Cheap wheel bearings to avoid

[woody in shetland]

Hi guy's, I thought i'd pass on my experiance with azcarparts on ebay . My vectra had a worn wheel bearing on the drivers side, not really any early warning signs just suddenly started grinding and sounding unhealthy so i checked the best i could and decided to replace, i went to my local vauxhall dealer and a replacement part was in the region of £200 or there abouts..YIKES. I thought i'd have a look on ebay and found them for £55 inc free postage, good deal i thought. Ordered one and fitted it, i know your really meant to replace in pairs but i thought seeing the other side is fine whats the point. Anyway approx 150 miles in the car felt vague and almost unsettled so much so i had to check i had tightened up the wheel nuts...but they were fine, at this point i grabbed the wheel only to find i could clunk the wheel in and out about 5-10mm so i checked the other side to find no play whatsoever on the wheel bearing thats done over 110,000miles. I contacted azcarparts who were a bit un helpfull as in saying they had never had this before and would have to check the bearing themselves and i would have to repost the bearing back at my own expense, and to keep my car mobile i would have to purchase a new bearing while the other was being sent back, well i had no choice really so i agreed. The new bearing arrived and i checked it on the bench...nice and tight, checked the old new one and i was slopping around all over the shop, not good. Sent the new/old bearing off and waited to hear back.............Nothing, i called them up after a couple of weeks and surprise surprise it had never arrived luckily the post office has compinsated me. But out of interest i went to check the second new wheel bearing and it too has excess play in it compared to the high milage passenger side and thats only after a few hundred miles. In the past i have used azcarparts for other things and have had no problems but i won't be using them again.
Sorry for this being a long story but if someone else avoids this hassle through this warning thens it's worth it.

Cheers
Woody

[marktaylor]

What you describe sounds more like an upper control bushes , did you check
These as well
the bearing won't make the wheel clunk in and out , there will just be play in the wheel

I've had the same issue , worn UCA bush which has caused wear in the rear bearing
I've now changed the
Bush but are still waiting on the bearing arriving

I changed the other side bearing at the same time as this one but because there isn't a problem with the UCA the bearing on that side is fine

[alcutler]

Thanks for that info - seen them on Ebay will avoid them in the future if thats the service they provide - what's their feedback like. I bought a pair of heavy duty boots for about £40 from a seller on Ebay that split across the toe caps after a few weeks light use - contacted them and they refused to reply to any messages and Ebay weren't very helpful - so after numerous attempts to resolve the issue I listed the boots for sale on Ebay with a reserve price of £300 to stop anyone buying them and gave a blow by blow account of my experience with the seller as well as naming them on the listing description and advising others to avoid buying from them - within a week I had my money returned and a pre paid postage label to return the boots. Wasn't the money so much, as frustration in their lack of interest.

[woody in shetland]

Hi Mark, she's had new upper suspension mounts and bearings fitted a few months before the wheel bearing went also she had a new lower arm as the main bush had split,well the alloy casing had, thats what she had failed her mot on. The wheel bearing only went around 3 weeks after her mot. Inner steering arms, no play. Track rod ends, no play, they were replaced a little while ago too any way and she's had new drop link bars fitted also. The play isn't so much in and out, its more if you grab the wheel at the top and push it in towards the strut with a good shove. The other side won't budge at all. but the new/old bearing was slopping around bad when i removed it, even the old original worn bearing didn't slop around it was just rough and course to rotate around.

[marktaylor]

Ah I get you I thought you were on about rear wheel bearings !!! My bad

You may have just had a bad one as I've also changed both my front ones and they've been fine

[woody in shetland]

Wasn't the money so much, as frustration in their lack of interest.

agreed, there feedbacks actually not that bad if i remember because i did look at that, not perfect but i suppose when they sell so much it would be near impossible to get perfect feedback. good idea about relisting the boots
I was thinking to contact them to tell them what i thought of there attititude to customers but then whats the point, they wont care. As long as others perhaps shop around before using these that would be more usefull.

[woody in shetland]

No worrys Mark, probably my fault i should have mentioned that first
I did wonder if i had just got a bad one too but the second one seems to be offering to go the same way, not so much movement but getting there. When i fitted the new one i checked before on the bench and it was allgood and i checked the wheel for movement before i even went for the test drive and it was all good but now a few weeks in its offering to get worse as there's a little movement allready