Opinions out there? Where I live, unless it is NOS, Koyo is most common and at much lower prices than in the USA. SKF is occasionally available, the German stuff, yet becoming scarce. I tend to shy away from bearings made in the 3rd world, but then what do I know... Regards, Alberto
I have extensive experience of industrial gearboxes and in my experience INA/*** bearings are generally the best. However it must be stated all other major brands such as SKF are also perfectly good. No issues to use any major bearing brands in our automotive applications, which are generally considerably less stressed than in industrial applications. With regards to 3rd world manufacture. All the major bearing manufacturers including INA/*** have production facilities in China these days. The quality of bearings made at these "OEM" Chinese facilities is excellent. Rather than be concerned with where the item is made, I would be far more concerned with if the item is fake or not. This supply of fake bearings is becoming a major issue. So much so that some of the OEM's have started to fit "microchips" to their packaging in an attempt to protect their goods and their good name. When you talk about copyright and counterfeit goods, in most applications it means little other than lost revenue for the OEM and someone ending up with some sub standard jeans or clothes to wear. However with bearings it can mean the difference between life and death!
Koyo is a very high quality, Japanese made bearing and is used by Toyota and the other Japanese automakers for some demanding applications such as timing belt tensioners, wheel bearings, etc. and they typically last 50,000 miles or so. They don't have as broad a selection as SKF and the others, but if they're available for an application, I wouldn't hesitate to use one any day over nearly any other brand.
