Yeah *** is the OEM supplier for a lot of Volvo wheel bearings. I would be fine using *** or OEM Volvo. I recently bought OEM Volvo bearings for my 850 and they were *** bearings inside a blue Volvo box.
OEM brand is SKF, as I recall. IMO, whatever brand has the longest warranty probably has the best product. The duration of the warranty (basically) indicates the confidence the company has in their products, and you can guarantee that their confidence is based on a statistical analysis of the product's lifespan, aka 95% of wheel bearings last 2 years, 50% last 3 years, 25% last 5 years, etc. It may be the only true indication of quality, outside of the mystique that 'branding' causes.
SKF has a 3 year warranty and so does MOOG, but MOOG is about 1/2 the cost. MOOG is an american company and has been around 100 years.
Not a MOOG guy, just sayin'.
Moog are just a distributor now. They distribute Chinese parts. You're better off buying from a company like Detroit axle at that point. They get their products from the same factories.
IMHO, OEM Volvo wheel bearings are cr@p. Just changed my 4th wheel bearing of 4 and I'm starting to hear noise on the 1st of 4 that was changed about 8 years ago. Shouldn't wheel bearings last longer?! I've never owned a car where I had to change so many.
Luck of the draw I guess. Still on original fronts at 150k. Changed both rears at 110k (only 1 was bad). Since you are AWD make sure to use the water shields that were added in later years. Also be sure the installer is doing things correctly & not pressing on the inner race.
Added anytime. I would think they would be applicable to the rear on an AWD. Not sure how the axle is shaped back there since I don't have one. If you order Volvo bearings both shields will come in the box. Not shown in the Volvo parts breakdown for the rear though so who knows. Maybe you can tell us when you do them?
My MOOG Wheel bearing Hub assemblies for my 2004 Ford Mustang are made in Korea. Korea stamped on the assembly. I bought the MOOG after inspecting others. MOOG has sealed bearings. Others had open un-sealed bearings. Other brands may have sealed bearings but they could be made in China. I bought a pair at NAPA and upon inspecting one was sealed and made in Taiwan (stamped), and the other was un-sealed and it did not say where it was made. Those both had the same NAPA parts number. I returned them and then did my research and went with the MOOG bearings. Go to the MOOG site and reach out to them to see if yours would be made in Korea or Taiwan also.
I try to avoid "Cheap-China" whenever possible. Not only is quality lesser, but those jerks use low-paid, child, and slave labor, even when they outsource to Malaysia and other 3rd world depressed countries. Bastards!
Will say Timken is the go-to for quality in upgrading a Harley's terrible china bearings...
Currently have F.A.G. in the car though, doing great the last 50-60k.
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