price is not always, nearly as important as high quality

Grumpy

The Grumpy Grease Monkey mechanical engineer.
Staff member
"GRUMPY, my friend showed me that my front wheel bearing on my 1985 corvette was starting to wear out, so obviously I'll need to replace it, any suggestions"




theres a strong tendency to look for the best "DEAL"
be aware of the quality of the components you select, there are several merchants that advertise a great deal based on lower prices,
who generally deal in the lower and mid range quality products,
and their goal seems too be a low price volume discount supply house.
now Ive seen a few good deals, over the years but keep in mind,
youll generally find discount price parts, use lower quality components or,
less extensive precision machine work, or imported components or a combination of those factors to reduce price.
now I'm not picking on the lower price parts suppliers, they certainly have a place in the economy and hobby.
I use rockauto and advanced auto, walmart and several other suppliers,
if I need too ,but I generally know the parts and use name brands not cheaper import clones.
remember thats frequently a very noticeable difference in quality, in similar components,
you may pay more for name brand parts and at times the higher cost is not justified in my opinion,
but many of the better known brands do tend to have better quality control and R&D
I would suggest you do research and avoid using the lowest cost import parts like bearings, brakes, and suspension parts ,
as Ive seen horrendous quality control on some import component examples
but price is not the important factor in replacing a component that could very easily get you killed if it failed catastrophically while driving,
you damn sure don,t want to even consider installing the least expensive bearing you can find, as these are highly stressed components
this is a job easily done , in your garage or even your drive way if you have a decent set of jack stands and a floor jack, obviously it helps to have a factory shop manual
41vI5OwIgWL._SX361_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

and looking up the instructions and having the required tools also helps , access with the car up on the 12 ton rated jack stands,
I frequently advise using, is rather easy.

shop carefully theres a bunch of cheap and almost factory defective quality level bearings being imported so don,t shop on price alone go with a decent name brand.
be aware many over the counter corvette compatible wheel bearings are re-boxed import crap quality, insist on a major name brand like AC-DELCO, MOOG, TIMKEN
warranty -
moog 36 months, timkin ,AC-DELCO, 12 months

1985hb1.jpg

1985hb2.jpg

1985hb3.jpg





http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/you-need-decent-jack-stands.672/#post-28211


http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/floor-jacks.969/#post-72522

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/front-wheel-bearing-gone-bad.7679/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...-about-the-intelligence-of-some-people.14815/
you can get a decent price on quality components
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/...&+wheel+hub,wheel+bearing+&+hub+assembly,1636

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...4-and-c3-corvette-wheel-bearing-related.3544/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.com/index.php?threads/upgrading-the-suspension-on-a-c-4.483/

http://garage.grumpysperformance.co...eck-and-or-replace-u-joints.12226/#post-59545

https://www.ecklerscorvette.com/wheels-and-tires/wheel-bearings-and-related.html?cat=1362&ea_a=&ea_bc=&ea_c=wheels-and-tires_wheel-bearings-and-related.html&ea_path=-ymm%3d%271996%7eCHEVROLET%7eCORVETTE%27/wheels-and-tires.html&gclid=EAIaIQobChMItcOZnOnw2AIVSbjACh23ggYqEAMYASAAEgIrGPD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
rearsusp6.jpg

c4frontsus.jpg


https://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corvette-front-wheel-bearing-replacement-1984-1990.html

http://www.zip-corvette.com/84-96-c4/suspension-drivetrain/corvette-wheel-bearings.html




 
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if you have a problem with a component or need info on how to test or install a part or want to purchase a part and need details or choices explained in detail..
have you ever called some company and talked to some sales guy that was rather obviously reading the info off the catalog page about the part you wanted info on,
theres going to be 99 times out of 100 some guy answering the phone that is not an engineer or some guy that fully understands the way the product is made,
potentially being used or has any concept about its stress dimensions or operational conditions.
that does not necessarily mean the guys in the tech department , sales department or manufacturing departments are all totally clueless,
there are generally a few people in any company that really know all the details and are fully experienced,
those peoples time is worth far more to the company than the typical minimum wage zombie answering the incoming call traffic.
if you have a question,
start the call by asking the guy answering the call for his first and last name, always be polite, never waste the guys time
write it down

now you may or may not ever want to talk to this guy again, but its will at least tend to make them think hard about treating you like an idiot, or slamming the phone down,
or disconnecting you if they don,t want to answer questions.
\
address the guy by his NAME several times, during the conversation, and ask his function in the company.
if he can,t answer your question ask if they have an engineer or more tech savvy guy you can talk too...

start the call by asking the guy answering the call for his first and last name,
and
direct phone extension number if you can.always be polite, never waste the guys time

write it down address the guy by his NAME several times, during the conversation,
that way you can in the future bye-pass the answering desk zombies if you can build a friendly conversation,
but don,t waste the guys time and be sure you thank him by name at the conclusion of any conversation if he helps you.
keep a note book with company names phone numbers and the skilled tech guys as a future reference,
and remember the guys answering the incoming calls are rarely knowledgeable or even give a crap about the company..
that does not indicate the guys in engineering that know how things actually are made and function are anywhere near as useless as the phone desk guys.
its simply a fact that, a company can produce quality parts but have hired some real clowns to answer phones

pbjoint.jpg


http://www.homedepot.com/p/Powerbuilt-23-Piece-Ball-Joint-U-Joint-Service-Kit-648617/203120548?cm_mmc=Shopping|THD|G|0|G-BASE-PLA-D25T-Garage-Automotive|&gclid=CM7-rI-e-tQCFUa4wAodcnEHfg&gclsrc=aw.ds
23301a.jpg

 
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