Britpart for bearings?

[sotal]

I've just been pricing up the bits I need for my gearbox so far which consists of 7 gaskets, 3 springs, 2 bearings and a couple of seals.

To buy genuine parts it will cost me about £85 delivered, to buy Britpart parts will cost me £14.10. The difference in price is really swaying me towards Britpart but will I regret it?

I've been thinking back to the britpart bits I've had which have been no good, and the bits which have been OK.

The bits which looked fine but failed quickly all failed on rubber bits (seals etc)

I had brake shoes which wouldn't fit

I've seen large lumps of metal (rear crossmember etc) which are just rubbish

But all the Britpart gaskets and bearings I've had have been fine - was I lucky? The genuine gaskets aren't that much more it's liek 79p instead of 22p, but the bearings are £36 instead of £5. If I remember correctly all the britpart bearings I've had aren't actually britpart they have all been bearing manufacturers stamped in them.

Thanks for any advice!

[Hybrid_From_Hell]

If Britpart sold toilet rolls I wouldn't buy them

you'd find even with them there would be a f problem

Buy them at your peril

Nige

[sotal]

Hum, that was worse than expected!

There's a local bearing shop nearby, if I took my knackered series bearings in would they be able to sort me out cheapish with some quality items or is it likely that they will be old/funny sizes that are no longer commonly made/sold?

[callum]

if you have the bearings out, note down the numbers on them then call a bearing supplier to get replacements. that way you will know the brand of bearings you're going to get. Britpart is a bit of a lottery, you might get ok stuff, but it might be rubbish. there's a big difference between good bearings and bad bearings and you don't want to be rebuilding stuff with bad ones. that being said the markup on genuine parts things like bearings and seals is astronomical. by spending £85 on bearings with land rover, you certainly won't be getting £85 worth of bearings, but you are guaranteeing no hassle with fit and operation. Personally i find gearbox removal a hassle, so would be inclined not to take part in the Britpart lottery. i'd recommend the bearing supplier route.

[FridgeFreezer]

[tuko]

The rule of thumb that I've been using over the years is simple, anything that is mechanical from Britpart will NOT go on my vehicles!

The bearings that you are looking for, I suggest that you use Timken bearing on your transmission. They are cheaper than original but more expensive that Britparts, but the quality is on par as original. I was lucky last year I found the bearings I needed on eBay.

Good Luck.

Todd.

[headhunter]

Why not speak to Ashcroft's who I am sure will give you sound advice.

John

[BogMonster]

If Britpart sold toilet rolls I wouldn't buy them

you'd find even with them there would be a f problem

According to my Profanisaurus this problem is called "breaching the hull"

In fairness to Britpart I believe that, like BM and probably others, if you specify "OEM" then you will get branded stuff.

[freeagent]

I'd try Bearmach.. you'll probably get OEM/Timken from them anyway..

You could always try someone like bearing boys for bearings..??

I would NOT fit Britpart bearings or seals, as they WILL fail, and my time is worth more than the extra cost of fitting decent stuff.

I'd stick with a name like Timken/SNR/SKF/FAG for bearings.

[sotal]

Thanks for the replies,

Can you buy from Bearmach direct - their website doen't seem to get you anywhere!

I'm going to try the three local bearing places I know of and see what they come back with. Not sure I'll be able to see a number on the rear layshaft bearing as it'll probably be on the outer casing (I haven't removed yet)

I don't suppose anyone knows the bearing numbers for a rear layshaft bearing? Or a primary pinion bearing on series 3 suffix D box do they? LR Part numbers are RTC1412 and 55714

[BogMonster]

I'm pretty sure the BM shops do mail order as well as collection:

http://www.bearmach.com/distributors.html

[ejparrott]

Ashcroft dont have anything to do with Series boxes anymore.

In the main gearbox all the bearings are standard, buts theres 2 specials in the transfer box.

I've never had an issue with Britpart stuff personally, only Bearmach stuff.

All bearings are manufactured to an international set of standards, and its a well known fact that all those closest to nominal size, within miniscul tolerance, are all thrown in a sperate box and labelled 'High Precision', and then charged outragous sums of money...£25,000 for a spindle bearing on one of our machines, and its only a taper roller, but it has to be 'High Precision'...

bull***t

[landmannnn]

Ashcroft dont have anything to do with Series boxes anymore.

bull***t

ASHCROFT SERIES...

[ejparrott]

oh for f*** sake, nothing like changing your mind for years they've been proclaiming that they dont do Series boxes, exactly why I've ended up doing my own

[headhunter]

Ashcroft are usually very helpful with advice, rather than just trying to sell you something, hence my comment.

They will know which bearings to use (Series or not) and I am sure would be happy to advise to that effect.

John

[sotal]

I've tried emailing Ashcrofts a couple of times but there email address doesn't work it just bounces back each time saying that user doesn't exist. Not sure if they've gone bump? I hope not and that it's just a technical glitch?? Anyone got an alternative email address? I'm using the one off the website which is:

info@ashcroft-transmissions.co.uk

[mike4444244]

you could try sending Dave a PM on here, its 'ashtrans'

Mike

[Phil Hancock]

The warranty comment is a bit naughty saying that there is no warranty when a Fairey overdrive is fitted when that was the official factory approved overdrive fitment but that they will waranty when a Rocky Mountain unit it fitted which was not a factory approved option.

[jacks906]

buy genuine seals an other bits and buy bearings off a bearing supplier the warn 8274 top case bearings which are apparently impossible to get sourced from a local bearing supplier for 2 quid each

dave

[bobtail4x4]

Open a word document,

type in Britpart

then hit the spellcheck,

I wonder if they do this stuff on purpose?

[mickeyw]

All bearings are manufactured to an international set of standards,

The last Britpart bearings I bought were packed with some free extras in the shape of swarf ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Close examination showed the races were dented to f^*k as well. Very unimpressed

[ejparrott]

International bearing standards cover sizes, tolerances and material properties...not particuarly the method they are packed in.

You can go to any bearing supplier and ask for a 6208, with ZZ seals, and they'll give you a bearing which i know will fit two different places on the winches i build at work.

[Timmy511]

the saying buy cheap buy twice comes to mind here.

id go genuine, you dont want to be taking the box out and rebuilding it twice for the sake of trying to save a few quid.

[sotal]

the saying buy cheap buy twice comes to mind here.

id go genuine, you dont want to be taking the box out and rebuilding it twice for the sake of trying to save a few quid.

The problem is it isn't just a few quid it's £400 (OEM/Genuine) vs £100 (Britpart)

I'm going down the route of trying to source quality replacement bearings from bearing suppliers and I've since had some better prices quoted from Dunsfold LR

[Les Henson]

Buy the bits from Bearmach - you get qaulity parts (Timken, etc), without burning a hole in your wallet. You'll pay more than Britpart, but a lot less then genuine. An acceptable alternative in my opinion.

Les.