Timken No More?!

[Megadan]

Trying to order a Timken bearing/hub from Autozone the other day and they said they couldn't order them in.  The manager of the store stated that Timken bearing was bought out by Moog and that they are instructed to sell their remaining stock until depleted.  I tried to verify this for myself but was unable to.  If this is true, then it saddens me.  Timken was the last source of bearings that I actually trusted, so now I get to play the crapshoot game or hope that SKF offers bearings when I need them.

It's definitely getting harder and harder to find quality parts for vehicles any more without paying a fortune for NOS parts, that you have to assume aren't repack aftermarket stuff to begin with.

[Minuit]

I hope this is an April Fools joke... but with the state of the aftermarket junk industry I believe it.

[Megadan]

I hope this is an April Fools joke... but with the state of the aftermarket junk industry I believe it.

Not an April Fools joke.  I'm not 10 years old. This is a serious statement/question, and I would like to confirm for sure.

 

Last I knew, back in December of last year, Timken was forced to divide into two division. Timken steel and Timken Bearing due to some brokerage company holding stock that wanted to split the company to increase it's share values.  Unfortunately, that did happen (hooray greedy bastards) and that left Timken Bearing in a very precarious spot, and vulnerable to a buyout.  So, of course, Moog seems to have taken advantage of this it appears.

[Megadan]

Some articles covering the split, including one from Tinken itself.

http://news.timken.com/2013-09-05-The-Timken-Company-Announces-Plan-To-Separate-Its-Businesses-Into-Two-Independent-Publicly-Traded-Companies

http://www.ohio.com/business/timken-to-split-bearings-steel-operations-into-separate-companies-1.426493

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/business/timken-bows-to-investors-and-splits-in-two.html?_r=0

[Minuit]

 

I hope this is an April Fools joke... but with the state of the aftermarket junk industry I believe it.

Not an April Fools joke. I'm not 10 years old. This is a serious statement/question, and I would like to confirm for sure.

 

Yikes. You see so much BS posted on the internet today that it's always better to treat everything you read with extreme suspicion. Actually, that's true for every day of the year but I digress.

 

I also can't find anything to back this up. Perhaps the decision was very recent and no articles have come out yet. It's a somewhat believable story (and I don't doubt Federal Mogul would liquidate a competitor if it had the chance). I would call Timken myself to confirm but I'm about to head to class.

[Megadan]

Yea, I would call myself, but at work.  This is assuming they would even confirm the buyout in the first place.

[rmbrown16]

Timken is still in business. Until last year in March I worked there the split that you are referring to was completed to better "diversify" the opportunity for the individual markets, bearings and steel. The new companies are Timken Steel and Timken Bearings. Unfortunately this company is like every other american manufacturing company and has decided to go "lean" and send jobs overseas. I will attest to the fact that quality was number one in the past at Timken, however recently with the pressures of lowering cost they decided to go with cheaper labor, and less care for quality work I am afraid that the company has took a step in the wrong direction.

[Megadan]

That doesn't explain why all of the parts chains are clearing out current stock and then no more though.  Even if they changed structure and sent jobs elsewhere (which is annoying) the Bearings division would still be producing I would imagine.

[rmbrown16]

They are still producing, my dad still works there I can't say for sure why the parts houses are eliminating stock. They may have stopped producing certain part numbers. They may have lost a contract with them or something. In the last three years that I was there they lost multiple contracts with different aftermarket and OEM companies Ford, GM, BMW, CAT and others.

[HOrnbrod]

They are still producing, my dad still works there I can't say for sure why the parts houses are eliminating stock. They may have stopped producing certain part numbers. They may have lost a contract with them or something. In the last three years that I was there they lost multiple contracts with different aftermarket and OEM companies Ford, GM, BMW, CAT and others.

 

Is this Tinken "reorg" like most of the others, caused by the Unions driving up labor costs so high that domestic US companies can't compete anymore?   :shake:   It's become all too common now.............

[Money_Pits]

They divested out of the passenger automotive segment, focusing on new brand and luxury level vehicles only. This has allowed them to see growth within that business segment by narrowing focus. but that means you won't be finding as many timken bearings for older vehicles anymore.  And, no, I can find no deals with Moog, and I see no reason why Moog would buy a competitors segment when they are already competing in it. However, as of late both of these companies have increased over seas production, so Moog may have bought the production centers from timken if they divested those.

 

I know you have to sign up with seeking alpha to read this article, but I didn't want to post anything without showing my sources http://seekingalpha.com/article/3781386-timken-much-higher-quality-company-transformation.

[Money_Pits]

 

They are still producing, my dad still works there I can't say for sure why the parts houses are eliminating stock. They may have stopped producing certain part numbers. They may have lost a contract with them or something. In the last three years that I was there they lost multiple contracts with different aftermarket and OEM companies Ford, GM, BMW, CAT and others.

 

Is this Tinken "reorg" like most of the others, caused by the Unions driving up labor costs so high that domestic US companies can't compete anymore?   :shake:   It's become all too common now.............

 

Even at minimum wage, US manufacturing can't compete with imports from a foreign country that has little to no mandatory regulations, including employee pay/working standards, and when our government has no interest in raising import fees/taxes, I work in a non union manufacturing plant. I can go to harbor freight and pay ten bucks for a Pneumatic Die Grinder when the ones I build cost 6 to 7 times as much. Ours are excellent, but if you are trying to equip more than a few workers, it's hard for ours to come out ahead on value in the near term. I'm sure Timken feels that same pressure everyday too. It's insane how inexpensive import cr*p can be.

[DirtyComanche]

They divested out of the passenger automotive segment, focusing on new brand and luxury level vehicles only. This has allowed them to see growth within that business segment by narrowing focus. but that means you won't be finding as many timken bearings for older vehicles anymore.

 

Are they actually going to cease production of all old bearings, or just not pursue contracts with OEMs in those sectors?  If they cease production on old P/Ns of bearings, it will be ugly.

[Money_Pits]

 

They divested out of the passenger automotive segment, focusing on new brand and luxury level vehicles only. This has allowed them to see growth within that business segment by narrowing focus. but that means you won't be finding as many timken bearings for older vehicles anymore.

 

Are they actually going to cease production of all old bearings, or just not pursue contracts with OEMs in those sectors?  If they cease production on old P/Ns of bearings, it will be ugly.

 

My apologies, but I'm not sure. I hope not.

[Megadan]

 

They divested out of the passenger automotive segment, focusing on new brand and luxury level vehicles only. This has allowed them to see growth within that business segment by narrowing focus. but that means you won't be finding as many timken bearings for older vehicles anymore.

 

Are they actually going to cease production of all old bearings, or just not pursue contracts with OEMs in those sectors?  If they cease production on old P/Ns of bearings, it will be ugly.

 

That's my concern.  Timken, honestly, is the best value for money on quality bearings on the market.  They are never super expensive, but high quality.  I buy them every chance I can get, and will pay a bit more than the cheap brands because I know better.  Losing a reasonably affordable high quality manufacturer annoys and angers me.

[DirtyComanche]

The other problem is some of the 'obsolete' stuff is basically only made by Timken at this point. I suppose if there is a hole in the market that the Chicom manufacturers will pick up the slack though.

[HOrnbrod]

SKF still makes most any bearing known to man. A bit pricey sometimes, but still the best quality out there.

[Megadan]

SKF still makes most any bearing known to man. A bit pricey sometimes, but still the best quality out there.

I love SKF, but Tinken offered similar quality for less most of the time.

[Strokermjcomanche]

 

 

SKF still makes most any bearing known to man. A bit pricey sometimes, but still the best quality out there.

I love SKF, but Tinken offered similar quality for less most of the time.

I can check and see what kind of deal I could get on SKF bearings as the parts store I worked at carries them and we always murdered everyone else's prices . Give me some part numbers and I can see what they go for .

[Megadan]

Mainly front hub/bearing for my 88.  I ordered the last one I could get locally, but I wanted to do both at the same time.  I'm OK with one as my drivers side is still in good shape, but being as old as the passenger side, its just a matter of time.

[Keyav8r]

Timken's strong suit has always been tapered roller bearings as used in automotive wheel hubs, differentials, etc. in passenger vehicles as well as heavy haulers, earth overs, etc. This type of bearing is also used in industrial applications to handle high combined radial and thrust loads. On the repair side of our pump business, we have used them to upgrade equipment when other types of bearings have repeatedly failed.

Both the automotive and industrial markets for tapered roller bearings remain strong and if Timken walks away from either or both, another bearing manufacturer will fill the void. Will that product be as good as the Timken product it replaces? Only time and experience (using the "new" bearings) will tell.

Timken is/was faced with the same problem that many other American manufacturers have faced. Reduce the cost of production or go out of business trying to compete with lower cost imported products.

And, if we're honest with ourselves, the problem is caused by us, the American consumer, who chooses to go to Walmart, Harbor Freight, online stores and parts stores and buy the cheaper import product instead of the higher cost domestic product. That's the base reason jobs are being exported and America is loosing production capability (and skilled labor force) that will be essential in the event of another global war or major disaster in one of the countries that now have our production capability.

If you've never been guilty of doing this, I apologize. But I have to admit I'm part of the problem at times.

[mvusse]

I can attest to this. I work at Autozone, and for a long time we carried Timken bearings as the better quality compared to the "Duralast" store brand ones. About a year ago we started selling through the Timken bearings and have replaced them with Moog unit bearings and National bearings and races. Both are Federal Mogul brands. If I try to force the system to order a Timken unit bearing, we will be sent a Moog one instead.

 

A few years before that already I started noticing a downturn in quality when a Timken unit bearing split causing me to lose a front wheel while cruising down the freeway. That bearings was just over one year old. After that I started looking at the Timken boxes and noticed every single one of them stated "Made in China".

 

That doesn't explain why all of the parts chains are clearing out current stock and then no more though.  Even if they changed structure and sent jobs elsewhere (which is annoying) the Bearings division would still be producing I would imagine.

[FrankTheDog]

I bought a pair of Timken 99.5-06 hubs last summer.

I had to go to two seperate autozones to get them.

They were both manufactured in the Czech Republic.

About 20,000 miles on them so far with no trouble.

As my 92 MJ and 98 XJ's hubs need replacing I'll be switching to the 99.5-06 style hubs.

I figure they will be last of the hubs and brakes to be manufactured.

 

The Flatr8ers in the area have been using the SKF's with no complaints.

[Automan2164]

We use SKF at work for the hub assemblies on our Public Works trucks. We installed 2 hub assemblies last year on one, 10 K and 1 year later, and the RH side was growling like a cornered dog. Warranty replacement, but still... We have to take the truck out of service and get one in.

 

Rob

[Megadan]

Well, I recieved my Timken hubs and I can confirm that they are now made in Korea.  Stamped on the inner bearing race and the hub itself.  At least it's not China?