Wheel bearing brands

speedpx

Member
:
2003.5 mazdaspeed protege
I need to replace both front wheel bearings, which brand should I buy like TIMKEN, SKF, BECK/ARNLEY, NATIONAL; also do I need to buy the wheel seal that it doesn't come with factory?
 
Don't bother with the seals. You have to have them pressed in as well. I made that mistake and ruined a brand new bearing. There weren't any on the car originally so obviously it doesn't need them.

If you want, I have one I didn't use, I can send you if you PM me your address. No charge.
 
i got a timken i need to put in and i got mine for 27 with a 1 or 2 year warranty the same as the other ones i saw
 
So because the seal was pressed in wrong, the bearing failed? (i may have had this happen to me.)

Yeah so because the seal was not pressed in perfectly, when I tightened the axle nut, the axle did not sit completely flush against the inner race of the bearing, and it ended up slightly separately the brand new bearing. So right of the bat, the bearing was toast and I had play in the wheel. Took me forever to figure out what I had done wrong. Thankfully, Napa swapped the bearing for another one for free and didn't charge me to press in the new bearing.
 
I'm guessing he took the bad one back and they swapped it for a new one free of charge. I did the same to mine when this happened. Racing the car is killing mine. Either that or the shop isn't pressing them in all the way. I've been to 2 different shops and going to be going on my 3rd set of front wheel bearing next spring. They are bad now, but they can wait until next year.
 
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