[mosesburb]

I sold parts at a "mom and pop" store for many years. We tried to sell nothing but the best parts available. Over the years I noticed trends in component longevity. I would see customers come back for the same part every few years and it got me to thinking about quality and materials.

I did some research on many parts over time and one of the parts were semi-float wheel bearings. I got to looking at these because many times a bearing failure on an axle assembly of this type means a destroyed axle shaft. We sold BCA and while their service life was acceptable, I compared them to other brands including dealer parts. Just a note to start off with: most bearing companies do not make their own bearing of this style--they put someone else's bearings in their boxes. What I found was the bearings made by INA/INF were complete garbage. I had a customer bring in one that failed in an absolutely spectacular way. It was reduced to mere bits and pieces (and took out the axle shaft). The best quality in both appearance and materials was made by Torrington. Now, I do not know if Torrington brand bearings can be bought outright, but they come boxed in higher end bearing company boxes. I got mine through AC Delco. This is the brand that GM uses as original equipment. I have run these for years and have never had a failure.

I also compared the seals. While every manufacturer has their own seal for these diffs, they also vary greatly in quality. The National brand seal that we sold was very inexpensive and I thought that to be odd for a "better quality" seal company. I compared the top brands i.e. National, C-R, and Timken. They were all similar in construction, materials and price. I decided to order some from GM and see what they look like. There was absolutely no comparison between the GM and any other brand. They do cost more--I *think* the last time I bought them they were about ten or eleven dollars apiece--but it has been a very long time since I bought some because I have not had to replace them. The quality of materials was much higher than the aftermarket units. The thing that struck me the most was the weight of the seals. They felt like they weighed three times as much as any other brand. Obivously thye didn't, but they were MUCH heavier. The ironic part is those seals are made by C-R or National, but they are made to GM specs. The same manufacturer's aftermarket line of seals have no specification requirements--they just have to fit and function, but no rules guiding materials used or service life expectations.

So with that, I only use the Torrington brand bearings and GM seals for this job because I REALLY do not like doing it. Now, this is just my opinion on the subject and a little background on how my opinion was formed. I am NOT saying that other manufacturer's products will not offer an acceptable service life, just why I use what I use.

*Disclaimer* The information provided applies only to the bearings and seals for the semi-float axle wheel bearings and seals. I use National seals on my 14 bolt full float and have for many years with no issues. Their tapered roller bearings are top quality and many are still made in the US as are Timken.