- 2007 LS
- 2.2 liter EcoTec engine
- automatic transmission
- about ~97,500 miles

So I'm thinking about replacing the right-rear wheel bearing since I believe it might be starting to go bad. Was browsing Rockauto the other day but my goodness... what is the deal with sooooo many different brands??

These are the available brands I'm seeing, what brands are considered the "good" ones nowadays?...

- WJB
- Mevotech
- SKP
- Ultra Power
- Durago
- FVP
- GMB
- Centric
- MOOG
- Schaeffler
- SKF
- Raybestos
- Timken
- ACDelco

...and some of these brands have multiple wheel bearing options per brand, including "with anti-lock brakes" and "without anti-lock brakes" in the description, it's just a dizzying amount of choices to sift thru

Thoughts or experiences with these brands?

 

Your 2007 LS might’ve been ordered with antilock brakes, but usually they don’t. If you see wires going to the hubs then you have antilock brakes or look at the RPO code sticker in the glove box for JL 4 and JM 4 that would indicate antilock brakes.

depending on your budget Moogs or SKF would be a good choice, I have installed cheap economy hubs they lasted about 25,000 miles , I’ve installed Timken they went to about 80 thousand miles.

 

I don't remember, is the RPO sticker located in the glove box or in the trunk?

I guess I'll have to go look for it next time I'm out in the parking lot

 

Trunk ? On a HHR ? 😄

 

As I said, glove box. Or look for a wire harness across the rear axle beam.

 

Definitely buy bearings with a respected bearing company name on the box, not stuff from a car parts company line. Rolling element bearing manufacturing has a crazy number of variables, and there are way too many ways to make bad bearings.

Exception would be GM OEM. AC Delco, maybe.

 

In 2024 most parts for 18 year old cars come from Chinese factories and placed in boxes printed for "respected" companies.

 

Agreed. But some parts are actually better then others.

 

Invalidate the comment if you like; maybe I should've been more specific. The only bearing companies on list I have experience with are SKF and Timken. Both companies know enough about rolling element bearings that even if they outsource a bearing product, they know enough about it to get quality. Not as true of car parts companies with broad product lines.

SKP is a bearing company in India and has only been around since 1992. Their visual identity strikes me as deceptively similar to SKF. Not on my trusted list yet, but still might be a better bet that some budget broad-line car parts companies.

 

I just installed Mevotech TTX hubs on the BlackSwan, one was defective in the wire harness for the abs speed sensor, RockAuto replaced it free of any charges even the shipping!