Doublebase

I did a bunch of work with their products on my car three months ago...wheel bearing, control arms. The wheel bearing failed after three months - disappointing to say the least - but surprisingly they sent me a new wheel bearing with little trouble.

Now I was fully expecting to get nothing but the run around because I bought it online through Amazon and at first I was getting a little bit of that...emailed the vendor...they told me sorry, 30 days no returns...called Beck Arnley, they told me to call the vendor (which I did). And a day later I have a new wheel bearing sitting on my doorstep. Surprising.

Now the bad part is that I already put another wheel bearing in it and I'm out $320 for that, but still I've got to say I'm a little impressed that they delivered me another with hardly any questions asked...they didn't need to verify it failed...I didn't have to return it...there were no restocking fees, or shipping fees. It just showed up.

Anyone else deal with Beck Arnley or another aftermarket parts company before?

jasone36

sorry for the noob question... but what's the advantage of using an aftermarket parts company versus trying to get the best possible deal on an OEM part by shopping around?

If it's cost, I wonder how much you'd save

Doublebase

Good question. I'll give you an example...control arms from Lexus would be somewhere around $2,700...aftermarket are around $600. The wheel bearing from Lexus is $695, aftermarket is $160.

Now you're going to lose on some, but overall I think you'll win on many.

roadfrog

Yes indeed. Personally I've won on most.

Now, the wheel bearing......good on them to replace it. I guess the concern now though, is that it may fail prematurely as well.

UZ214

its cool they replaced it, but B/A not used is what that company used to be few years ago, i believe their stuff is coming / made in china..
I got some rotors for my LX by Beck Arnley, they looked pretty good but lasted only 25k- and thats my wife driving the truck she babys it. i ended up going oem route, same situation with bearings with LS430- they didnt last for more than 2 years- guess what ended up going with OEM too...

Doublebase

Good to know about Beck Arnley, needless to say I was disappointed that the thing failed in 3 months. I also did my control arms with a mixture of Beck Arnley and Mevotech parts, so far so good (I think I'm approaching 10,000 miles now). If I had bought a OE wheel bearing I think it would have run me $600, so right now I'm still under that figure.

The one I bought to replace the Beck Arnley was a Toyo - I did a little research and supposedly they are pretty high quality - then again the same was said about BA. I got myself a two year warranty with the Toyo bearing, and I have a friend from that parts store that told me he'll warranty it for as long as he's around. The bearing was $320.

If the control arms from BA fail prematurely then that will prove to me BA is really junk parts, especially if the Mevotechs hold up. The funny thing is I started a thread when I did my control arms and I praised the look and packaging of the BA control arms because it looked like factory stuff (we'll see how that goes). Bearings are different...then again most parts are. I read that most of Beck Arnley's parts were really just OE (don't know how that rumor started).

UZ214

I think toyo is made in Japan, it should say that right on the bearing too. I have experience with Toyo they are quality products. I might be wrong but they are oem Toyota?

roadfrog

I'm pretty sure Toyo Bearings are made in India. Koyo bearings are made in Japan (Koyo Seiko).

UZ214

i am might be confusing toyo with koyo..lol you stand correct - this is what i bought last year for the ls430 i used to have it had that stamped on it "koyo" and made in japan in the bottom area

swat1727

iTrader: (2)

Maybe use some touch up paint to fill that small gap?