I have been contemplating front hub/bearing replacement on a prophylactic basis.
The car is getting a host of parts replaced, -all- as far as I can determine, are higher end, quality branding products.
I'm fairly certain I lucked out with finding some NOS authentic Timken rear axle units in manufacturer's genuine packaging, but when I consider Timken for front replacements the circumstance is all over the map, and even if paying MSRP I'm not getting any joy when I insist on authenticity guarantee, and even then I don't know whether to trust the brand for current contemporary manufacture (any more).
I've spent a good amount of time studying/investigating what's being offered, and it is looking like SKF aftermarket automotive might be the best bet going .
Any thoughts I might consider before I buy a pair of front ABS hub/bearing assemblies?

 

Those SKF hub/bearing products are backed with a 5 year/60,000 mile manufacturer's warranty.

 

Always good to include a link to the product in question.

 

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/skf-br930433

https://vehicleaftermarket.skf.com/u...ducts/BR930433

 

Generally speaking, replacing perfectly good OE parts "prophylactically" is a terrible idea. Besides the wasted utility of the removed working part, It's highly likely that inferior replacements.will fail before the original would have.

There are exceptions. For passenger cars, it usually involve a case where labor-intensive removal/replacement affords a cost-saving opportunity, even if speculative.

Another exception might be with race cars, where the cost of part failure is very high, and the cost of the loss of utility of the car between races is small or nil.

Tinken is famous for tapered roller bearings. Do they even make other types, or just buy 'em and box 'em?

 

Those same parts are available cheaper than the links you listed.
Shop around.

 

Note price is CDN


Just for clarification

 

I've got a good deal lined up for purchase, those links just supplied the more informative aspect.

 

About $82.83 USD

 

The rear axle telegraphed a bearing problem when the first time I loaded a few hundred pounds of tools back there I couldn't help but pull off the road to investigate the growling noise I was witnessing. The pair of NOS Timken hub assemblies I've now gathered has me reasonably convinced, after unpackaging and cursory inspection that I found a nice buy on the products that show manufacture codes from about the same era as when the car itself left the factory.
The front end of the car was involved in a crash when my brother found it in an impound lot about eight years ago He had to replace the passenger LCA and performed some other steering parts work so that it could be aligned at about 60,000 miles on the clock. That passenger side ball joint has become loose(driver's side is still tight!), and the struts/ LCA & sway bushings and links are ALL past due for replacement.
When I pulled the original rear shocks off (they weren't even leaking after 140k(!), and laid each down on the concrete while installing the KYB new ones, those original shocks just leaked oil out into great puddles. Yuck.
I'm going to pull the passenger side axle to install a Teckpak output seal support bearing kit to kill a transaxle leak(permanently). With the mileage/time elapsed, and the history I'm aware of has me a bit of reason to suspect that the original front bearing/hubs are closing on end-of-life.
It isn't a Lexus, so the OE suppliers aren't inspected or considered premium from the factory like a high-end luxury vehicle tends to have.
The SKF products I'm auditioning -ARE- considered Original Equipment (they've supplied 50 million -or- so hub/bearing assemblies to car manufacturers) and I'd hope to think they're actually incorporating higher-end sensors in conjunction with their own manufacture bearings and seals.
I'll put the take-offs back into the new parts boxes, stow them in the rafters somewhere, and fall back on them if I need to make a warranty return, or wait for other replacements in the future.
I tend to think, having studied this knowledge base pretty thoroughly, that these wheel bearing assemblies very well could be hovering around that time-to-replace now that the car has nearly 140,000 miles on N.E.Ohio roads, a solid 13 years on.
If I can get some adequate feedback here, about parts manufacturers I'm considering, I'm willing to post and read about folks experiences with particular products.