I replaced inner and outer messed up front bearings on the passenger side last summer. Got the parts from NAPA. Stupid "Made in Mexico" inner bearing. Well, it's bad again. The car hasn't logged more than 1k miles since then, mostly in 1/4 mile blasts.



I took a good look at the spindle, and it definitely looks a bit fooked, but not really so bad that it would cause the bearing to go bad again so quickly. Am I wrong? I'm not looking forward to replacing the spindles. The outer race on the inner bearing was beat up pretty bad, and there were metal flakes in the grease, just like the first time.



I think I'm going to replace just the inner with a Timken bearing from Autozone. Good ol' Made in the US of A. Maybe it'll last another year.



Thoughts?

 

Timken, NTN, SKF, federal mougal are all good brands

 

why not just get OEM bearings. They lasted a long time didnt

they?

 

OEM mazda are just repackaged bearings made by one of the big bearing manfuacturers. It is actually cheaper to find the same bearings made by one of the top brands.



Just look up the yellow pages or phone book for places that sell industrial parts. OR look up SKF or NTN and call them, they will point u to a distrubtor.

 

NSK is OEM for Mazda, the prices arent bad if you factor on

trying to locate the same ones.



Somethings arent worth messing around with in my opinion.



I just bought the bearings for the AC and the PS tension pullys, and

they were $10 from Mazda. I know wheel bearings will be a bit more, but to get OEM bearings that will fit perfect and last 10+ years would

be worth more to me then saving a few dollars.

 

damn! now i know why my car has this slight squeeking whrilling sound when i start it up in the morning... the bearings in the pulleys must be gone.



Thanks rob... time to check that out when teh car comes back from the shop.



And rob i totaly agree with going to mazda for bearings.

For me i live 5 mins from a bearing supplier and i took the bearings and races off my hub and brought it to the place. 10 min later they found the exact same stuff at 40% off the cost and they were NTN bearings

=)



wohoo... time to fix my whirling sound.

 

the ps and the ac bearing is the same.

 

Mazda isn't a possible source for these bearings, as they do not consider them to be replaceable. http://www.mazdatrix.com/faq/frontbrg.htm



They will quote only a complete new hub and bearing assembly, which I'd rather not pay for. True, I was hoping for better results from the cheaper fix. We'll see if it holds up this time.