I want to replace my wheel bearings on my 2000 GM Jimmy, nothing wrong with my current ones, but im an extream fan of preventative maitinence and they are the ones that came with the vehicle when i bought it used. so i dotn know if they are the original or if they have been replaced, and if so how long ago, theres now over 150k miles on it.

But i found some wheel bearing hub assemblies on ebay for like $38 each for ones that fits 4x4. But for me to get them from my local autoparts store its like $140 each. Are the ones off ebay a, low quality, buyer be EXTREAMLY aware, situation? Should i completely aviod ones off ebay? Any one ever buy them and have good or bad reviews on them?

Any insite on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance!

 

I bought some from dearborn axle on ebay...great price.
I have about 15 months on them running 33's...i did have one fail though...they sent me replacement at no charge. Would recommend them.

 

No offence but there's just recently been a guy said he's running an Airtex fuel pump over a year with no problems. Here's the deal, with proper engineering AND quality control having a premature wheel bearing failure is like winning Lotto. just should not happen.

If you are running street tires.. not All Terrain or 'truck' that have tread 'whirr' and LISTEN to your car.. you will know when a bearing is going.
They dont usually wear out at the same time.

Why anyone would replace a good OEM wheel bearing with a cheaper version begs the laws of logic.
"I want to keep my car in top shape and replace parts before they fail but want the cheapest possible price!" Huh?

There ARE tiers of parts quality. If you are concerned with your vehicle maintenace as you say, then buy ONE of a brand with a reputation for quality bearings:
Timken
Moog {National}
SKF
If you find AC Delco.. buy those if you want.

 

i understand your point on quality and i know that matters...but i am on my third set of bearings.
first set was factory...second timken...third ebay.
granted i have put a ton of miles on but these things only seem to give me about 40,000 miles on avg...seemingly no matter what i buy. with that being said i am willing to try the ebay set.

i know you get what you pay for....i am playing the time clock on this one to see what i get.
now fuel pump...yes i went top end.
it just seems these bearings are gonna fail, and yes i know that no part lasts forever, but i dont beat my rides...just seems like they should last longer.

 

Blade when I got our 2002 Blazer in 2006 with 102K miles there was a hint of front wheel bearing noise. When I finally replaced at about 160K miles they were both starting to discolor due to heat.

Fuel pumps do drop dead in Blazers but their wheel bearings should give you years of warning in my experience. Now if your engine is a 4.3 running the OEM intake manifold gaskets then you do have something to loose sleep over.

Before going to bed think about those three drops of coolant in your oil pan due to the failing OEM intake manifold gaskets.

 

Plus one on the intake gaskets...fel pro for the win!!

 

I purchased my wheel bearings from wheelbearingoutlet.com they have the same warranty as autozone , and have held up well , my blazer is litterly in the mudd as much if not more than it's on the road . And it looks like there going to hold up till I get the solid axle installed . And they cost 35 buck two .

 

Now THERE is some conventional wisdom shared across all who know their automotive sh1!t

When you go to buy gasket sets, especially CRITICAL APPLICATIONS, go FelPro, mid to high end, or dont come here or anywhere else crying cause you have to do it again.
The reason is they seem to take pride in solving problems caused by OEM engineering brain farts.
Besides the obvious LIM gaskets, here.. they made the Ford 3.8L head gasket problem go away all by themselves.
Not only did they design a superior Iron to Alum head gasket they ALSO went to the trouble of finding out and describing the need to true up and micro-finish the Aluminum heads to insure the head gaskets didnt fail again in 100 kmiles.
So no matter what your make, it's a good idea if you have Head gasket failure on an alum head / iron block engine use FelPro gaskets and condition the head surface according to the Ford 3.8L application and... assuming you follow installation and torquing instructions.. that head gasket will never fail again.
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Now back to the OP and subject of preventive replacement; since I already puked out my opinions let me point out WHY this is a hot topic for me:
Same time I bought my Bravadiva, I also ran across a 93 Tbird I lusted over. Offered the owner $2500on first sight.
He'd rebuilt the engine and almost the entire front suspension. But I encountered him in the Autozone parking lot. Which indeed WAS a harbinger. He bought everything from AZ.. so it worried me a little because of the aforementioned head gaskets. Not only that.. he did the brakes from AZ... which yesterday I replaced with quality products because they trashed.

So far, besides the brakes which were never right:
A bad lower ball joint - due to no lube right out of the box- nothing to mess with so I've bought two replacements.
He said the inner tie rod ends were sloppy and he was going to replace the whole steering rack.
I begged him not to. Rather he replaced the inner tie rods and left the non-leaking rack alone. I'd done that job and it is NOT hard!
He replied it was too much trouble and replacing rack was good PM.
Guess what's leaking, now!! Every forum thread every site on subject of rebuilt racks says DONT use A-1 Cardone!!!

That car has less than 25,000 miles on it since he started his rebuild/PM replace and already his fail rate is approaching 30% because he used cheap AZ parts.

That is NOT an isolated anecdote either.

 

i agree the "zone" has some shotty stuff.
when i did my suspension i went MOOG on every thing.
intake....felpro.

its just sometimes my budget dictates what i can and cant do...and being a daily driver...well honestly sometimes i cant wait to save up for top end.
so i have to balance high end vs right now.
i know its terrible but what do ya do??