WhicH rear bearing to buy

Today there are so many bearing kits to purchase for a '96 Passat TDI that are name brands made in China,one has to wounder who's are the best or at least meet the OEM quality?
There you to be just a few major makers such as Timkin, FAG and Beck. Now there are at least eight brands to choose from. I'd bet most are now made in China anyway?
Who's have you used and had very good results with?
What grease are you using today? So many outstanding types to use.

Timkin, FAG, SKF all on par.

Last ones I used I think are FAG. Grease I use is Valvoline synthetic grease.

Steve

Thanks Steve.

I buy the Constitution and the Bill Of Rights, you can keep the CHANGE

Please splane it Lucy...................

No longer relevant.

I bought premium, made in Germany - they lasted 100k or so miles. I never serviced them after install though, so maybe my fault.

Jetta SS said:

I bought premium, made in Germany - they lasted 100k or so miles. I never serviced them after install though, so maybe my fault.

Click to expand...

"Premium"? Meaning what exactly?

"Made in Germany" usually means good stuff... is 100k miles a typical lifespan? Do they ever need to be serviced?

SKF - Svenska KulelagerFabriken (literally "Swedish Ball-bearing Factory") - used to be made in Sweden, then in Germany, but last year I bought a diff seal by them and it said "made in China". I installed it anyway but they no longer get my business for new parts, at least not until they change it to KKF - Kinesisk KulelagerFabriken.

NOS parts are another story and that's what I'd get for my own car; oddly enough it's often easier to get the seller of NOS parts to look at the actual box and fill in the "made in _____" blank, than a retailer.

Same with Timken, Bosch, Nissens, VDO, and a bunch more that I'm forgetting. They pull out all the weasel words possible - "ships from USA", "German quality control", "exceeds OEM specifications", aso. - but to my knowledge, nobody is outright fabricating "Made in ____ " labels. Not for VW parts, anyway.

I think GMB and Koyo are all made in Japan and have a good reputation with Japanese cars (my 36-year old Yota is probably on its original bearings).