Replacement of Front Wheel Bearings

Hi Guys

I need to replace the front wheel bearings - they have started to get noisy.

Can anyone suggest the best option.

I am looking at ***,SKF, Delphi and Optimal

Optimal are half the price of the rest but they do say they are quality German suppliers. Can't seem to find out if they manufacture of just sell third party. Are they any good. I know you get what you pay for in most instances but they do have a two year guarantee as the rest of them. But I don't want to be replacing them two years down the line even.

I have got a Genuine Honda battery on the car at the moment which is manufactured by Delphi and it has performed and lasted well. Are their wheel bearings as reliable?

Or do I spend more and go for SKF / *** who do have the reputation?

I read an interesting article on the comparison between European and middle eastern bearing manufacturers a while ago. The conclusion was that European are definitely better.

Any help would be appreciated.

I can't speak for Honda bearings but I know that I fitted two *** on a Corolla and they both failed within a very short time, I got PiXXed off and fitted a genuine Toyota bearing, which was Koyo from memory and its been fine since.
I know Honda don't make bearings they are probably Koyo or NSK but their quality control is likely to be much tougher than a bearing supplier.
I have seen too many instances where genuine parts even though made by the same manufacturer are much better than non-genuine. NTK Lambda sensors are another case where the same apparent part from NTK last and perform well as genuine but the aftermarket version does not.

Hi Bounder

Thanks for the reply.

That's something to think about then.

Is there much price difference between genuine and spurious?

Not a great deal Bounder but as they say, every bit helps but I don't want to end up a couple of years down the line doing it again.

Has anyone done this before and if so what bearing removal kit did you use

I thought I would get one to save a lot of frustration.

There are plenty of ""universal" sets out there but I don't want to get the wrong set and find it doesn't fit.

Cheers

Stick with NTK or Koyo, cheaper ones fail prematurely. You can buy a hydraulic press if you like doing your own work. Good for future jobs on replacing arm bushes etc. If not you can get a manual set but will cost just as much as a one ton press and not as robust.