I agree with the made in China concerns. Quite a few years back crap parts were coming in from Mexico and I tried to avoid those, then came China and I refused to buy those especially anything with "bearings" as they were usually absolute crap. Now you go to the Autozones etc and if they aren't made in India they for the most part are Chinese. The quality has come up, but you still have to be careful. I used to say that when the Chinese can make quality corrugated fiberboard (boxes) that holds up after you sneeze on them and don't fall apart then I would consider anything else coming from them! Still not too sure about the boxes the parts are packed in, but the parts have improved:lol:

Same thing with 'rotors', most are made in China, even a lot of your
well known famous brands.

I've found an excellent brand, "Centric", that is also found on ebay.
I've been using "Centric" rotors on all of my cars over the last 5 years,
with 'zero' issues, & they last 2-3 times longer than the popular brands,
that I've used in the past.

I've been torturing smaller lightweight, "Centric", Honda rotors, on my 'buggy', 7.5lb rear, & 11.5lb fronts,
with the '4-lug' lightweight 9.5lb Enkei wheels, also, with no issues, at the track, & on the street...:twothumbs:

Does anyone know, or has anyone researched, to find out why there is such a wide variance in quality in anything that comes from China? There is one very good reason if you care to research (among a few other small reasons).

I know the reason, but I would need to kill you if I told you.:D

Hint.......what is the inspection requirement of any item built in China.
.

Depends on the purchasing agreement. Somebody has to pay for the rejects.

More rejects=higher unit price.

I don't know but here is the page I was looking at

DORMAN 930-300 Front Wheel Bearing & Hub Assy | eBay

Don't appear to have bearings on them to me.

Donbrew you have it partially correct.

In many instances, YOU are paying for the rejects. The material that does not meet Name Brand requirements is sold as job lots to No Name companys.

But the real issue is.......the quality control. Does anybody know how that is controlled?

A reputable company will have their own quality manager at the manufacturing point IN ADDITION to the "State" appointed quality assurance. With inspections done on a more frequent basis. But the No Name brands only rely on the quality assessment of the state appointed inspector, which generally is nebulous and lack enthusiasm (and suggested that sometimes money passes through some hands).

Many articles regarding this in business magazines. The articles essentially mention, if you do business with China AND VALUE YOUR PRODUCT, the need for your own appointed inspection (in addition to the state appointed member, which is required) is paramount.

Additionally, and we all know this, China is notorious for "knock offs" which in many instances do OR do not meet the specification of the original.

Have you ever actually held one in your hands? I have, they are a one piece system that can only be separated by destruction.

I thought we were talking about HHRs those hubs belong to PTCruisers.

Partially? Exactly were do we disagree? Seems like I said the same thing in 3 sentences.

By gar your right.

I looked in my purchased items on eBay and that is what I found. I guess I got the wheel bearings for the HHR long enough ago that they are no longer listed in my eBay purchased items anymore. But I did get both front and rear wheel bearings with hubs for the HHR from random sellers on eBay..

I do own a PT Cruiser too and have owned three Dodge Neon's and a '98 LHS over the years. We still have the '05 Neon and the LHS but I think the LHS is going to the bone yard as soon as I get the title from the state.. Everyone knows a PT Cruiser is just a pimped out Neon,... Right?

So far the Cruiser hasn't needed wheel bearings but the Neon's have. One of the front wheel hubs had a broken lug stud and the other lug studs were very rusty, I spent several days getting the lug nuts off, then a few more days trying to get the wheels to let go. Once I managed to do that small feat {it was an epic battle} I bought new lug nuts and I just wanted new hubs when I replaced the wheel bearings on it.

I bought the harbor freight tool for removing and replacing wheel bearings on cars when I was trying to fix 'my' Neon up. I paid $45.00 to have a local shop press off the old one and press on the new one on 'my' neon.

A few weeks later another wheel bearing on my wife's Neon started making noise. I decided that since it seemed to be wheel bearing fixin season around here I went ahead and bought a set of bearing press adapters from Harbor Freight.

The rear wheel bearings on a Neon are more like the ones on the HHR's just an assembly you don't have to take apart. Simply replace the whole thing as a unit. On the front ones you have to remove the old bearing and press on the new one.

The PT Cruiser has the anti-lock brakes so it requires the more expensive wheel bearings, but again I have not had to replace any of them yet.

Since then the tool kit has paid for its self several times over. I have used it over and over again and sometimes my younger brother comes over and uses it too.

I built a press frame out of some oak 4x4's and some steel strapping, a bit of angle iron, and a hand full of bolts, I use a 1 ton hydraulic bottle jack with it. So far it does the job and has held up quite well. I would rather have an all steel frame and a larger jack but all the things to make what I have were on hand here.