Other Quality of WSM Chinese bearings...any real world feedback?

Cannibal

Cannibal

Tasty Human
Location
Summit Lake, WA
Short story long: I needed some pump and mid-housing rebuild kits, called AJS and asked about the supplier of the bearings. They told me that they were WSM kits, right there I suspected Chinese bearings, but the lady at AJS didn't know for sure and she said to call WSM, so I did. I gave them the part numbers for the kits I was interested in and to my surprise, she said the bearings are US sourced...."Great" I'm thinking, so I order up the kits from AJS.

I get them today, and sure enough, Chinese bearings. REALLY? Kinda pissed here. I can't say it's AJS's fault, they didn't mislead me, it was WSM. So in order to return them, I'm looking at another $10 return shipping on top of the original $10 shipping, plus their 20% restock fee of $13.81 means I spend $89 to get back $55. I emailed WSM today, I'm waiting to see what they say.

But, to my question: Any feedback on these bearings? I try to steer away from Chinese bearings (Chinese anything really) as much as possible, but at this point, I need to rebuild my stuff.
 
motoman96

motoman96

Banned
Location
Lodi Cali
I've used the to rebuild the 144 pump in my fx1 with no issues. I ride freshwater only tho. Going on two years an it still spins perfectly.
 
madness maker

madness maker

John
Location
freaked on long island
i have used them, without any issues, but i always pop the seals off both sides and repack with a quality grease,alot of times i find that theres only a small amount of grease in the bearing as they come.
 
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Cannibal

Cannibal

Tasty Human
Location
Summit Lake, WA
madness maker said:
i have used them, without any issues, but i always pop the seals off both sides and repack with a quality grease,alot of times i find that theres only a small amount of grease in the bearing as they come.
Click to expand...


So I got around to doing this...I was amazed at how little grease was actually inside these bearings. One bearing, I popped the seal, and could see ZERO traces of grease. There was only a small amount on the other side, but in no way would I call them packed. I wish I had taken a picture.

I hand packed each bearing forcing out the old grease and some new synthetic Mobil 1 grease into them. I feel so much better about them now that I know they are completely packed with a good quality grease.

I will surely be doing this procedure for EVERY sealed bearing I get, no matter the origin.


I never heard back from WSM on the mis-info I received in the beginning. Oh well, I'll know for next time.
 
chriselmore_1

chriselmore_1

high on resin
Location
san jose ca
I get tbe sealed koyo bearings from a local bearing shop for about 10$ a piece. same as OEM but have the removable rubber cover on em. Also the OEM oil seals are 5 to 10 bucks a piece
 
Cannibal

Cannibal

Tasty Human
Location
Summit Lake, WA
I checked locally, $23 each. I found them online, next time I will build my own kit, it ends up about $10 more for each one, but worth it for the quality.
 
whitca

whitca

Location
Tri-Cities, WA
Cannibal said:
So I got around to doing this...I was amazed at how little grease was actually inside these bearings. One bearing, I popped the seal, and could see ZERO traces of grease. There was only a small amount on the other side, but in no way would I call them packed. I wish I had taken a picture.

I hand packed each bearing forcing out the old grease and some new synthetic Mobil 1 grease into them. I feel so much better about them now that I know they are completely packed with a good quality grease.

I will surely be doing this procedure for EVERY sealed bearing I get, no matter the origin.
Click to expand...

Did the same thing when I rebuilt my midshaft a few weeks ago. New bearing was nearly dry. Makes you wonder how much life this simple procedure adds to the midshaft setup.
 
Tommygunz

Tommygunz

Team PHP
Location
Wisconsin
All WSM products I have purchased were junk!!! Driveshafts- 2 that lasted an hour each. Steering cable- had so much slop that I never even put on. I'm pretty sure that I had gotten a starter and bendix from them too and the both :):):):) the bed within 3 weeks. WSM=GARBAGE imo
 
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