What is the best AM bearing? What do you prefer?

[Tor R]

There are many brand out there.

I used to buy SKF Standard, but SKF is upgrading to SKF Explorer who supposely have even better ability.
Personally I am willing to go for SKF Explorer.

But what do you prefer, and why?

 

[Marshy]

There isn't a better manufacture in bearings than SKF IMO. that's what I choose.

 

[mdavlee]

I just got some and explorer in my 2165. One came from husky and the other came from a bearing supply. Both had exact same markings.

 

[P.M.P.]

This is Good news I threw some SKF on the axles of my wifes jeep recently.

 

[mdavlee]

NTN is what the last stihl bearings were I got.

 

[jacob j.]

SKF has had quality control issues in the past. There was a run of SKF bearings in the late '97 manufacture of Stihl 046s that were failing quickly. That run of bearings cost Stihl over $3 million in warranty returns. A power head was only lasting 25 days in the woods or so before the bearings would blow out. That was the incident that made me decide to go over to Nachi exclusively.

 

[Wagnerwerks]

Here's a pic of my latest skf bearing failure... These are supposed to last 100k miles. This one made it 85k used in coordination with all new quality parts. I've had 2 of their wheel bearing fail too. I usually use ntn (not china) or nachi in saws.

 

[Tor R]

I just got some and explorer in my 2165. One came from husky and the other came from a bearing supply. Both had exact same markings.

I think Husky have used Explorer since a few years into 2000, at least my 346/357 projects have them.
I bought a bunch 6202 from the biggest SKF seller in Norway and none of them was Explorer (doesnt mather for the chainsaw), so I called around a bit, seems that new stock they get is always Explorer.

 

[Wagnerwerks]

I don't really think you'll have any issues for a saw. Bad bearing come from all suppliers.

As a vw guy, skf was a staple for me for 22 years now and I do use more than most people. Every company seems to be outsourcing anymore and it doesn't seem to matter how careful I am I always end up with one or two I wish I didn't have to use.

I have a ported 064 with aftermarket Chinese bearings and they show no signs of failure yet after some hard running.

 

[Tor R]

Thanks for all the input.
I hope this thread can be one information rich thread about AM bearings.

For me it's simple, 6202 oem cost 150 NOK, Bearing from SKF cost 50 NoK.

I think most brands have outsource all small bearings like 6201,6202,6203, there is probleby rotten apples.

 

[Tor R]

I did a new call to one SKF dealer who is closer to me.
SKF Explorer 6201, 6202 C3, 7,25$ for each, I think it's a fair price, norwegian currency isnt really strong nowadays.

I belive in general there is lots of money to save if we are willing to do some research.

 

[Toad22t]

How about rb tech or rbi tech?

 

[Derf]

We used NTN for a bit but they had too high a rate of early problems. We switched to SKF and they are better. I hear Nachi Japanese bearings are good too.

 

[beaglebriar]

I use Nachi because I can get them locally and the Japs make good chit. The place that I get them from is called Bearings and Drives Unlimited. The guys there say they won't sell anything Chinese because they don't hold up (go figure). If you have a BDU in your area I highly recommend them.

 

[Tor R]

I ordered SKF Explorer 6202/C3VG104 from SKF, 1\2 price compared Husky for the exactly same bearing. That is norwegian prices.
Gone ask them if they can get same seals as Husky use as well.

 

[stihl_head1982]

Interested in a 16002 for the flywheel side of the MS260.
My current supplier has wigged out. Looking around on Ebay and am not impressed with the prices.
I would like to try a Nachi in this particular bearing. Also searching for 6202-C3 and 6203-C3.
It seems I read a thread on some great deals on the 03's and 02's but I could not find it using the search feature here???

 

[afleetcommand]

Nachi's for me at this point. The NTN's had one LESS ball....7 instead of eight. Scared me to use them so I didn't.

 

[Stackowood]

I've used a lot of the Nachi Quest bearings on Stihl MS192T saws, and they are good quality with metal cages. Also used some of their 6202 as shown above.

 

[CR888]

Any high quality metal products that require tolerance and strength are usually found in 2 countries....Germany & Japan. There are reasons for this but a bearing company I like and use is KOYO bearings Japan. Well worth a try if you can. To often these days high end OPE from companies like Stihl use bearings from Taiwan and as I recently found out...China too. This is in pro grade equipment like KM attachments, BG86/56 blowers etc. Not saying Taiwan/China are not capable of making decent bearings but if one seeks the BEST (which is cheap insurance) I've found German/Japanese manufacturers to be the best.

 

[mdavlee]

Nachi's for me at this point. The NTN's had one LESS ball....7 instead of eight. Scared me to use them so I didn't. View attachment 51895

Plastic snap together cage or metal?