When I bought my 1969 F100 in November 2014, the brakes would pull hard to the right. I decided then to do the whole brake job including wheel bearings
while I was in there. the hardest decision I had to make during the job was what bearings to go with. Since Auto Zone is not carrying Timken bearings anymore, I had few options. After shopping around, I decided to go with NAPA bearings. Of course, they have two lines: The standard NAPA bearing manufactured by SKF and the PROFORMANCE bearing made in China. I bought them both and decided to snap some pics, make a comparison, and share the results with you all.
^Here is a side-by-side comparison. Not very telling even with the bad lighting.
^The PROFORMANCE discount bearing, made in China. Retail $4.79
^The standard NAPA bearing made by SKF in Japan. Retail $12.99
^PROFORMANCE
^SKF. Notice the overall better surface finish, especially on the roller cage.
The difference between a 125 microinch finish and 85 micorinch are not really much of function on the outer race and faces, but I did feel like the SKF actually tried to make their product aesthetically pleasing...well, for gearheads at least. The most substantial difference was not one that could be photographed. Placing the bearing race down in your palm and rotating the bearing was most telling. The SKF was smooth and tight. The same could not be said for the Chinese model. You could feel the roughness and the overall sloppiness in the bearing. For all of you guys thinking Japanese stuff is crap: I have been machining for about 3 years. Myself and many old timers swear by Mitsutoyo instruments. My Mitsutoyo tools are spot on calibration standards with lab quality gauge blocks. Not the same can be said for the HF or SPi stuff.
If you can afford it, definitely go with quality bearings, especially if you are keeping the truck. Hell, even the box was nicer. If you are like me, then you don't want to do this job twice.
