avio

Can someone recommend a good place to order OEM honda wheel bearings from? Also since almost every mechanic and even honda has told me they don't know which wheel bearing is broken or making the noise, do you guys think getting an alignment would help diagnose this? Since they are unable to detect any play in the wheel bearings, they dont know which one it is but I can clearly hear a wheel bearing sound coming from one of my wheels but I'm not a 100% sure which one and since I need an alignment anyways and that includes a full suspension inspection and road test, perhaps that would help them find it?

What is a reasonable rate to replace a wheel bearing?

I've had them replaced once in the last year with aftermarket wheel bearings, but clearly seems like the wrong thing to do. So should I stick to OEM or go for aftermarket again?

Cheapest oem I found so far is TASAuto ($70 front, $100 rear hub assy), I can't seem to find it on Majestic honda

sgraham01

go to hubbearing.com and get a TIMKEN bearing. They also ship free. That is the cheapest place I have found and TIMKEN is very high quality. I have replaced mine with TIMKENs and have had no problems. "NTN" even appears on the replacement bearing just like the OE bearing. NTN is a leader in bearings, so the TIMKEN may even be the same as the OE part.

avio

OEM parts are made by NTN? and so TIMKEN is made by NTN as well? So TIMKEN would be a OEM part without the Honda label?

hondamark35

NTN seems to be the primary OE bearing supplier for Honda. Timken was recently acquired by Koyo. NTN and Koyo supply high quality after market bearings for most Honda applications.

either Koyo or NTN will be OE quality.

sgraham01

I agree, and one would be wasting money going to the dealer for this item (although OE is sometimes much cheaper than aftermarket on some items-depending on what it is). thanks for the info on NTN and Timken.

avio

So NTN or Timken would be fine as aftermarket replacement! Timken is available at Autozone and it's a good $100 savings compared to Honda stealership.

Are both the rear hub assembly and front bearings made by NTN for Honda?

avio

Are NTN and NSK both OEM for Honda Accords? I found them at ImportRP.

RICKSAUTOMOTIVE

while i am not sure as to TIMKEN being the oem bearing the small numbers on the bearings is one way to tell. sealed bearings like wheel bearings are all numbered. that is what youre looking for. TIMKEN is a bearing i recommend myself but i have not looked at the bearing numbers. and being that TIMKEN is a high quality bearing i wouldnt be surprised if it was the oem supplier.
as to finding the bad bearing, an alignment is not a sure way to find the bad bearing. youre bearing would have to be extremely bad with lots of wear to find the one that has play in it. you need to drive on a quiet street and listen carefully to the corners of the interior while driving. if its a low grinding or rubbing type of noise its usually a rear bearing. if its a squeak type of noise it could be any wheel bearing but if you drive with a door window rolled down and pass a parked car closely on the side with the window that is down, the front bearing squeak can be pinpointed by the louder squeak as you pass the parked car. if you dont hear it try the other side. the squeak sound bounces off a closer object (the parked car) and it amplifies and also returns the squeak sound faster as you pass the car.
since honda cant find it then you may have another issue. honda techs arent all dumbasses but they should be able to diagnose the sound. try a different approach and tell em there is a noise coming from the car and describe the noise for them. if you tell em a wheel bearing needs replaced they wont want to spend time diagnosing the car since youre already sold on a wheel bearing. its a quick buck to them since they get paid by flag time. they should however be more help full and help you diagnos the correct fix but youll have to pay them the diagnosing time fee. theyre not going to tell you whats wrong for free so you can go home now and fix it yourself

sgraham01

an alignment won't help find the bad bearing. lift each wheel off the ground with a jack and try to find the play in the bearing by rocking the wheel vertically. If you can't find any slack, spin the wheel in a quiet environment and listen closely to any roaring of the hub. All you should hear is a little brake noise from the brake pads rubbing the rotor. If you must, remove and tie back the caliper, slide the pads away from the rotor surface, and put the wheel back on with 2 nuts so you can spin it. I just did this on my Accord the other day to find the rear hub making the noise. There was no slack in the bearing, but I could hear a faint roar when spinning the wheel unloaded. also make sure you torque the new bearing properly. I like to turn the hub as i turn the torque wrench, to seat the bearings evenly.

avio

So would you rather choose the cheaper one? TIMKEN is cheaper then NSK/NTN and is available locally at AutoZone compared to ordering NSK/NTN from ImportRP.com

I'm thinking about just replacing all four, front and back since they currently have some shitty brand I don't even remember which were all replaced last year and since then I've had 1 wheel bearing replaced already, and this is the 2nd one that's gone out.

Thanks.

TheMuffinMan

iTrader: (1)

TAS Auto is probably your best bet for OEM bearings at a decent price.

sgraham01

yes, go with the cheaper of the two. timken is a great brand and is more than sufficient. IMO, TIMKEN is as good as the OE part. check hubbearing.com if you haven't already. Free shipping and the best prices i have found on the net. Timken may be cheaper, but that doesn't mean it's lower quality. Just thought of this: Another good (NEW) bearing company is GMB (they are already well-known for their water pumps). They have just gotten into the hub business, and I have installed a few of their hubs and they appear to be high quality. Their other products are, so these should be. Personally, i would go with the Timkens, but GMB is usually much cheaper than Timken. I have heard GMB's goal is to offer affordable quality with their new bearing line. I would feel comfortable installing one on my car, but they don't have the history like Timken just yet. They are also harder to find. if i am installing a bearing for a customer, I usually have to find the timken part number and search that number on ebay and hope i find a GMB since i have yet ot find a GMB hub dealer online. May be out there somewhere. Just a thought.

wykesey

jack it and spin the wheels....if there sealed bearings which im 99%the should be they would have to be falling out of it to get play...its not hard should be obvious and if you think its in the front....dont forget to check the carrier bearing on the drive....

avio

Someone just recommended NTN/NSK over Timken, said it's Japanese built compared to Timken which is made in Mexico so it's better.

What is the carrier bearing? Do the accords have those?

Targa250R

I've had a high come-back rate on GMB products FWIW, particularly leaking water pumps. There is a reason they're one of the cheaper brands out there.

I recommend and use NTN, Koyo, and Nachi bearings for my customers' cars. Timken, NSK, and SKF are often re-boxed NTNs, but not for all applications.

nicolaselias

I replaced my original with SKF and have had no issues so far.. excellent japanese product...

Koyo also has an excellent rep

avio

How would we find out if it's reboxed NTNs?

delta_1980

no, your accord does not have a carrier bearing. these are found in rear wheel drive vehicles.

sgraham01

The TIMKEN bearing that I recently bought for the front of my 4 cyl accord (actually a '95 v6 bearing since i was doing a 5-lug swap) has "NTN JAPAN HUBxxx" printed on it which was the exact same thing as the OE bearing i was replacing (x's for the numbers i can't remember-128 maybe). Looks like the autozone Timken part is the exact same as the OE part. Just see if AutoZone can tell you where your application's bearings are made, or go by and look at it and check the print on the bearing.

I checked hubbearing.com for a 98 accord v6, and the front is $29, and the rear is $68, both Timken. If you decide on Timken, that's a great deal and free shipping over $50.

Targa250R

You have to physically look at the bearing; the outer race will have "NTN" engraved on it. Some of the SKF bearings I have on the shelf have the "NTN" engraving partially ground out, but you can still see it faintly. I have a couple of Timken rear hubs for a Prelude on the shelf that say "Made in Japan" on the box and have NTN bearings.

"Made in Japan" won't always guarantee that the bearing is an NTN though. NSK, Nachi, and a few other companies also manufacture bearings in Japan. (NSK is also an OE Honda supplier.) Not all NTNs are made in Japan either. I have a couple of NTN clutch pilot bearings here that were made in Taiwan.

avio

I'll go check Autozone tomorrow to see if I can pick that up and maybe it'll be NTN

avio

Just went to AutoZone and picked up the Timken wheel bearing, opened the box it was NSK inside, box had a "Made in United States" sticker on it and distributed by Timken.

sgraham01

That's good to hear.

avio

If it's made in united states but NSK, is it still the same quality as Japan built since NSK is oem?

Targa250R

You're thinking into this way too much.

There's nothing wrong with an NSK bearing no matter where it's made.