New app to Identify counterfeit wheel bearings

What did you find on the Timken bearings? Real or fake. I ordered a set from RA and then used the WBA app and they said they were possibly fakes. Having a hard time finding anyone that is selling Timkens with the KOYO markings on the speed sensors.

 

PR, thanks for your posts on this. After way too much time researching and reading posts I just got the SKF BR930324 for our 2004 from Rockauto, with 5-year warranty.

 

So far I've bought three different sets from three different cheap manufacturers including the TRQ on Amazon indoor eBay so far pretty uneventful the way I change him the fronts take me 45 minutes to do pretty much The rears may be a tad longer because you've got to pull the drums off been the least of any problems so far other than the noise is gone.

 

In three years I won't remember where they came from anyway I don't spend my time keeping that accurate of records and then trying to invoke that warranty we'll probably be good fun.

 

I've gone through a couple sets on my Gen 2, probably because we use studded snow tires in the winter.

Pre 2020 lockdowns, I had replaced the front bearings with Moog 3-year. At the end of this past year, I discovered that one of those bearings had failed, so back to finding new bearings. The Moog hadn't lasted as long as we thought it should have, and I wasn't reading the best things on their current reviews, so I decided to try another brand.

I looked into Timken, and that they were supposedly a US manufacturer. I also saw a degradation in what people thought of them. Maybe because of the counterfeit issues. I don't know. 2020 screwed a lot of stuff up.

I decided to try the SKF. I can't find the link, but I got the impression that they were made in Germany. I ordered two, mainly because I want a car that works on both sides equally. Somewhat because when one fails, I figure the second bearing is probably going to go shortly thereafter.

What I got was two bearings, in SKF boxes that looked totally different. The boxes were both labeled Made in China. One of the bearings had an SKF logo on it, and the other one had Made in China stamped on it and no logo. The one labeled SKF also had some blueing (like when the steel is overheated) on the hub. Yeah - I took pictures and sent those back for a refund.

I found another seller calling themselves the SKF store, so figuring that I was working with someone more closely attached to SKF, so I ordered another pair. I felt a little better when their product page showed that they were Made in Japan. They split up the order and the next week I got one from one location, and a day later I got a second one from another location. One of them looked like the logo'd bearing I got from the other supplier (box marked Made in China, etched SKF logo) - without the bluing. A day later, the second one arrived in a box that looked like it had been sitting on a shelf for a few years. It was labeled Made in Japan, had no logo, and a different appearance to it.

Being post-pandemic, I felt better about the one supposedly made in Japan, even though it had no logo. Maybe it was also perception, but it seemed to turn with a bit less force. I called up the supplier and they shipped me another one from their Made in Japan collection.

This left me hanging out with my car up on jack stands about a month longer than it needed to be. It's a good thing I'm retired and have a backup vehicle. After this, I'd probably just pay the extra and get a couple bearings from Toyota.

 

Did you find them!?!?

Im coincidentally doing the same thing as you did right friggin now after noticing the koyo branding on the bearing images, looking it up on Google, seeing other people's posts, etc. and I'm finding any way not to pick up the OEM from the dealership. I ordered them and they will be here in 2 days, they are $600 for both! But I didn't pay yet and I'm trying to find any way to find the OEM for cheaper somewhere else which got me on this Timken hunt. Even the koyos at Napa are $260 each, and I'm not sure they are the same part.

Do you think that person ever really got a koyo branded Timken?

I called a shop that had one in stock and he said it didn't say koyo

 

I'm using TRQ from Amazon or eBay or whoever sells them now TRQ seems to be a pretty good pretty large aftermarket outfit I've got four sets of these bearings on three cars or four cars I can't remember now and 20,000 mi or 30,000 on one set of them and I haven't had any problems so I went ahead and used them on the rest of the cars I keep two sets of hubs here loaded and ready to go for any car I buy that needs them I think I'm paying what I don't know $88 for a set of two front The rears are a little less so far no problems dead quiet hubs everything's working good I'm not looking to spend $130 a pop I know better than that That's not necessary I don't care whose name is on what and I don't need any software to find fakes for hub bearings yeah they're going to be fake that's right I'm not looking to pay 150 bucks for the originals or 300 or 250 or whatever The TRQs are working just fine they seem to be pretty deep in the game they have their own boxes logos seem to be doing reasonable work so we'll let em fly. This is not break your bank work here these take 45 minutes aside to install so it's not like I'm paying thousands of dollars of labor that I'm going to have to pay to redo again I'm doing this right here in my shop and yard when you have hubs preloaded makes everything go very quickly I don't keep rear hubs reloaded obviously just the fronts big aluminum front hubs I go ahead and put new lower ball joints on them put the new hubs in and they sit over in the shop floor in the corner at the ready for the next car I bring in here that I need to put them on so they're ready to go when I remove them off the car that has the bad ones I put new hub bearings in those and new lower ball joints and they sit at the ready and so on I think people are making this way too complicated about an original part that's well not a thing here.

 

Order them from a Toyota dealer that has an online parts sales department.

There aren't many, but they do exist. You get the real-deal parts delivered to your door.

Link to one I've used.