MOOG has a lifetime warranty too. So does Timken I think. Both are excellent parts

 

Get a good one, most warranties don’t cover labor, and you’ll get tired of doing them yourself pretty fast.


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Ive always had good luck with timkens

 

I have also had good luck with timkens.

Are the Kryptonite wheel bearings rebranded Timkens?

It wouldn’t surprise me.

 

Are the Kryptonite wheel bearings rebranded Timkens?

 

5 years ago at about 100k miles my driver side went bad (a little slop doing the 12-6 o'clock wiggle test with the wheel off the ground). I still drove 3k miles across the country to get home so they often go bad slowly. I replaced it with a Timken.

I didn't replace the passenger side and it's still good at over 140k miles, although I need to check it since I just got back from a 4k mile trip.

Unless there is some major event that led to the failure (driving in flooded area or lots of river crossings?), then I don't think there is any correlation between one failing and when the other will. But some will feel that if one went, the other won't be far behind. Maybe. Maybe not. But again, I don't think so.

[added on edit] Also, some believe the bearings are not packed with enough grease which contributes to earlier failure. So, they take out the speed sensor and cram more grease into the hub. I bought "Timken" grease which is absolutely not a guarantee to be whatever they packed in the hub, and pumped some into the hub, but probably not enough to make any difference what-so-ever. But everybody should do what they are comfortable with.

 

Moog or Timken. Replace both for peace of mind.

I had this conversation with a customer of mine who just retired from the company that made moog. I believe it was federal Mogul. Anyway I was asking him if the moog were that much better then the other lifetime warrantied off brand bearings. He said there was a vast difference in quality still. Just that the other parts were so cheap to make that they could afford to replace the failed part.

Lifetime warranty isn’t a promise of quality it is promise they will give you another when it fails. I don’t base my decision solely on the warranty. Personally I don’t like replacing failed parts more then once if I can avoid it.

 

I think I'm just going to bite the bullet and get the Kryptonite ones. I know they're quite a bit more then Timkens, but I've never heard anything but good about Kryptonite stuff. Also, I've always told myself since buying my truck that I'm going to buy as good of a part that I can afford when replacing stuff and hopefully someday stuff won't break any more lol

 

Do you honestly think Kryptonite builds it's own bearings!! Guaranteed they're Timkens or SKF in a Kryptonite wrapper. But it's not my money.

 

No I'm sure they don't. But I'm also sure that they aren't going to slap their good name on a shitty part. And that name also gets me a really good warranty in case it ever does go bad.

 

That's what I'm saying, you're paying for the Kryptonite name on the box, when the exact same bearing from Timken is $$ cheaper. I don't know what the difference is. you said it was "quite a bit more" for the kryptonite

 

Seems the Timkens can go anywhere from about $150-180, depending on where you get it from and how much you have to pay for shipping. I paid $227 shipped from Dmaxstore for the Kryptonite. Timken as I understand has a lifetime warranty? (some website said only 12 months so not exactly sure on this) but the Kryptonites have a lifetime where they actually send you a replacement right away (kind of like a core charge) then you send back the bad one. That way you don't have to uninstall the bad one and wait for a replacement to come.

 

Went through many Moog bearings until I went with Timken . Sometimes you can get a screaming deal on Rock Auto for the Timkens . Cant comment on the others just know Moog sucks .

 

Just my observations....
Save $100+ and roll the dice with a new Timken.
Lifer Warranty sounds good, but ask yourself, "Cardone....wow! must be a good choice? It's a Lifer!".
:rofl

Note; wheel bearing failure isn't a 'thing', it does happen, but not always.
And if one does fail, that's it. The other side rarely follows.
Many people run 100s of 1000s of miles and never have a bearing issue.

What makes even less sense, is ordering both and replacing both.....when only one side is failing. 'dunno;

 

Thanks for the advice Hookem, 1 side it is.

 

Everything I have read points to Kryptonite being rebranded Timken. The Timkens normally go for around $130 on Rock Auto.

 

Call me Mr Overkill. Had one going bad, replaced both with Moog.

 

Call Kryptonite and ask them if they're Timkens.

 

I did that a couple years ago. I was told that yes they are Timken bearings. I think most of their parts are rebranded. That was all I needed to hear. I bought a Timken and put it on my truck. My 06 LBZ has 200,000 miles on it and only the 1 bearing has been replaced. That was at about 160,000 miles. The other is still going strong. I wouldnt even think about replacing one of those until it needed to be done. As far as the Kryptonite warranty. Do you think you will keep your truck for another 150,000, 200,000, 300,000 miles? thats how far you may have to go to use that warranty!

I have great peice of mind and saved a lot of money going with Timken.

 

I have 944,000 on both of my wheel bearings. If one ever does go out I will be putting a stock one from the dealer back on it.

 

IMO: go with Timken, they make the best bearings available for these trucks. I had one original bearing going out at about 75k miles, so I went ahead and replaced both. I figured about 75k miles for a set of bearings is decent life. But that's with a lift and much wider tires, so they wear faster.

 

I like Kryptonite stuff, but the lifetime warranty doesn't actually help me at all because you have to send the part in before you get a replacement. Meaning the truck will be down until you receive that replacement, that may work for some people, but I use my truck almost everyday, so it unfortunately does not work for me. YMMV

 

Plus the freight cost

 

Well, just to give an update I drank the Koolaide and got the Kryptonite. I already had them ordered before everyone chimed in about just getting the Timkens and I didn't have time to return and replace. I can confirm that it is indeed a rebranded Timken. A couple observations, it looks like the speed sensor wire has an additional wrap on it for protection, and it has a cool logo engraved on the face of it but other then that, it looks just like the Timken. I bought mine from the Dmax store, and I also bought the 4 replacement bolts to attach it to the steering knuckle. I will say, I am sorely disappointed in the quality of their replacement bolts. I almost stripped all the heads before reaching the proper torque. I used the right size socket but right before I got the click on the torque wrench the head would strip. They have thread locker on them so I'm not worried about them not being tight enough but they're going to be a bitch to remove.

Speaking of a bitch to remove, whoever replaced the previous wheel bearing (I have a feeling that they were the stock ones that got re-installed when the PO had the lift kit installed) did not put the o ring back into the knuckle when replacing. There was no o ring anywhere and my old wheel bearing hub was rusted on the knuckle so badly. It looks like moisture just sat in there because there was no o ring to seal it out (no wonder it failed). I hammered, heated, cursed, and did everything I know how. I finally got it out by heating one side, going at it with a air hammer, and doing it to the opposite side and after 5 or 6 hours got the thing out. Lots of cleaning up and the new one was installed in 30 minutes.

Thanks everyone for your help!

 

They cost more because they put a no questions asked lifetime warranty on it.

Add to that....as I've recently discovered, the new trend now with the glam "LIFETIME WARRANTY!".... AFTER YOU PAY shipping back to them (this after back and forth banter, with pics as you plead your case of failure, since you're the guilty one for abusing the part), wait for processing, they then issue a refund check instead of replacing the defective part with another soon to fail defective part.


AND, many times, that refund is only a partial refund on the one in the pair that fails.
The freight $$ going back will be much more than what you paid to receive it, then you'll have to do it again when the other half fails.

You end up paying more in shipping both ways, than if you'd just bought quality in the 1st place.

 

Like I've said before, the Kryptonite is a Timken wheel bearing so it's not like it's a crap part. Knowing then what I do now, would I buy the Kryptonite again? Not sure. I've heard that Timkens carry a lifetime warranty, and then when I researched it some places only had a 12 month warranty. I paid $80 more than the cheapest Timken I could find, and that one specifically said 12 month warranty. So in essence, I paid $80 for a lifetime no questions asked warranty. I have no idea how easy warranty replacement is, but like you said, it's usually a headache. The wheel bearing I did replace was a Timken, and if it was the original (are Timkens original equipment?) I would have had about 90,000 miles on it.

 

Just a "food for thought" I have scene Timken Bearings with Chinese stamps right next to "timken" sold as Timkens in Timken box with Timken Part # I am thinking Brand name with "made in USA" the more important decision maker?