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Minivan front sealed bearing life ?

2270 Views 13 Replies 7 Participants Last post by  John Wood, 
J
Am about to change the first one of these out of three Dodge Caravans with

over 400,000 miles between them.

Bought a MOOG from Advance Auto with a 40 dollar off coupon you
can find on the web with little searching. Online only with that deal.


Not all that difficult to change but was considering changing the other front
bearing and then said what the heck for.........considering the mileage we have got on these things
I may never change another one.


What kind of mileage do you have on an original ?
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D
The last minivan I had, a 2000 T&C Ltd AWD, was still on its original wheel bearings when I traded it in with 161K miles in 2008.

On the other hand, I had to replace both front hubs (wheel bearings were growling) on my 2006 Dodge Ram 1500 SLT 4x2 (see sig below) at roughly 135-140K miles.

Don't go cheap on the bearings. When I was shopping around to have my Ram serviced, the Firestone service advisor told me they use to obtain the hubs from Advance, but went to better hub unit due to alot of "come backs" with the Chinese made hubs. In the end I went with MoPar OEM units installed by my local dealer. They did cost twice as much as those available from Advance, but I feel more comfortable knowing they'll last at least 135K miles or thereabouts. I didn't go with Firestone as they were $100 more than the CJDR dealer. Even though there was a lifetime warranty on the Firestone hubs I just could afford $450+ labor and parts.
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J
Yes I agree the Chinese Driveworks house brand of Advance has a lot of bad reviews on their website.

Sometimes they are screwing themselves by showing the reviews but at least they are honest.

Chinese parts are becoming a problem to me already...........the consumer is getting the shaft on these poor quality parts and

We are getting charged just like the good ones we used to buy. I voice my opinion on this loudly. If you want to charge me a whole lot less maybe I will roll the dice but to charge me full price for Chinese junk with little warranty and a lot of work to replace again.......well this is BS.

I got Moog but even then I recently bought a idler pulley for same van from MOOG and the dang thing had Chinese bearings in it.................we can't win some times...........but AdVANCE AND ANY OTHER AUTO CHAIN CHARGING US THESE STEAP MARKUPS ON CHINESE JUNK........................................ARE CUTTING THEIR OWN THROATS IN THE LONG RUN.

I BELIEVE THE TRUCKS TAKE MORE OF A POUNDING SO THE LAST less miles.............
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D
My Ram really doesn't take that much of a "pounding". I used it to commute to work (116 miles per day), haul loads to the dump every 2-3 weeks and occasional Home Depot/Lowe's runs. It's more or less a road queen - doesn't see much off road - and is more or less a "lifestyle" truck.

Yes, I agree on the marketing of Chinese made parts in cutting their own throat. What we as customers should be doing is "demanding" quality parts made in the USA. As long as we settle for the cheaply made crap, Advance, AutoZone, NAPA, will keep marketing it and selling those parts.

I noticed this trend quite a few years ago when I ended up with brake pads from NAPA that barely lasted 30K miles on my '92 Acclaim. Previous brake pads had always lasted 60K miles minimum. NAPA only keeps the cheap pads in stock at the store and if you want the quality mid-grade or hi-grade brake pads you have to order them and wait a day. That's about the time NAPA lost me as a customer.

It is getting harder and harder to get non-Chinese made parts.
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peterjon1
Mine is on the originl front bearings at 225,000 miles. I did have to change the rears a couple years ago.
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Bob Lincoln
My last car, 92 Daytona, had 308,000 miles on it when I got rid of it. It had the original front bearings, in great condition.

Good luck on Chinese parts. Too many people fell for cheap pricing and killed the US suppliers of many parts. Today there are NO brake rotors made in the USA. The best you can get is: cast in China or elsewhere and machined in the USA. Centric advertises as the only brand that even does this.
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J
Bob Lincoln said:
My last car, 92 Daytona, had 308,000 miles on it when I got rid of it. It had the original front bearings, in great condition.

Good luck on Chinese parts. Too many people fell for cheap pricing and killed the US suppliers of many parts. Today there are NO brake rotors made in the USA. The best you can get is: cast in China or elsewhere and machined in the USA. Centric advertises as the only brand that even does this.
Click to expand...

DEFINITELY NEED aMERICAN mADE PARTS For better quality and JOBS...............the middle man is making a killing on these Chinese junk because the price is not lower for the consumer...................

TRUCKS DO TAKE MORE OF A POUNDING THAN A MINIVAN BECAUSE OF THE SUSPENSION UNDER THEM....IT IS INHERENTLY STIFFER FOR A REASON SO THE BEARINGS WILL LIKELY LAST LESS MILES...............
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V
it isn't that the price has remained unchanged, it's that the price hasn't gone up. Consider how much the cost of raw materials have went up in recent years. Switching production off shore has kept much of the price increases due to increased material cost out of the system so far.

Yeah, quality is often sacrificed to hold the price. But spend some time in an auto parts store as everyone asks about the lowest price and never once does anyone ask the source of the part. It's sad, but price is the singular focus of a large enough percentage of the population that it sometimes is the only target that matters.
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Bob Lincoln
The prices are lower. You can get rotors for $12 to $15. That's way cheaper than they ever used to be. The better ones are about $40 each. Dealers get over $125 each for OEM.
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D
Yes, in general the parts are lower. "Cheap" rotors (front) for my Ram are $40. Better ones /(Wagner) are double that and OEM (dealer) is $95. Same for the front hubs. I could have gotten cheap hubs from Advance ($120), but elected to go with OEM - $260/hub. The rear rotors were $126 at the dealer.
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J
I am taking the middle ground with the MOOG, will let everyone know if it is a Chinese bearing if I can tell.

Gonna change the one noisy front bearing and drive on......prob the factory bearing/hub on the other side of the van

would outlast one of those Chinese ones anyway.

At this many miles I am only changing what needs it right now.......she is about to turn over 275,000.
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C
Granted, a lot of crap is made in China. If the part has no name, or some weird name like "Yellow Dragon," be careful as it probably came out of a Chinese "parts mill." However, there are some good parts coming out of China, usually the ones carrying American or Japanese brand names. The Goodyear tensioner pulley that I put on my T&C around 12,000 miles ago has a Chinese bearing and is holding up fine. I bought some Raybestos "Professional Grade" front discs for the van around the same time. They were made in China and seem to be holding up fine without any grooving after 12,000 miles. I bought a new Denso (OEM supplier) fuel pump which I plan to install in the van when the weather warms up, and noticed that it too was made in China. The Chinese-made parts carrying American/Japanese brand names are made to American or Japanese standards in factories which are, in many cases, overseen by non-Chinese managers from the parent company. I lived in Japan for 10 years and had occasion to talk to a few Honda engineers whos said that Honda demands the same quality from their suppliers regardless of where the parts are made. Unfortunately, the auto parts chains here sell cheap parts because that's what the public wants. It's silly not to use parts simply because they were made in China. I've never had a problem with a Chinese part that was backed by an American/Japanese manufacturer.
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V
The Raybestos front hub I bought for my 99 Dakota is made in China. It looks like a well made piece, I guess time will tell.
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J
The last sealed bearing I purchased was made by Timkin. You guessed it... made in China. So far, it has 40,000 trouble free miles, but you never know....

You just can't find very many N. American made aftermarket parts anymore... or you really have to go out of your way to search for them.
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