Bearing source

[freeindeed]

I have a 97 standard. I bought an extra rear wheel for tire change ease and the single row bearing was shot. Polished it and mounted a Michelin CrossClimate. Did the rear wheel bearing mod and struggled finding quality front and rear wheel bearings at a fair price. I mean these things are tiny. $75 a piece?
 After sourcing them locally from a bearing outlet I'm not convinced they'll hold up more than a year or 2. I knew before getting them they came from the same place the virus did. But got them anyway and put them in. Some guys have had good luck with them. I probably won't

So I dug some more and found this place...

https://www.rainbowprecisionproducts.com/

I spoke with them twice and seemed like great guys. The biggest takeaway was that they do not sell Chinese bearings, only quality Japanese in the metric line. NSK, SKF, Koyo and JAF. Timken too but I didn't see them in wheel bearings our size. I often buy bearings for other uses and this place just might be my go to. The site was a little confusing to me so I called them before I ordered. Might be the best route.

$29 ea for 5204-2RS
$21 ea for 6004-2RS
$20 shipping USPS

An hour after I completed the purchase on-line I got an email saying they shipped.

Hope they're decent bearings.  We'll see

The NAPA brand front bearings
(made in China) are going back




 

[Pluggy]

Chinese bearings?  My former employer made the Limberoller.  It is a conveyor belt support often used for coal mining.  Each roller contains two bearings, slightly larger than what a mototcycle would use.

https://www.bumtresdconveyor.com/info/a-brief-introduction-for-limber-roller-56788237.html

Corporate headquarters found a new source for bearings.  $2.00 each from China vs $4.50 from USA.  I was concerned that we would get a lot of product returns with the Chinese bearings.

Nothing went wrong.  The Chinese bearings lasted just as long as the US ones.  Our local purchasing team found these bearings could be obtained for less than a dollar each.  It saved us $3500 a week.

These days, most of us prefer American products.  But, the Chinese bearings were not he cheap junk that we anticipated.  

[Jims99]

I ordered a bunch of bearings about 6-7 years ago from an online bearing store. Not sure where they were made but they’re all still holding up fine. I’ve done the rear wheel bearing mod on all three of mine with no problems. Don’t forget to have the spacer cut down. Local machine shop here charged me $5 a piece. Not bad.

[h13man]

97' front is the #6004. Post 97' #6204 is used front and rear in conjunction with the #5204. Whole heartily agree with Japanese brands which are my favorites. My local power/motion store used to carry commonly stocked #6204 until I needed one for the rear. Of course they offered to order them.  Went home and done a Amazon.

[HayHauler]

NSK and SKF are good brands.  I am not aware of where they are made.

Hay 
Jimmyt