Wheel Hub assembly/bearing issue

[diegobear]

Hey guys, has anyone here changed out their hub assemblies? My bearings have gone out and I'm having trouble sourcing parts that actually fit.

I ordered a set of WJB wheel hub assemblies from Rock Auto (#WA513333) for the front of the car. I tried putting them on but the splines on the drive shaft were a touch too big for the new hub. We tried a long time to secure a fit but it just didnt want to install.

The local Suzuki dealership that still honors/works on the cars is quoting me $1200 for the job -- doesn't seem to be worth it.

I've cross referenced a bunch of parts, and curiously some seem to have the same part number. Would that be because they are following the manufacturer's lead in assigning a part number or could it actually be that they are all made in the same factory and then branded differently?

Here's what I've found

Rock Auto:
WJB #WA51333 - $54
Centric #40148000E - $76
Centric #40148000 - $104
Moog #513333 - $132
Timken #HA590399 (#4340157L00) - $144

AutoZone:
Duralast #DL590399 - $186
Moog #513333 - $232

O'Reilly:
Precision Hubs #590399 - $216

Does anybody have any ideas?

[Ronzuki]

I ordered a set of WJB wheel hub assemblies from Rock Auto (#WA513333) for the front of the car. I tried putting them on but the splines on the drive shaft were a touch too big for the new hub. We tried a long time to secure a fit but it just didnt want to install.

Ya get what ya pay for...there's a reason they were only $54 a piece. I'm a Timken kinda guy. Since you've already gone the Rock Auto route, work w/ them to return the cheapo's that don't fit and ask them to swap them for the Timken units.

[KuroNekko]

+1 for the TIMKENs. They are among the best aftermarket bearings you can get. In fact, they have a better reputation than some OE wheel bearings from Ford and Mazda. When the second set of OE Mazda (FoMoCo) bearings installed by a Mazda dealer failed at only 26,000 miles or so for my former Mazda3, I got TIMKENs and had my local auto shop install them for a fraction of what the Mazda dealer wanted for their garbage.
I'd say the runner up is Moog. Get either Moog or TIMKENs for aftermarket bearings.

[diegobear]

I ordered a set of WJB wheel hub assemblies from Rock Auto (#WA513333) for the front of the car. I tried putting them on but the splines on the drive shaft were a touch too big for the new hub. We tried a long time to secure a fit but it just didnt want to install.

Ya get what ya pay for...there's a reason they were only $54 a piece. I'm a Timken kinda guy. Since you've already gone the Rock Auto route, work w/ them to return the cheapo's that don't fit and ask them to swap them for the Timken units.

Yeah, I'd normally think so but this has been the first time that Rock Auto's parts haven't fit for me. Granted, I used to own a Corolla and their mass-production characteristic kinda weeds out any of these kinds of problems. That being said, the bearings don't look like junk and , at $54, are more expensive than nearly every hub assembly sold on rock auto for that same corolla. I tend to believe the Kizashi parts are more expensive simply because there is less demand relative to supply, not an indictment (or proof) of their quality.

Still, Timken it is.

[diegobear]

So does anyone here already have these Timken hub assemblies installed? I just want to make sure that they actually fit. Crap parts may be crap parts, but even they too should fit.

Just trying to get a testimonial

[KuroNekko]

I ordered a set of WJB wheel hub assemblies from Rock Auto (#WA513333) for the front of the car. I tried putting them on but the splines on the drive shaft were a touch too big for the new hub. We tried a long time to secure a fit but it just didnt want to install.

Ya get what ya pay for...there's a reason they were only $54 a piece. I'm a Timken kinda guy. Since you've already gone the Rock Auto route, work w/ them to return the cheapo's that don't fit and ask them to swap them for the Timken units.

Yeah, I'd normally think so but this has been the first time that Rock Auto's parts haven't fit for me. Granted, I used to own a Corolla and their mass-production characteristic kinda weeds out any of these kinds of problems. That being said, the bearings don't look like junk and , at $54, are more expensive than nearly every hub assembly sold on rock auto for that same corolla. I tend to believe the Kizashi parts are more expensive simply because there is less demand relative to supply, not an indictment (or proof) of their quality.

Still, Timken it is.

Sorry, but I don't follow your logic. I also looked up wheel bearing hub assemblies for a 2011 Corolla (don't know what year yours is but it's irrelevant) and see that the price differential for a WJB hub bearing to a TIMKEN is about the same for a Kizashi. A WJB rear hub assembly for a 2011 Corolla is $54.79. It's the cheapest one under the "Economy" listings. A TIMKEN rear hub assembly is $158.79 and is under the "Standard" listings. This price differential mirrors that of the Kizashi's in pricing that you listed. Hence, it has nothing to do with Corolla vs. Kizashi and everything to do with WJB (probably crap) vs. TIMKEN (a renown brand for quality bearings).

[diegobear]

Ya get what ya pay for...there's a reason they were only $54 a piece. I'm a Timken kinda guy. Since you've already gone the Rock Auto route, work w/ them to return the cheapo's that don't fit and ask them to swap them for the Timken units.

Yeah, I'd normally think so but this has been the first time that Rock Auto's parts haven't fit for me. Granted, I used to own a Corolla and their mass-production characteristic kinda weeds out any of these kinds of problems. That being said, the bearings don't look like junk and , at $54, are more expensive than nearly every hub assembly sold on rock auto for that same corolla. I tend to believe the Kizashi parts are more expensive simply because there is less demand relative to supply, not an indictment (or proof) of their quality.

Still, Timken it is.

Sorry, but I don't follow your logic. I also looked up wheel bearing hub assemblies for a 2011 Corolla (don't know what year yours is but it's irrelevant) and see that the price differential for a WJB hub bearing to a TIMKEN is about the same for a Kizashi. A WJB rear hub assembly for a 2011 Corolla is $54.79. It's the cheapest one under the "Economy" listings. A TIMKEN rear hub assembly is $158.79 and is under the "Standard" listings. This price differential mirrors that of the Kizashi's in pricing that you listed. Hence, it has nothing to do with Corolla vs. Kizashi and everything to do with WJB (probably crap) vs. TIMKEN (a renown brand for quality bearings).

No worries, I still appreciate the input. If you're genuinely interested in what I'm talking about, take a look and compare the other parts all over the car. The Kizashi's skew upwards for being newer (since 2010) compared to older generation of other more mass-manufactured cars -- corolla or not, Japanese, German, or American. Kizashis also skew upwards in price because they don't have as many interested 3rd-party companies trying to make parts and compete for business due to their low numbers.

Still, just because the price of the part is low doesn't mean that it matches the value, and I'm not talking intrinsic value. A crap part ought to still fit, especially one that a 3rd-party parts manufacturer knows is the difference between it being usable or not -- like a splined fit from a hub assembly. They hire and pay engineers good money to design them, and have a marketing team to make pretty labels for their boxes...it should at bare minimum fit.

I don't mind shelling out the extra $200 for Timkens, but has anyone actually put them on and can verify they fit?

[Ronzuki]

Not really sure why your bearings are shot in the first place honestly. Not a common issue reported with the car. The way I throw my K around in the twisties I'm surprised (not really, it's a zuk) I haven't been told at an annual safety inspection my bearings need replaced. So you'll likely be hard pressed to find anyone's replaced their bearings, out of drivetrain warranty, with Timkens.

I used to put Timken bearings in lawn and garden tractor repairs and rebuilds when I was a kid...they were THE name in bearings back in the day. In fact, equipment manufacturers would tout that their products were manufactured with Timken. When I started working on cars, if Timken was an option, that's what I used. MOOG's an old name in suspension parts such as ball joints and TREs...not sure about their rep for bearings. On the Samurai though, I stuck w/ all OE Suzuki bearings on anything I replaced in that since the originals absorbed unbelievable abuse and lasted.

WJB (whatever that is) is likely a low-budget, off-shore, manufacturer that gobbled up someone else's old worn-out machine tooling. Rearrange the initials to JWB (Junk Wheel Bearings) and I get it. Bearings are precision components. Low-budget, low cost and precision quality have never coexisted in my experience. Even if they were to have 'fit', how long would they have lasted?

[diegobear]

JWB Junk Wheel Bearings

[KuroNekko]

A crap part ought to still fit, especially one that a 3rd-party parts manufacturer knows is the difference between it being usable or not -- like a splined fit from a hub assembly. They hire and pay engineers good money to design them, and have a marketing team to make pretty labels for their boxes...it should at bare minimum fit.

You'd think that should be the case, but it isn't always. Cheaper parts not only use cheaper materials, they aren't made to the same exacting standards. Like Ronzuki stated, cheap parts may be made with old tooling machinery, making the manufactured parts looser in exacting tolerances and specifications.

As someone who worked on a 1976 VW Bus, I can tell you that despite parts being made specifically for the vehicle, some even from original factories, there is still a lot of deviation in quality. For the VW buses, it's quite well known that the Mexican and Brazilian manufactured parts are nowhere the quality of the original German stuff, even if the German parts were made decades ago while the Mexican and Brazilian stuff was newer for their late model air-cooled vehicles. I've had a lot of cheaper parts junk out on the bus and the best solution was to find OE German-made parts or high quality US-made aftermarket parts.

Finding high quality for low dollars isn't a norm. You usually get what you pay for.