Alright thought I would share some info I discovered today. Went to order some new rear axle bearings for my 8.25. No biggie right? Call up your local parts store and ask for a Timken 6408 bearing and a 8835s seal. Well....no dice. AutoZone, carquest, advance and oreillys have all quit carrying Timken brand. They are limited to what they have on hand. All the chains have sold out to National brand, which uses and crossreferences the same part # as Timken, but is not a Timken bearing. So now, the only place to get genuine Timken bearings is via Amazon, or through a Timken distribution center, much like Cummins.

 

Rockauto carries them. Use the Part Number Search. Type in the part number and select Timken from the list of manufacturers.

 

When it comes to axle bearings Timken and Koyo are the only two brands I trust. I have found out that the Duralast bearings from Autozone are Timken and the National brand from Advanced are Kayo.

 

Same with Amazon, i can get them on amazon, but that doesnt help when i need them same day. And i still dont trust rock auto. I ordered a AAM 9.25 front hub from them, and they shipped me a d30 front hub....

National has the same part numbers as Timken, but when i talked with Carquest and Advance, they both said the manufacturers are totally different. OH duralast, you mean durafail? same story, had to get an emergency duralast aam 9.25 hub bearing to get me home, that hub only lasted 20k miles. switched both out for true Timkens.......going on 150k miles.


YOu can still get timkens through wholesalers and online, but getting them same day from a parts store will soon be a thing of the past im afraid.

 

I am not sure about the duralast hub bearings, but the axle and differential bearings are Timken for sure it says Timken right on the bearing and has the same part #, they are just repackaged in a duralast box. Same way with National and Kayo.