[mfcmfc]

Has anyone used the EvanFischer brand wheel bearings with success? They are 1/3rd the price of Moog bearings at around $40. I cannot find much of any info on this company or its products and it seems to sell exclusively trough a vendor on Amazon. The vendor told me that part EVA16507011610 will fit my 2010 Subaru Outback.

 

[miker104]

The big question is where are they made? If china, I'll pass thanks. You get what you pay for.

Stick with Timken or consider Detroit Axle bearings

 

[mfcmfc]

Maybe someone knows this brand since I couldn't find much information on it outside of what is on the Amazon page, and the country of origin is not listed there.

 

[Norskie]

The big question is where are they made? If china, I'll pass thanks. You get what you pay for.

Stick with Timken or consider Detroit Axle bearings

Assuming Subaru put Japanese bearings in my Outback, they didn't fare well either. At 95K the rears went, then replacements they put in failed at 105k, and then the front's failed at 120k, and now the fronts are failing again at 175k. At this point I'm just going to buy the cheapest ones I can find as it appears the $100 units Subaru uses don't last very long either.

Ultimately it isn't where they are made, but how, and we must therefore purchase from a trusted manufacturer who has oversight over the manufacturing and QA process and stand behind their products. This goes for bearings, turbo's, tools, etc.

 

[mfcmfc]

My 2010 Outback has 80k miles on it. I am not sure when mine started failing, since I did not know about the problem until I took the car into the dealer to diagnose why the car started vibrating at highway speeds. I was quoted around $800 for the work, which unfortunately I cannot afford, so I am going to attempt to replace them myself.

 

[Norskie]

My 2010 Outback has 80k miles on it. I am not sure when mine started failing, since I did not know about the problem until I took the car into the dealer to diagnose why the car started vibrating at highway speeds. I was quoted around $800 for the work, which unfortunately I cannot afford, so I am going to attempt to replace them myself.

If you go this route, I would suggest that you seek entire new hubs with bearings, so you won't need a press to replace just the bearing. The price is not that much more than just the bearing.

 

[Tishers]

It may not be a particular problem with the bearings themselves but instead it may be in how they are pressed in. If the bearings are not in perfect alignment or the bores are dirty/corroded/gunked up or if they are pressed in or tightened against the inner races it will damage them before the first mile is put on the car.

Bearings should be pressed on with the force only on the outer race and perfectly parallel to the seat. I have seen youtube's of people banging on them with hammers or they tighten down on the axle nut to pull the bearings fully in to their seats. Using axle nut technique of seating bearings puts the force on the inner race and causes the bearing to use the bearing balls and the wear surfaces of the races as the means of transferring force to the outer race. This will create little divots in the race and also micro stress fractures on the bearing balls.

It is almost as if some people think that since the underside of a car is dirty, grubby, covered with mud, rust and grease that it is less important to maintain an absolutely clean work environment when installing wheel bearings. They are just as critical as the main journal bearings on a car engine and if you left that much dreck in the crankcase you would not have high expectations for the motor to last very long.

If you are doing your own wheel bearings then put a little bit more effort in to cleaning things out when you have it apart, measuring dimensions and clearances before assembly, use the proper tools and techniques when pressing in bearings and use a legitimate, high quality grease and not just whatever you happened to have sitting around the garage.

 

[Norskie]

It may not be a particular problem with the bearings themselves but instead it may be in how they are pressed in.

I can't prove, but I do suspect, that a major reason for the premature failure of the replacement bearing is that the dealership actually did press out and back in the bearings, rather than replace the whole hub.

For all the reasons you mentioned I recommended that the OP purchase a complete hub assembly instead of just the bearing, and let the factory deal with properly pressing them in.

 

[mfcmfc]

The car dealership I spoke with said that on this Subaru I have to replace the hub and bearings at the same time because the part is sold as a unit. All the parts I see for sale are hub+bearing assemblies. Some Amazon reviews on bearings/hubs say the job is relatively easy, but time consuming.

 

[miker104]

Assuming Subaru put Japanese bearings in my Outback, they didn't fare well either. At 95K the rears went, then replacements they put in failed at 105k, and then the front's failed at 120k, and now the fronts are failing again at 175k. At this point I'm just going to buy the cheapest ones I can find as it appears the $100 units Subaru uses don't last very long either.

Ultimately it isn't where they are made, but how, and we must therefore purchase from a trusted manufacturer who has oversight over the manufacturing and QA process and stand behind their products. This goes for bearings, turbo's, tools, etc.

Totally your decision.

 

[mfcmfc]

The EVA16507011610 part that I bought on Amazon for $40 fit my Subaru Outback 2010 rear wheels, in case anyone else wants to try this hub+bearing. The assembly did not come with any paperwork, so I still know very little about the EvanFisher brand.

 

[traildogck]

The EVA16507011610 part that I bought on Amazon for $40 fit my Subaru Outback 2010 rear wheels, in case anyone else wants to try this hub+bearing. The assembly did not come with any paperwork, so I still know very little about the EvanFisher brand.

Nothing? Paperwork?

I guess in this day and age, all of it is online with the retailer.