timken and National.  I am in the process (as needed) of replacing my bearings and have been replacing them with National Bearings.  They are made in China but my sense and hope is they are built under more stringent perimeters.  I have  attached National Light Trailer Bearing and Seal Guide with the Dexter 3.5K axle highlighted.  The hand written note at the bottom is another choice for the seal from E-Trailer that I like as it has a reinforcing spring within the seal.  My sense and I believe others have stated that if you do the proper annual wheel bearing maintenance as prescribed by OTT that you will be ok as you will see problems before they become critical.  I purchased my bearings at O'Reilly Auto Parts and have been satisfied thus far.  I feel they are better than the original bearings but not as good as Timken if you can find them.  As others have said use good wheel bearing grease.  I use No. 2 Mystik  JT6 which OTT uses.  I know others have their favorites also.  Good luck!National Light Trailer Bearing Guide.pdf

I'm planning on buying kits for our 3.5K axles as well to have spares on the road.

Looking for part numbers I found this...but I'ld like confirmation from the forum members.

This is a pix of the Axle lable for our Elite II -

Found t

Below in the table is the replacement chart from the Dexter User Materials.

The last row I believe has the part numbers for the 3.5K Axles.

Can anyone here confirm the part numbers for our 3.5K Elite II axles are 

Named as "set 4" -  L/L   
Named as "set 17"  - are the L/L.

I'm thinking of buying the kits. 

Craig

On 2/26/ at 5:51 AM, dewdev said:

                                              Universal Part#                              Timken Part #

Outer Bearing Cone L SET4

Outer Cup L   Included in SET4

Inner Bearing L SET17

Contact us to discuss your requirements of TIMKEN Bearings Distributors. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.

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Cup L                                    included in SET17

Seal -

For the less bearing experienced, the "Cup" is the running surface of the bearing housing.  Some refer to this replacement surface as the "Bearing Race".  They are the same part, and should always be replaced when replacing the bearings.   The reason for buying eight seals is that you need to replace the seals at each surface.  The Timken bearings will last many many years with good grease and service.  The seals generally get damaged in their removal process.  They are cheap and saving a few $$ is nothing compared to a seal failure allowing grease into the brakes!

I disassemble, clean with brake cleaner, dry and re-grease at the start of each season.  But then I am also covering at least 8,000 miles a season.   

The cheap Dexter bearings IMHO should be trashed at your first or second service depending on your use.

For the bearings and seal face, this is the synthetic grease that John Davies recommended, and many of us are using.  I also highly recommend it:

Red Line CV-2 Synthetic Grease with Moly (14 Oz Jars) .  It is available via Amazon.  

Some owners use a "bearing grease press" to fill the bearings with grease before installation.  I have tried some, and found that I waste a lot of grease with them.  So, like many older salts, we just use the palm of our hand and a dollop of grease, kneading the bearing into the grease from both sides.  This works very well, saves grease, and gives you the satisfaction of KNOWING that your new bearings are well lubricated.

From Dexter, here is the Bearing Adjustment and Hub Replacement process:

Finally, having a pile of rags and a trash bag handy is really helpful.

Good luck and safe travels,

Geronimo John

Need front wheel bearings. My dad always said that Timken bearings are the best. They are available on Rock Auto. I think they are still made in the USA.

Are they the best?

Timkin bearings are made in the US and in China. Generally a good bearing but so are FAG and SKF. SKF makes bearings in the US as well.

Just don’t by the cheapest. You generally get what you pay for. If you are concerned about the quality, buy from the Ford dealer. My local dealer actually has competitive prices on most parts.

For years in the s and maybe 60s, Timken had a full page ad near the front page of Popular Science. So Timken is the brand I always think of first, but I have bought maybe 3 automotive bearings in my life, and a thousand plus BBs for bicycles.

The auto parts store will sell you the proper bearing designed for your truck. Early trucks were designed with tapered roller bearings, later ones with packaged ball bearings. There is no choice, you use what the truck was designed for.

Besides, the counter person likely won’t know the difference anyway.

True enough, but in other situations one can never underestimate what someone will do.

A guy had an older Subaru towed in once after replacing the front wheel bearings. A mid/late 80s model that did not use sealed hub units. This car used 2 ball bearings on each side with a spacer. He decided rollers were better but the spacer was too short so the new roller bearings were lunched pretty quickly.

Another person replaced the bearings and instead of ramming the CV axle nut down tight he snugged it up and backed off a bit; similar to what one might do with old RWD domestic front bearings. The car quit moving when the splines stripped out of both front hubs. Nothing surprises me.

I would worry more about bearings being mishandled prior to buying them or improper prep and installation than what brand I bought.

FWIW I seem to recall that NAPA owns Timken and much of their production is in China. But my memory isn’t what it used to be.

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