Nissan OEM vs Timken Hub Front AWD Axle Bearing and Hub Assembly

Which one is the better front AWD hub bearing?

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Chedman13

Chedman13

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Nissan OEM vs Timken Hub Front AWD Axle Bearing and Hub Assembly for a 2003 Infiniti FX45

Time to replace another front hub bearing. Passenger side around 90,000 miles, and now driver's side at 100,000 miles. My passenger side is replaced with OEM. I didn't know there was an aftermarket hub bearing so now, pondering which one to get.

So which one? Price is very similar and therefore, for me, not a deciding factor:

OEM Nissan $134.36 (#2 in picture Hub and bearing Back)
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http://www.infinitipartsusa.com/par...0265&callout=2&catalogid=3&displayCatalogid=0

Aftermarket Timken $147.79 (TIMKEN Part # HA590125)
http://www.rockauto.com/catalog/raf...de=1422852&parttype=1636&a=FRc1422852k1146620
HA590125-A.jpg

HA590125-S.jpg
 
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Ed I had both replaced when I blew both CVT joints when I took my FX to the track.

As far as my experience I would stick with stock and have a Stealership deal with the install for warranty purposes.

I looked at aftermarket parts but it was just not worth it to have a shop vrs the Stealership do it.
 
Timkin makes top nothch barrings. Very heavey duty. We use them in most of the industrial equipment on the rig. including 1000 tonne barring for the drilling topdrive. OEM will be fine but timken should not be ruled out.
 
ditto, best you can hope for is that oem is as good as timken, it may very well be but theres not enough data to really know for sure who supplies nissan with there bearings... it's not impossible that they are using bearings from timken to begin with really, kinda like kyb is the OE supplier for our struts...
 
Curious though, Ed, what is the reason for the replacement? What signs have the FX shown that's telling you they need to be replaced?
 
Dr.2K said:
Curious though, Ed, what is the reason for the replacement? What signs have the FX shown that's telling you they need to be replaced?
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I had 50k miles on my Hankook Ventus RH06's and the thought was they were getting really noisy. Accelerating and decelerating, a loud low humming sound. You can hear it best around 25 mph. It starts to fail even more when you can hear it at highway speeds, around 65 mph, a constant humming. The sound is hard to pinpoint, as I couldn't tell if it was from the right or left.

I drove about 10,000 miles on a bad hub bearing and no catastrophic failure, as the whole time I thought it was the tires. I took it to a few mechanics and they did a "side-to-side" test where they drive it and take quick turns, and one of them could feel the wheel being a little lose.

One mechanic found out is was the passenger side and replaced it. Cost me around $500 sadly enough at the dealership and I was lucky that the ABS sensor didn't break as it was very brittle from corrosion. That would have been another $150 or so for the sensor.

Dealership said just change both at the same time, I said no. They are two completely different sides of the car and no saved labor in doing so. I could have saved time, but for me it worked out as I got another 10,000 miles of use out of the driver's side original hub bearing.

I can start to slowly hear the hub bearing going, but in no rush to change it. Dealership charges $220 for the part, where online it's $140, no tax. If the hub bearing does completely fail, you could be in a world of trouble, but I doubt that will happen. The sound is like sand in a bearing going around in circles.

When I did change out the passenger side hub bearing – night and day difference, no more humming sound. Tires were completely solid and quiet, so I know for sure it was the hub bearing.

Now that I've experienced one hub bearing going bad, I can diagnosis the other hub bearing going bad. Some might not notice it as it's only around 25 mph and not that loud, but I'm going to buy the part in advance and wait until it's audible at highway speeds before I change it.

I haven't heard of a FX hub bearing completely failing and being a safety issue, so I will ride it out for now. When one goes bad – you will know, or your wife will tell you that you car is too freaking loud! (that's when I changed my passenger side hub bearing :rolleyes: )
 
There was a thread about this on the ORG, and it sounded like Timken had issues with other vehicle applications. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Stick with OEM unless you see a good reason to change.
 
Actually guys - I have ordered these twice before and the Timken hubs are the OEMs. The DIY I posted on swapping the front hubs are these parts.

///7595

When ordering, it actually gives the OEM part number next to the Timken part number.
 
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yeah, stu, that thread was about one guy & one ford truck with other problems & I wouldn't let that destroy timkens rep to you...

timken is one of, if not the largest bearing supplier world wide & they supply many oems, including mercedes & other higher end vehicles... & yeah, nissan does not make there own bearings, no auto manufacturer does... I'd think chances are very high that OE is timken & jumbos post even sways this belief even more...

what happens is, when an auto manufaturer contracts a supplier (timken, kyb, etc...) the contract with them that they cannot sell the design for a period of time, like 5 years or so... that's why it took so long for kyb to release to the public, even though they've been manufaturing struts for ourt car from day one... same may apply to timken really...
 
Timken makes bearing for critical equipment but if it cost effective I would go with the aftermarket, not really sure if the oem is better than timken but if they used those bearings on critical equipment then I dont see why not.
 
jumbosrule said:
Actually guys - I have ordered these twice before and the Timken hubs are the OEMs. The DIY I posted on swapping the front hubs are these parts.

///7595

When ordering, it actually gives the OEM part number next to the Timken part number.
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Never seen this post -- very nice write up and wow are you thorough! I like it. Those stop tech calipers are huge, very large 4 piston setup. Looks similar to the brembos at a fraction of the price.

Interesting that they are the same. Makes it an easy decision, to just buy the cheapest one I can find.

In hindsight, I should have done this when I installed the BBK, oh well. I was too excited getting the BBK it didn't even cross my mind =)
 
Thanks for the detailed explanation Ed. I think I may be having issues with my fronts but don't know for sure if it is just one or both. Started hearing some scratchy noises at very low speed (5mph or so) lately. I will have to investigate further.
 
Dr.2K said:
Thanks for the detailed explanation Ed. I think I may be having issues with my fronts but don't know for sure if it is just one or both. Started hearing some scratchy noises at very low speed (5mph or so) lately. I will have to investigate further.
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Sounds like the start of a possible hub bearing failure=)

I never would have guessed it was the hub bearings if it wasn't for the forums.

Also the only reason I was interested in aftermarket hub bearings is that a lot of FX's seem to get anywhere from 30k miles to 100k+ miles on them, just looking for a possible alternative but since I'm getting 90k miles and no apparent true aftermarket (since they are the same), a no brainer.

---------- Post added at 08:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:30 PM ----------
Dr.2K said:
Thanks for the detailed explanation Ed. I think I may be having issues with my fronts but don't know for sure if it is just one or both. Started hearing some scratchy noises at very low speed (5mph or so) lately. I will have to investigate further.
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Oh yeah -- when are you going to join the BBK club??? You might as well save some time replacing the hub bearings, rotors and calipers all at the same time:wink:

These have your name written all over them. And your wheels were made to clear them...:
img_4640_640.jpg

img_4643_640.jpg
 
Yea, I'm at almost 90k now so I think its due. SO I think I will go with what your research finds. Thanks for the work Ed!

LOL Ed, those were the BBK's I had in mind when I got my wheels ans painted my calipers that blue color to see how they would look. I love those brakes and my wheels were built to those specs =)
 
I know this hasn't been touched for a while, but I am planning to replace my front hubs this weekend. So I went to ask the Infiniti dealership how much they charge for it. $197 for the 06 year. Considering shipping cost for an overnight delivery the price differentce is $30 more than Rock Auto ($150+$20) and $10 more than Infiniti Parts USA ($134+$56).

Since I can't wait another week because it starts to feel like the wheel is going to fall off, I will cough up the difference and get my part the same day and the FX would finally drive like when I first bought it: hearing even the softest whisper from my son in the back seat.
 
06FX35 said:
I know this hasn't been touched for a while, but I am planning to replace my front hubs this weekend. So I went to ask the Infiniti dealership how much they charge for it. $197 for the 06 year. Considering shipping cost for an overnight delivery the price differentce is $30 more than Rock Auto ($150+$20) and $10 more than Infiniti Parts USA ($134+$56).

Since I can't wait another week because it starts to feel like the wheel is going to fall off, I will cough up the difference and get my part the same day and the FX would finally drive like when I first bought it: hearing even the softest whisper from my son in the back seat.
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$197 is for the parts? How much for installation?
I am looking for a place to get this done as well since my car generates similar noise.

Jason
 
jjfactory said:
$197 is for the parts? How much for installation?
I am looking for a place to get this done as well since my car generates similar noise.

Jason
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$197 for each. $0 for labor:smug: Gonna repalce just the bad one for now (front driver side) and gonna tackle this myself. Considering they were gonna charge me 490 for tranny fluid exchange and other fluid inspection, I would suspect replacing the hub bearing would be more than that cause they actually have to use their muscle.

I would say if you can use a rachet and a breaker bar then u can do this yourself and save the labor money for a good night out with the family.
 
I just replaced both fronts, easy job except for:

1. Old bearing assemblies were rusted into the hub, took a lot of air hammering to get it out.
2. ABS sensor refused to budge, so I cut the rear cage of the bearing open in order to remove the bearing assembly with the ABS sensor still in place. With the bearing out of the way it's easy to just push the ABS sensor out with a pair of pliars without any risk of breaking it.
3. Make anti-seize your new best friend and coat the new bearing/hub interface generously just in case you have to do this again.

Good luck.
 
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