Bearing Quality

[Bassn7]

I want to install new trailer bearings before hauling my refurb project fiberglass bass boat. Is there a type, mfg , model of bearing sets that I should look for that are high quality? All the same? Thanks for any info here.

 

[gm280]

Actually Bassn7, just like everything else, there are better ones and sorry ones in the bearing line. I've read a lot about bearings and how they are manufactured over the years. Some questionable types use the more loose specs and still qualify to be sold as replacements. I won't go into those countries of origin, but you can probably figure it out for yourself. I always had good luck with Timken bearings. SKF also is a very good brand. But when talking about bearings, so many types are available with different uses for the same basic bearing number. You can go extreme high end and buy ceramic bearings, but why? If you stay with Timken, SKF, NSK, or something like them, you should have zero problems. JMHO!

 

[alldodge]

Agree I like Timken, SKF and FAG but even most of the bearings made by them some from China, Korea and other countries. Have also used some of the cheapest no-name by ordering what I thought was major but were not. All worked, have not had a failure due to them only from water getting in

 

[Starcraft5834]

As ALL said,, seems much is made in China these days,, that's not to say it lacks quality.. maintenance is the most important thing... pull em yearly and inspect them, re-pack, you should be good

 

[Frank Acampora]

Bearings must be hardened to a specific rockwell hardness and meet stringent specifications. Although Chinese companies seem to make a crappy knife steel (even for quality branded knives) which will not hold an edge, I have purchased China origin bearings and not had problems with them. Even brand name bearings now are manufactured in numerous countries other than the USA so brand seems to no longer matter as a purchasing guideline.

 

[gm280]

Bearings must be hardened to a specific rockwell hardness and meet stringent specifications. Although Chinese companies seem to make a crappy knife steel (even for quality branded knives) which will not hold an edge, I have purchased China origin bearings and not had problems with them. Even brand name bearings now are manufactured in numerous countries other than the USA so brand seems to no longer matter as a purchasing guideline.

Frank that is true. But the better China made bearings, even brand named, are built in ISO 9001 facilities and therefore have proper quality controls in place. It is some others that pop out something that looks like a bearing that is in question. JMHO

 

[dingbat]

But the better China made bearings, even brand named, are built in ISO 9001 facilities and therefore have proper quality controls in place.

ISO 9001 is a joke. As head of Design and Documentation at the time, I was part of the implementation team when we went thru the ISO 9001 certification process.

ISO 9001 isn't about quality. It's all about having procedural documentation in place then following it to the T. If the procedure said to drill a hole in the wrong place, you drilled the hole in the wrong place or your out of compliance. If procedure called for a 50% rejection rate, you better have a 50% rejection rate or the auditor could failure you for non-compliance. Nothing but a big money making scheme.


International bearing information and specifications

http://www.astbearings.com/bearing-tolerances-precision-levels.html

 

[gm280]

ISO 9001 is a joke. As head of Design and Documentation at the time, I was part of the implementation team when we went thru the ISO 9001 certification process.

ISO 9001 isn't about quality. It's all about having procedural documentation in place then following it to the T. If the procedure said to drill a hole in the wrong place, you drilled the hole in the wrong place or your out of compliance. If procedure called for a 50% rejection rate, you better have a 50% rejection rate or the auditor could failure you for non-compliance. Nothing but a big money making scheme.


International bearing information and specifications

http://www.astbearings.com/bearing-tolerances-precision-levels.html

dingbat, I too has to endure ISO 9003 standard and other equally stupid certifications when I was still working in software. We also had an internal "Quality Assurance" programs called CMM. And then CMM I, and all the follow on certifications. And it was interesting to see all the tedious work everybody was forced to do to track work performance and hours used against the different stages of that work. And once the project was basically over, they, the people in the know, took all those hours and added to or subtracted from the actual hours to make the work efforts track the projected hours to verify their new quality program worked perfectly. Oh yes, I do understand what you are saying. The amount of useless paperwork to cover everything was unbelievable.

 

[alldodge]

Getting off topic, but don't agree that it's a money maker. Was in on most of them during history at DoD which included a large spot of CMM and others. Sure document how something was made, if it works you can repeat it, if it doesn't it needs to change. It cost a lot, but it beats the heck out of Mil-Spec

 

[bruceb58]

ISO 9001 is a joke. As head of Design and Documentation at the time, I was part of the implementation team when we went thru the ISO 9001 certification process.

ISO 9001 isn't about quality.

Totally agree. It's only about documentation. You can make a crappy product and be ISO certified.

 

[dingbat]

Getting off topic, but don't agree that it's a money maker. Was in on most of them during history at DoD which included a large spot of CMM and others. Sure document how something was made, if it works you can repeat it, if it doesn't it needs to change. It cost a lot, but it beats the heck out of Mil-Spec

ISO systems merely gauge whether the processes are being followed. It does not gauge how good the processes are or whether the correct parameters are being measured and controlled to ensure quality. It is not unheard of for an ISO certified company to have poor quality performance due to poor process selection and/or poor technical solutions

 

[alldodge]

ISO systems merely gauge whether the processes are being followed. It does not gauge how good the processes are or whether the correct parameters are being measured and controlled to ensure quality. It is not unheard of for an ISO certified company to have poor quality performance due to poor process selection and/or poor technical solutions

I know and understand what ISO is, and have dealt with a poor processes from manufactures.

 

[bigdee]

After dealing with thousands of bearings in the industrial sector I do not recall any incidence of a bad bearing epidemic. Using preventive maintenance software to track and predict failures there was no certain brand that stood above the rest. All major bearing manufactures are global so the country of origin is a crapshoot. As a cost cutting measure we even tried using medium cost Chinese bearings with good results.

 

[racerone]

Poor quality can often be tolerated.---But some industries / products can not tolerate it.--Know of a " high end " machine shop / factory locally.--Some drawing now have a note saying-----No material scourced from CHINA to be used in this product "--Too many instances where they say --" it is all the same " ---Many specialty alloys are foreign to these folks and money is money to them.

 

[bigdee]

Poor quality can often be tolerated.---But some industries / products can not tolerate it.--Know of a " high end " machine shop / factory locally.--Some drawing now have a note saying-----No material scourced from CHINA to be used in this product "--Too many instances where they say --" it is all the same " ---Many specialty alloys are foreign to these folks and money is money to them.

They must not be too diversified with limitations like that! Even Boeing aircraft source some parts from China!

 

[racerone]

You misunderstood.----Some companies do not want their high end products custom made with iffy materials.---When I worked there one company supplied the specialty alloy as part of the contract, since it was not available in the regular market.

 

[bigdee]

You misunderstood.----Some companies do not want their high end products custom made with iffy materials.---When I worked there one company supplied the specialty alloy as part of the contract, since it was not available in the regular market.

China is now the most industrialized country in the world and are willing to supply quality if you pay for it, or "iffy" if you want junk. China has built its empire by filling the demand for low cost junk AND reasonable priced high quality stuff.....it is consumer choice.

 

[JimS123]

Totally agree. It's only about documentation. You can make a crappy product and be ISO certified.

Reading thru all the ISO comments I had to stop a second because I was laughing so hard I spilled my beer. What makes matters even worse is that you are basically self policed.

OK, back on topic....

I have been pulling a trailer for almost 50 years and have yet to replace a bearing. Pull, inspect, see they are perfect, repack and reassemble. I have a few spare sets that are in the original packaging from 40 years ago - they all are USA and they appear to be good. Never had to use them.

On the other hand, I DO replace rear seals. When my local marina's stock was chinacrap I went to a local industrial bearing supply house and got what i thought was good stuff. Lately, though, all the rear seals they carry are chinacrap and I DO notice a marked difference in the quality compared to years ago.

 

[JimS123]

China is now the most industrialized country in the world and are willing to supply quality if you pay for it, or "iffy" if you want junk. China has built its empire by filling the demand for low cost junk AND reasonable priced high quality stuff.....it is consumer choice.

OK, back off topic again.

That's simply not true.

I own a company that builds factories to manufacture consumer products. The last factory I built was supplied 100% by china equipment. It was against my better judgement, but the purchaser insisted upon it because of a ~10% savings. Small plant, their savings was only about $1 million. The specifications were quite clear and they agreed to everything. Written into the contract were requirements to meet OSHA, ASTM, UL, State of California codes, etc, etc.

None of the wiring passed the building inspector, all the railings had lead paint, the pumps would not pump and we ran $2MM over budget because I had to replace major components with USA made equipment. China would not take anything back or refund the purchase price. It was an ISO certified chinacrap company.

Never again. We paid for quality and got nothing. I'll pass up a job next time rather than provide crap to my customer.

 

[fishin98]

Where the bearings are made should not have any impact. I've used trailer bearings from China for quite some time, never had a issue. inspect and repack every year.