Unit bearing recommendations?

AlaskanRedneck

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I'm currently in the process of replacing the left front axle shaft U-joint, ball joints, and unit bearing on my '00 TJ. I found recommendations for the ball joints and U-joint here but couldn't find any for the unit bearing. Anyone have a recommendation for a good quality one?
 
I just did mine and a friends and I will only use Timken..... While you are doing those you may as well do the axle shaft u joints as well as the ball joints, all three parts seem to have about the same life span and all three have to be taken apart to do any one of them.......
 
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Thanks for the recommendation. @FireJeep Yeah I'm changing all of those, actually I'm doing this because the lower ball joint and U-joint are bad, just changing the bearing because I have to remove it anyway and I don't want to do this again in a few thousand miles.
 
I'm installing a newly re-geared dana 30 HP...I ordered the hubs for my 2000 TJ but found a lot of different hubs that fit dana 30's. Not sure if anyone has found a stronger hub from a different year but for this go around I'm sticking with the hub for my year tj.
 
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Reviving the dead here.... Timken unit bearing on amazon reviews seem to have gotten a lot of negative lately. Still the recommended brand or is there any built locally in the US? If it’s all China, why not buy the cheapies (Detroit axle) and just make sure they go bad every 11 months.
 
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Timken is the only one I would recommend. I've used a number of them and never had an issue.

If anyone knows anything about unit bearings it's @mrblaine. I know he offers the Timken bearings for sale with his brake kits, and I suspect if there was a better bearing out there, I would think he would offer it.
 
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Nothing against amazon but for something that sees that many rotations, I would want quality to be there. Not any chance that a knockoff would be put in the box instead. I would probably buy them from Summit Racing or someplace similar.
 
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Nothing against amazon but for something that sees that many rotations, I would want quality to be there. Not any chance that a knockoff would be put in the box instead. I would probably buy them from Summit Racing or someplace similar.
It wouldn't surprise me if Summit was already selling parts on on Amazon. Lots of well known retailers are selling through Amazon in addition to their usual channels.
 
I bought the Timkins on Amazon and had one fail. I installed a cheap Chinese knock of as a place holder. I just ordered a MOPAR pair from Q-tech. Not sure if that is better, but once burnt thrice cautious. I am having profound issues for the last 6 months with Amazon shipping to my military postal address. They take 3-5 weeks before they package poorly and mail parts that they depict as in-stock. After they ship, it takes another two weeks to get here. Amazon's logistical prowess is spiraling downhill from where I sit in the foxhole.
 
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Any length or mileage measurements for the SKF? I see them on amazon for about the same price but no prime shipping lol. That's almost a deal breaker

timkins went out like clockwork on my escorts front wheel bearings every year, one side would fail so id do the other at the same time figuring it was next. id say i averaged around 10k miles a year. the SKF bearings lasted me the last 3 years i had the car and as far as i am aware the new owner is still running them.
my chevy pickup didnt like timkins either. i had to replace a timkin front wheel bearing in a autozone parkinglot.

if i cant find a skf i have no issue getting timkin bearings but i have no hesitation paying more for skf based on problems ive had before.
 
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Timkin was always THE best name in bearings. Thats progress for you. I'm guessing that depending on which outsourced plant your bearings came from, the quality varies from great to horrible. If you look at the ratings on Amazon, some folks say that the two bearings looked radically different from each other as if they were produced in completely different factories. I do know the knock off industry is tainting everything. Even KitchenAid products.
 
Had an 2001 Ram 1500 4wd From 2006-2010 and changed unit bearings every 6 months. Had a 1 year warranty and replaced them on a schedule because they’d always go bad for free. Napa specials. Got so good at changing them I could knock out both sides in less than an hour. No idea what the brand one. And the truck was only rocking 33s at the time.

I’m going to give the Detroit axle versions a shot just to see how they do. I’ll track miles on them and check them when I do oil changes every 3k... so About once a year lol
 
Timken is always the recommended replacement and it’s the only brand I would use.

They're priced fairly too!

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000BZAF36/?tag=wranglerorg-20

I would personally avoid anything other than Timken, especially local auto part store junk.

Are you sure this is the correct part? I purchased them and went to install today, everything seemed to go fine until I was not able to move the wheel after tightening everything down. The rotor was not fitting correctly & I noticed the new Timken were shorter than the ones I remove by approx 1/4 inch:
1584563498494.png


When I went to double check I ordered & received the correct ones I noticed Amazon told me they did not fit my 98 Wrangler. I don't trust what Amazon says 100%, but I'm either messing something up when installing them or I got the wrong ones.
 
Looks like you got a late hub version. The taller one is used with composite rotors. The shorter one is used with cast rotors.

My notes show 513084 for 97-99 and HA597449 for 00-06
 
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