Getting Your Bearings

The sales of tapered roller bearings and cartridge bearings are flat or declining–thanks largely to designs that are more durable than ever–but there is an important sign of hope for jobbers: the declines are being offset by the rising sales of Generation Two and Generation Three hub assemblies.

“The growing reliance on unitized assemblies represents an excellent, high-dollar sales opportunity for parts distributors, jobbers and service dealers,” says Federal-Mogul’s Wendell Hays, the product manager who oversees National hub assemblies, bearings and seals. “Generation Three unitized hub assemblies are the overwhelming trend today.”

After all, they mark an important evolution in wheel ends.

It all began in the 1980s, with the introduction of Generation One bearing assemblies that incorporated ball bearings or tapered rollers into sets, so installers didn’t have to adjust spacers or pack their assemblies with grease. The following Generation Two hub assemblies (also known as Pre-Clamped Units or PCUs) included an integrated flange and orbital formed shoulder, eliminating worries about bearing pre-loads. And Generation Three designs took this evolution a step further, integrating wheel bearings with flanges for inner and outer rings, along with attachments for brake discs, wheels and knuckles, and wheel speed sensors.

“From a technical standpoint, the major shift in first, second and third generation hubs has been the transition of the ABS ring from the axle to the hub,” says Dave Kondra, marketing development coordinator for Fenwick Automotive Products. “All of a sudden, you’re talking technology where now a hub is responsible to transmit a frequency. It was basically a hub bearing before.

“As opposed to areas of rack and pinion and so on, it’s definitely a very active product category.”

The Price Shock

For assembly plants, the benefit of using Generation Two or Three hub assemblies is obvious–pre-assembled components can be quickly and accurately installed when you’re building a vehicle. But the designs have also delivered “quite a shock” to retail customers who paid a fraction of the price for tapered bearings on their older vehicles, says Rufus Sweet of NAPA Mainway in Lower Sackville, N.S.

“It’s true that unitized hub assemblies represent a big-ticket item, but these components are absolutely crucial to driver and passenger safety,” Hays counters. “The key is to help the consumer understand that the component is a sophisticated, safety-critical part. They’ll likely find, also, that the part is even more expensive through the vehicle dealership.”

But not always. Dave Shuman of Big S Automotive Parts in Strathmore, Alta., for example, is now buying hub assemblies for Chevy 4x4s from the local Chevy dealership. “We were buying from dealers at our cost, so our [suggested] resale is out to lunch. I ran into it twice, and it was for the same make of truck.”

The exact reason why dealerships can sometimes offer the big-ticket parts at lower prices is a mixture of conjecture and conspiracy theories. Sweet suggests OEs may be subsidizing parts rather than issuing recalls. The spokesman for one bearing manufacturer suggested off the record that manufacturers may be ordering additional assemblies on behalf of dealerships, as a tool to help secure ever-larger shares of the aftermarket business.

But in general, the latest generation of hub assemblies was bound to be more expensive than its predecessors because it includes a longer list of components.

The higher price points have led Gerry Nerada of Burnaby, B.C.’s Burnaby Auto Parts to stock offshore designs at the expense of their brand name counterparts.

“I’m in a pretty price-sensitive area,” Nerada says, noting that the offshore Generation Three knock-offs are 30% to 40% cheaper than other designs. But he feels he can offer the grey market products, because his customers tend to be do-it-yourselfers. “The majors have to reduce their pricing and run specials all the time, just to compete with the offshore stuff,” he says.

Hays, however, stresses that it’s important to rely on replacement hub assemblies that deliver a guaranteed Original Equipment fit and form. “This is especially true for units with ABS sensors; if your product doesn’t absolutely mirror the OE design, the shop could end up with an unhappy customer who has an ABS fault light illuminated on the dashboard,” he says of the safety-critical components.

Early failures relating to aftermarket installations tend to be linked to components that have been tightened in place with impact guns, says Neil Hogan, product manager for SKF-Chicago Rawhide.

“You’re probably putting on twice the normal torque,” he says. “You’re essentially crushing the bearing internally, and that’s going to last six months.” It’s why the company unveiled a design that preloads the bearing.

Other failures can be related to local roads, since potholes and rough road surfaces can all lead to higher replacement volumes for hub assemblies, says Antonio Ramos, a marketing coordinator at FAG. “It all depends on how [the wheel] hits.”

Luckily, consumers are more likely than ever to identify any wheel bearing failures, since Generation Three designs can now trigger the ABS light in their dashboards.

“If [mechanics] see there’s no problem with the sensor connection, then odds are it’s bearing contamination,” Ramos says. “If water can find a way in, it will. And water and grease don’t mix.”

What’s Selling?

Increasing or falling sales of individual product numbers tend to mimic the popularity of vehicle lines, but as with any rule, there are exceptions.

Pickups and SUVs have been quicker to require replacements because of the way they’re driven, Hogan says. “A lot of guys have heavy payloads in them, and they’re taking them off-road.” His company hopes to capitalize on that market with a unit that was originally designed for the Dodge Durango, offering a higher degree of stiffness.

Other premature failures can skew sales projections in their own ways. While the Ford Focus has become a popular vehicle in Canada, for example, the majority of the fleet may not require aftermarket hub assemblies until 2006, because they were all replaced in a 2002 recall, Ramos adds.

For that matter, it’s important not to overlook the potential for tapered bearing sales, since the aftermarket’s vehicle population stretches back to the 1980s, before the integrated designs were unveiled. And some imports still don’t include integrated assemblies.

Jobbers should also spend more time promoting hub assemblies designed for trailers and RVs, Hays adds.

“Consumers, in general, lack awareness of the importance of proper bearing maintenance on recreational trailers; in the case of a boat trailer, you’re immersing a warm wheel-end into water, which can cause the bearings to develop stress cracks in some situations. This also commonly allows water and other contaminants into the hub, leading to accelerated wear.”

Meanwhile, the latest generation of assemblies hasn’t marked the end of the component’s evolution. Sensors are being moved further inside hubs, where they can enjoy extra protection and lubrication. And these new positions will be accompanied by refined readings, since the sensors will be able to measure the true rolling motion of bearings instead of counting each rotation on a drive shaft.

More sensors are bound to follow. “Everyone wants traction control and ABS,” Ramos adds.

The wheels of progress continue to turn.

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TALKIN’ BOUT A G-G-G-GENERATION

When products are referred to in terms of their generation, you can be sure that their evolution will continue.

The makers of Generation Three hub assemblies are already shifting the locations of ABS sensors, and looking to add the traction control sensors that have begun to emerge in Europe. But the biggest change of all may be yet to come.

Testing has begun on Generation Four hub assemblies that incorporate an even wider array of components. FAG, for example, is currently testing designs that integrate drive shafts.

From an OE perspective, t
hat could shed time from the assembly process–but it would also mean some obvious challenges for the aftermarket, not the least of which would be assemblies that could cost 10 times more than the products they replace.

“It’s a pain in the behind to install,” admits Antonio Ramos, suggesting the parts won’t emerge for another decade because of the inherent challenges. “What’s out there currently is what you’re going to see for the next while.”

“The Generation Four is a complete wheel-end unit,” explains Neil Hogan, product manager for SKF-Chicago Rawhide, referring to his company’s efforts. “You get the CV shaft, spindle, brake system and hub unit all in one.”

The good news is that OEs seem to recognize the challenge of integrating the units, which would require automotive customers to buy the entire assemblies when they need to replace something as simple as a brake rotor, says Hogan. “For once, they have us in mind.”