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Old 03-13-2019, 09:46 PM   #1
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Timken - no longer USA made?

Well, I guess it had to happen sooner or later. I've been paying the premium price for Timken bearings and seals for all my trailers for years. Ordered a set for the travel trailer this week and they came today. Made in Taiwan, and the back of the package says "Distributed by the Timken Company. Timken Service Parts are carefully chosen from select manufacturers." So did Timken even make these?

They appear to be valid Timken boxes and markings and not counterfeit knock offs, but I'm starting to wonder about paying that "Timken premium price" going forward? I presume they are made to the Timken standard, but it's hard not to question this in the back of my mind now.

Anyone have any bad experiences with seals or bearings from the larger online trailer stores? I mean these are $9 seals and I can get them for 1/3 of that at e-trailer.com and other big online vendors. If all Timken is doing is buying less expensive and packaging it, why pay the premium going forward.
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Old 03-13-2019, 09:53 PM   #2
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I bought my Timken bearing/race sets on Amazon and they were all USA made. The seals were made in Taiwan.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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Old 03-14-2019, 05:34 AM   #3
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At least made in Taiwan is better quality than made in China.
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Old 03-14-2019, 06:03 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jd50i View Post
At least made in Taiwan is better quality than made in China.
x 2 Later RJD
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Old 03-14-2019, 07:40 AM   #5
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While I prefer Made in the USA quality is not determined by where it is made. The manufacturing specifications determines the quality of the product. There are some products made to high manufacturing standards that are made in China. There are some crappy items manufactured in the USA.

Usually the crappy things come from China but that is because the company ordering the product orders it with low standards.
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Old 03-14-2019, 07:45 AM   #6
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While I prefer Made in the USA quality is not determined by where it is made. The manufacturing specifications determines the quality of the product. There are some products made to high manufacturing standards that are made in China. There are some crappy items manufactured in the USA.

Usually the crappy things come from China but that is because the company ordering the product orders it with low standards.
Exactly!!! Well said.
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Old 03-14-2019, 10:51 AM   #7
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I agree, but I'm questioning the logic of continuing to pay $9 a seal for Timken when the $3 ones are now likely from the same actual maker in Taiwan.
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Old 03-14-2019, 11:14 AM   #8
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I agree, but I'm questioning the logic of continuing to pay $9 a seal for Timken when the $3 ones are now likely from the same actual maker in Taiwan.
I am sticking with the Timken. Sucks to have grease leak onto your brakes with crappy seals. As it is, don't use the EZ-lube "feature".
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Old 03-14-2019, 12:10 PM   #9
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Not made in America does not automatically equal poor quality.

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Old 03-14-2019, 01:10 PM   #10
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As I posted in another thread concerning Timken Bearings, My neighbor recently bought a couple sets from NAPA for his snow-machine trailer. All the boxes were marked "Made In India'. So, who knows?
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Old 03-14-2019, 01:38 PM   #11
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I prefer jobs in the USA. I pay a little more for products made in the USA and hope it is of higher quality or the business will go out. I like to keep my neighbors working and paying taxes. Foreign labor does not pay taxes in the USA and tariffs/import fees do not make up for the loss in wages/taxes. Just my two cents.
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Old 03-14-2019, 01:45 PM   #12
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China can build to any quality level and does, it is whatever the buyer wants. I have been running Chinese bearings for years and never had a failure. Failures generally come from poor maintenance or cranking the spindle nut down leaving no play in the bearing to allow grease to come in.
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Old 03-14-2019, 03:56 PM   #13
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Timken in NC used to be a customer of my company and something tells me that they were bought out by another, larger American company.
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Old 03-14-2019, 08:39 PM   #14
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Timken seems to be the parent company still. They are buying other companies though. They have plants in the US, China, India, Taiwan and Romania that I can find. The have closed the Columbus plant and sold the Ashland, Ohio plant. They also shut down in England.


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Old 12-04-2019, 09:12 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by babock View Post
I bought my Timken bearing/race sets on Amazon and they were all USA made. The seals were made in Taiwan.

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
How are these bearings holding up for you? I have them on my Amazon wish list, but I'm a bit concerned. $8 for a Timken bearing and race? Thats like $5 cheaper than I see the bearing alone selling for. I'm concerned if these are real or not.

I want to get a spare set to keep in the parts bin. I was hoping to upgrade to quality Timken or similar bearings. I can find kits for my 3500lb Ez lube axle (spindle #84 I believe) anywhere: eTrailer, Northern Tool, Amazon,..... One cheap Chinese company after another. I've seen kits for 1 wheel as low as $7. I can't find any Timken kits. Well, I found one for both wheels with a bunch of extra nuts and stuff at SouthWest Wheel for $110.

Has anyone found a Timken kit for one wheel? Other quality brands? Or is piecing it together from Amazon the way to go?

Thanks
Jim M.
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Old 12-04-2019, 09:20 AM   #16
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even the bearings that come with most units are not bad if serviced and if you replace seals and get good ones from napa or auto zone with the extra spring to give a good seal you won't have issues . TimKin is a name like harley davidson great bikes but not worth 30 to 40 K
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Old 12-04-2019, 09:58 AM   #17
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Originally Posted by jimmarako View Post
How are these bearings holding up for you? I have them on my Amazon wish list, but I'm a bit concerned. $8 for a Timken bearing and race? Thats like $5 cheaper than I see the bearing alone selling for. I'm concerned if these are real or not.



I want to get a spare set to keep in the parts bin. I was hoping to upgrade to quality Timken or similar bearings. I can find kits for my 3500lb Ez lube axle (spindle #84 I believe) anywhere: eTrailer, Northern Tool, Amazon,..... One cheap Chinese company after another. I've seen kits for 1 wheel as low as $7. I can't find any Timken kits. Well, I found one for both wheels with a bunch of extra nuts and stuff at SouthWest Wheel for $110.



Has anyone found a Timken kit for one wheel? Other quality brands? Or is piecing it together from Amazon the way to go?



Thanks

Jim M.
Yes, you can still get them on eBay the last time I checked, this guy must of had warehouse full of them, yes it true they are no longer made in the good old USA, but if you check his site his box plainly shows made in the USA. You can buy 1 or 4 as many as you like from his site on EBay. Only place I know that still has them, I know my local Napa now has them from a outside country, so try EBay.
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Old 12-04-2019, 10:38 AM   #18
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Are you sure those bearings that are marked "Made in USA" are really made here?

A quote from National Precision Bearing's website:

Quote:
"Made in the USA" is a traditional mark and label used by many bearing manufacturers. This statement however can be misleading. In today's highly competitive marketplace many manufactures seek international off-shore sources for raw materials and components (such as balls, rollers, cages and rings). As a result many of the "Made in the USA" bearings are finished and assembled in the United States but contain components and materials that have been produced off shore.
In this day and age the label really doesn't tell the full story and the actual product could be mostly foreign made, just enough "cost" added in the US to make it qualify as domestic production (only has to meet or exceed 50% as a rule on "value added").

Personally I've never had a bearing fail due to material or mfr quality. The few that have failed (about 3 in the last 50 years) were from neglect or improper install.

Then again I never purchased the cheapest bearings I could find.
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Old 12-04-2019, 11:18 AM   #19
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Just a word of caution here. I have a friend who is a US Customs Agent at Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage. He has recounted to me numerous times where they have inspected freight shipments of auto parts coming in from China. The parts are bulk-packed without labeling. Then there are other boxes which contain the actual "counterfeit packaging". He says generally these items are consigned to various places in Southern California. The way the scheme works is that these items are intended to be shipped to "houses" in California where the parts and packaging are married-up and then they are listed for sale on eBay, Amazon and Walmart by faceless merchants at below market prices and never hit the established automotive parts channels. He says for the most part the packaging print/design is impeccable, but often a web address or QR is bogus and the end consumer never knows the difference. Last year they uncovered 50 counterfeit Honda 2000 generators in one shipment. Ever notice how merchants disappear all of a sudden from Amazon? They either get caught or they switch to a different "merchant house".

As the old saying goes: Caveat Emptor!
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Old 12-04-2019, 12:21 PM   #20
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I want to get a spare set to keep in the parts bin. I was hoping to upgrade to quality Timken or similar bearings. I can find kits for my 3500lb Ez lube axle (spindle #84 I believe) anywhere: eTrailer, Northern Tool, Amazon,..... One cheap Chinese company after another. I've seen kits for 1 wheel as low as $7. I can't find any Timken kits. Well, I found one for both wheels with a bunch of extra nuts and stuff at SouthWest Wheel for $110.



Has anyone found a Timken kit for one wheel? Other quality brands? Or is piecing it together from Amazon the way to go?



Thanks

Jim M.[/QUOTE]



Lookup timken SET 4 and SET 17 on amazon those are the bearing sets with the race included for the 3500 lb axle.
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