Need some input please. When I replaced my rwl bearings on my daily driver, they were from pep-boys, do not remember the brand but was U.S.A. They went in w/o a hitch, and when torqued had what I thouroughly believed as beautiful feeling pre-load. No noises when turned, easy to turn w/ some resistance--now those are not bothering me, this is:

When I got my spare (rear) arms built up, I had gotten some more new bearings (SKF brand , made in Spain) for my rebuild project. Now, I am not quite sure about them, and it sickens me that they may have to be replaced before I even use them. See, these have little pre-load on them at all, and when I spin the hub, they emit a sound as if there is no grease in them.

I loosened the nuts and double checked the torques--

Has anybody else faced this before??? I have never in my 20+ years of wrenching come across a situation such as this. Two brand new bearings, not feeling bad, but not quite right either.....

By the way, I am really just curious if this is peculiar to the SKF brand,,,,( I know, I know, ALL bearings regardless of manufacture must adhere to the same dimensions as O.E.M., I am just wondering if maybe there is a bad batch of bearings out there and would hate for someone else to use these and have a massive bearing failure at any speed)

I guess I don't fully understand the problem, the skf's sound like they have no grease but they do? What does it feel like? By some resistance, what do you mean? Usually I just tighten until I feel reistance, back off just a tiny bit, and make sure it won't rock with a wheel on top to bottom. Don't know if that is the "right" way though. I can tell you from experience on large industrial gear boxes that SKF makes one of the best bearings in the world. Second only to FAG. SKF makes bearings everywhere from spain to britain. FAG is primarily a German bearing. I would be shocked if it was bad from the factory, but shit happens. Had the bearing been spun without grease? Had it sat outside it's package without being greased?

no no no, it was sealed in its plastic and carton until I pulled it out and installed it. When I had it in my hand and did the trial movements, everything seemed fine. I did not pull back the seal to check for proper lube, but I did see some thru the splits.

Basically, when I turn the hub , ( arms are still on my workbench) they make a noise that travels the entire arm, ( tho this could just be peculiar magnification of a normal noise, I had my arms re-inforced, so there is allot more metel on it to harmonize)

It just does not seem right to me, you know, when all things are equal, you just gets that "feeling" of something is not "right".

SKF is one of the big names in bearings for these cars. FAG is the other name (for rear bearings at least). There shouldnt be a problem.

By gosh I hope not--it is bad juju enough to deal with getting that half shell of the hub without tearing up the mating surface---

I remember a topic on this subject a while back. Don't remember the details but there is a difference as I recall. Someone will chime in soon that has the skinny...

Here is my $0.02....

If in doubt, get another Pep-Boys bearing (if those are what you like) and install it. See if the "noise" is gone and if there is preload. If the noise is gone with the Pep-Boys bearing, replace the other one and be happy.

In my experience, if a bearing is noisy, it will only get worse. I would tend to agree with your gut feeling that something is wrong.

However, I could be wrong, and the noise may stay the same as it is which would indicate to me that it is "normal", but I kinda doubt that this is the case.

Without being there and hearing the noise and feeling the hub to see if it feels like grit or something, I cannot give you any further advice.

Yea, I went out there again last night, turned off the fan, radio, etc. Put the arms on a piece of carpet and gently sanded my fingertips , ( well, maybe not that part) They positively do not feel smooth--this really pisses me off, 50 bucks apiece for crap bearings!!!

They feel just as if there is no grease in them>>>