steering and suspension Strut bearings. whats the difference?

[ohioplatt]

In rebuilding my front end and reading all the posts about it I have come find out that there is a range from "not worth putting on your car" to "this is what you need".  I have some bearings, how do I tell what is and what is not ok?  any visual clues?   Sorry to offend if this has been covered before and I should be able to find what I am looking for with search.

[Buckeye]

Do you know how old are the ones you already have? Is the rubber in upper part cracked? Can you rotate bearing inside?

I have seen pictures of the car you are building and it is very nice, therefore if It was me I would install OEM ones that are readily available and very reasonable price compare to $30-40ish ones that doesn't hold up. In fact I helped fellow member to install OEM ones not long ago in town and amazed perfect clearance between coil spring top hat and strut bearing bottom.

http://www.autohausaz.com/pn/31331110195OE

[ohioplatt]

I have bought new ones and they are what I plan to install. It just seems there are good new ones and bad new ones.

['76mintgrün'02]

Do you know what brand you bought?

You could specifically ask about the ones you are considering using...

Bringing some of the concerns you read about into the thread might inspire more responses.

 

I bought Meyle mounts and noticed one had more give in it than the other, once installed.

I returned the 'softer' one and the second matched the 'firmer' one.

 

There were stories of the inner race of the bearings not fitting the tops of the strut inserts, if I recall correctly, but that was a limited number and some time ago.

 

I would say just try them, unless your research has led you to believe you have bought crappy ones.

 

(of course you know about the importance of the proper stacking of the washers and spacers...)

[ohioplatt]

That is the rub Minty.  these are brand new bearings. I got them sometime in the last year.  I do not remember taking them out of a box, so no identifying marks.  seems I bought them from some place that had tii in his name, Roger that?

So I guess I will just continue my building of the struts (proper washer order) and see what happens.  Thanks for the responses.

['76mintgrün'02]

Roger's tii shows three brand options: 

 

INA       $52

BOGE  $60

BMW    $66

 

The image does not change with the brand selection on that site, or you might have been able to identify them that way.  I'll bet you will be just fine with what you have.  You could post top and bottom photos, just for fun...

 

http://www.rogerstii.com/bmw-2002-320i-front-strut-mount/

[AceAndrew]

The batch with the miss-sized bearings are still in circulation, it will be some time before the wharehouses can be bothered to filter them out.

[peterschop]

What brand had the mismatched bearings?

[planb]

I bought oversized INA strut bearings just last year.  The second set -- can't remember the brand -- had a cracked bearing ring/race from the pressing.  Inspect carefully...

[AceAndrew]

It wasn't one brand.  INA, RueVille, and one other all were repackaging the same mount.  If you're ordering you just need to confirm the supplier is aware of the issue and will manually check each mount before it heads out the door.

 

Some of the newer batches of mounts are actually quite nice.

Edited February 8, 2015 by AceAndrew

[bluedevils]

I believe Boge and BMW are the same IDENTICAL product, boxed differently. At least they were for my E30.

[ohioplatt]

 

Okay, here are the bearings in question.  Well, one of them the other looks like this one.  This thing just looks a little whimpy to hold up on 1/4 of a car, along with everything else that you ask it to do.  So, to kind of refine my question.  If this is a good bearing any pictures of bad bearings?

 

[TobyB]

Those Koyo bearings are very good.

 

As long as they fit, I'd use them and not worry about it.

 

Honestly, as long as they take weight OK for the first week or 2,

they will then last 25 years as long as the bearings are protected properly.

 

t

[ohioplatt]

Thanks for all the responses guys.  And buckeye thanks also for the kind (car) words.