I recently purchased Timken bearing from online part store that is rack. when I received the bearing I didn't see TImken name on the bearing or didn't see part # or any other marks on it, I decided to check somewhere else. such as amazon, bearing was already loud out of the box. Checked ebay, asked the seller to provide picture of the actual bearing, I decided to go with ebay, here is picture to compare between real bearing vs less quality ones.
Good catch, and thank you for posting those images. Please post the seller of the fake, and the seller for the real bearing, which will help steer people in the right direction.
The fake ones was from ****auto. the real was from ebay after seeing a picture of actual item and confirmed it is real.
I find it hard to believe that RockAuto, if that's who you're speaking of, would have counterfeits. I'm not really seeing the difference between the parts, but one, the Ebay one, looks much older than the other. Are you sure Timken didn't change the design in the meantime? There was some talk of even the major bearing manufacturers, Timken and SKF, outsourcing their manufacturing overseas fairly recently, so that could result in minor changes.
I'm of the opinion that R***Auto drop ships from suppliers. Scan bar code and upload to stopfakebearings.com, may be for straight bearings and not hub assemblies. Timken China Headquarters? https://www.careers.timken.com/content/Regional-Locations/?locale=en_US
Thanks for the info. I bookmarked that website. OP should check those bearings and return them either way. If they are fakes you should let Rock Auto know before you send them back. They may want you to return then somewhere to inspect them. Let us know either way.
I agree that not much difference between both parts , however I can tell that one is more louder and hard to turn than the other. I didn't hear any grinding sounds from the hub with Koyo bearing.
It’s not clear to me that either of the parts kindly shown here was made in a Timken factory, nor that either of them is a counterfeit. The assembly labeled “real Timken” has a speed sensor marked with “Koyo,” JTEKT’s trademark, but that doesn’t prove that JTEKT made the remainder of the assembly. Has anyone checked with Timken directly? If they weren’t making the parts themselves in the first place, it wouldn’t surprise me to learn that they’ve changed to a lower-cost source in China, with parts from both origins still in distributors’ inventory. Timken’s catalog (linked from their website), when searched for HA590040, has photos with a Koyo speed sensor, but it doesn’t say the country of origin, and it’s possible that the photos weren’t updated after a change in sources, since they’re mainly to show the general arrangement of the mounting holes and hardware.
Seems to me Timkens factory in China is the lower-cost source. Since its entry into China in 1992, The Timken Company has brought its state-of-the-art products and technology as well as innovation to international and local customers. With China headquarters in Shanghai, Timken has an established network of seven sales offices in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenyang, Wuxi, Chengdu, Hong Kong and Taipei. The company has invested in five large-scale manufacturing sites in Wuxi (3), Yantai, and Suzhou, a logistics center and an engineering training center to better serve its Chinese customers. Via Google, "Timken China Headquarters" somehow link to Timken site blanks my reply???
I believe it. I got some "knockoff" NGK spark plugs from them a couple of years ago. I don't blame them, I blame their supplier. Buy online, you take your chances!
I just got a new set of Timken front bearings/hubs that have no markings at all on the actual part. Does anyone know if this is normal now in August 2023 or do I need to send them back?
I am a little embarrassed to say I got them from Home Depot's online site. Apparently they sell all manor of auto parts now through the site and what sold me was their easy returns policy as I can just take them back to the store for a full refund.The bearings I received have very legit looking packaging and they look like they were made with quality steel but there is not a single marking on the hubs themselves. I looked online and the packaging checks out as legitimate but every picture from every site shows a Koyo bearing clearly stamped on the bearing and a few other small marks in other spots but these things are blank. I am going to call Timken on Monday and get to the bottom of this just wondering if this is normal now or if I received counterfeit bearings. Timken Front Wheel Bearing and Hub Assembly fits 2004-2009 Toyota Prius HA590064 - The Home Depot
Counterfeit or if the box wasn't "sealed", then someone could've done a parts swap and used the same easy returns policy.
Well, I suppose that's possible. I am going to make some calls to Timken tomorrow and if I can actually speak to someone in the know perhaps I can get to the bottom of this. My current bearings are not bad I think they are OEM I was replacing them as a preventative maintenance thing. Had I known I would run into all this BS over what should be a simple transaction I would not have bothered. I May ship them back and just keep running the ones I have. Problem is I go camping in mine once a year and I put on 8-9k miles per trip I don't want one of them going bad out in Pigs Knuckle USA.
