General TR Counterfeit bearings

[Sarastro]

My differential, which I had rebuilt, started to howl at me, as if the gears were somehow out of mesh. After taking it apart, here is what I found. This is the outer pinion bearing:

(Sorry about the big image, but I wanted to make the wear easy to see.) Many of the rollers had similar spalling. This bearing has only 3500 miles on it.

This is supposedly a new, top-quality, Timken bearing, but I see no way that it possibly could be. I suspect strongly that it is a counterfeit. The inner bearing did not show this degree of spalling, but still had some light scoring, which it really shouldn't have. I am replacing both, cones and races.

Looking into this a bit further, I learned that counterfeit bearings are a big problem in the bearing industry. This is especially concerning, as some bearings, such as wheel bearings, are critical to safety. Fortunately, there is an organization called the World Bearing Association, which is trying to prevent bearing counterfeiting. You can download an app from their website, https://www.stopfakebearings.com, which will identify fakes by scanning their QR-coded serial numbers. It works for a number of major manufacturers, not all--but no one is going to counterfeit a cheapo bearing; just no money in doing that.

I checked three of the four replacement bearing parts that I bought (two cones, two races). Three were OK. The fourth was a very old part in a faded, shopworn box with no serial no., so I couldn't check it. I returned it and ordered a replacement from another seller. In the future, I will buy only bearings in original boxes, with QR-coded serial numbers, so I can check them.

In retrospect, there were a couple of red flags that I missed. This was a bearing type, 15100-SR, which has probably been discontinued. It was marked "made in England," but few Timken bearings, if any, are still made there. I bought it from Amazon, which is simply a sales conduit; it does not check for genuine bearings. Unfortunately, I no longer have the boxes so I can't check the serial numbers with the app.

So, there's the warning. I hope it helps.

 

[CJD]

I have never seen a cage that looks that sketchy. You must always use caution with both Amazon and Ebay. I have learned that if the price is significantly below the average, then you are looking at counterfeit parts. They often even have an OEM packaging. The only red flag is a price to good to be true. My tale of caution envolved Cummins fuel injectors...

An injector went out, which dropped the rail pressure so we had to limp home 300 miles at no ore than 20 mph. I ordered 6 "new" injectors off Ebay for $650. Once installed, now the engine had a knocking like someone was whacking the block with a hammer. I swapped one injector at a time, and the 6th was bad, so I replace it. We went on a road trip, and after 100 miles, if I floored the accelerator, the rig belched smoke better than a misquito sprayer! We limped 200 miles into New Orleans, and I swapped 2 more injectors that were showing weak. On the drive home 2 weeks later, another Ebay injector went out, so the engine was down 30% on power.

I went to a reputable injector shop, and he filled me in on the counterfeit problem. He said that if you are paying less than $300 per injector, you were absolutely getting a fake injector. He put a set together for me, and we have been sailing smoothly ever since. He would not even accept the Ebay injectors as cores, they were so bad!

The good news, I can change injectors in about an hour now...which is good, since I had to do it 5 times! Finally, the 6th change for good injectors took. I saved $1200 on the Ebay injectors initially, but lost $1200 on them in the end, and also lost days of my life troubleshooting and exchanging crappy injectors! The world has changed, and consumer protection has gone out of the window.

 

[mctriumph]

Yes Amazon is a great place to buy fake stuff. If it way cheap, she a fake!
Mad dog

 

[philstr6]

I use rock auto to get my timken bearings
Phil

 

[Popeye]

Thanks for sharing. I have stopped using Amazon for anything critical or where I can’t trust the origin.

 

[Sarastro]

John, that's quite a story. I've had so many problems with things sold on eBay that I just don't use them any more. I'm sure that a lot of their stuff is fake. These bearings, from Amazon, were about the same price as from other suppliers, though. Probably my last Amazon bearing purchase.

 

[groupdeville]

Plus, searching for nearly anything (and wading through hundreds of "results") is usually a complete waste of time in finding what one is actually looking for. Amazon needs to take serious lessons from ebay on how to develop a functional search engine syntax

 

[Sarastro]

Plus, searching for nearly anything (and wading through hundreds of "results") is usually a complete waste of time in finding what one is actually looking for. Amazon needs to take serious lessons from ebay on how to develop a functional search engine syntax

That's for sure...!

 

[TomMull]

??? Amazon!!!
Roadster Factory, Moss, BPNW, LBC, Spit Bits, Engel Imports ….

 

[Sarastro]

I think it's important to cultivate a variety of sources, not just depend on the usual suppliers. That way you don't find yourself high and dry when you need something, or stuck with exploitative prices. For example, Roadster Factory had these bearings before the fire, but not now, and while I like BPNW, they don't carry them. I don't buy anything from Moss. Engle, I believe, is just a Moss reseller, as is LBC. Dunno if Spit Bits has TR4 things.

The stuff you can find on Amazon is remarkable, because lots of suppliers sell through them. But you need, in this case, the bearing no., not just the application.