Captain_Fish

Hey guys, I'm new to the forum. I'm about to purchase a '59 Dynamic 88 2 dr sedan in a couple of days that needs a couple things fixed to be safely on the road. One of those things being new front wheel bearings.

I know that bearings typically sold by NAPA, as well as some other leading stores, have a PLASTIC retainer... That's the absolute stupidest thing I've ever heard might I add. I know that the plastic retainer is prone to fail sometimes as quickly as 6-8 weeks after installation.

I'm not putting that garbage on my new car.

The only problem is I have no idea where to find truly good quality bearings for it now. A friend offered to have roller bearings machined for me, but I don't know how soon they can be made. The guy I'm buying the car from is moving back home to England this coming week so I need to replace the bearings so I can drive the car home.

What auto parts companies sell the best quality bearings for a reasonable price? I've got a great local source for USED classic/antique car parts, so would taking original bearings off of another '59 that are in good shape be a viable option, at least temporarily?

Any help you guys could give me would be very much appreciated.
Thanks

jaunty75

Have you tried rockauto.com? They show several sets of bearings from different manufacturers for a '59 Dynamic 88. I can't tell for sure from the photos, but the retainers don't look plastic to me.

The autozone website lists Timken bearings available for your car, too. They have to be "special ordered" but that means waiting maybe a day, and when they come in, you can see if they meet your need before you leave the store. But Timken is one of the best names in bearings, and I would think anything they made would be acceptable.

redoldsman

Welcome to the site and congrats on you purchase. I think the 59 2-door sedan is probably a pretty rare car. Heck, any 59 Olds is a rare car. We don see many of those on here so we will all enjoy seeing your car. It is hard to find any of these bearings that are not made in China. I am sure that Fusick's will have bearings for you car but they may be made in China. I don't know about the plastic retainer. RockAuto is a great place and lots of folks on here use them. This is where I learned about them and I order most of my stuff through them. You can download the Fusick catalog online. They are great folks and will have lots of stuff for your 59. Let me be the first to ask for pictures. We all like pictures and love following the progress of people when they get a new project. There are lots of knowledgeable folks here who enjoy helping. This is the best board for Oldsmobiles. Again, welcome to the site.

Captain_Fish

Thanks guys. I checked out both rockauto and Fusick's and they both look promising. I only worry about the time it'll take to ship and if it will be here by the time I need to pick up the car.

How would you guys feel about the possibility of using used bearings that are still in good condition out of a parts car temporarily?

There's a fella that has owned a dealership since the early 50's that is about an hour from me. Every car that he would take on trade he would park in a lot on his personal property and never resell it. Now these vehicles are occasionally being sold and are also used for parts. With at least a dozen cars to pick from, he knows that I could find anything I need on his lot (I'm getting a windshield from him that'll probly cost me about $100).

Would it be foolish to take a good set of bearings off of a car that was 5-10 yrs old when parked?

redoldsman

In my opinion, I would probably have a good set of used original bearings than a new set made in China. I think I would try and get the brake drums with the bearings in them. That way you don't have to worry about damaging the bearing races when you take them out. Plus you have an extra set of drums which you might need. Of course at that age they may not be any good. You should take your old bearings with you to make what you are getting is correct. Probably Buick or Pontiac and maybe even Chevy or a Caddy are the same. This sounds like a place you may be going to often. If the guy will let you take pictures, take some and post them. Most everybody loves seeing pictures of old cars junkyards.

jaunty75

I think it would be if they car you're taking them OFF of was otherwise a good, driveable, complete car. If it's just a parts car, no problem.


What kind of dealer is this, anyway? I've never heard of dealer who takes cars in on trade and then just parks them. Why does or did he do this? How does he ever make any money? You say he's been in business since the early '50s. Does this mean he has cars on his lot that he's taken in on trade since then, just sitting there rotting for the last 50 or 60 years? Apparently so, if you're able to get parts for a '59 Olds from him. He must have a couple of million cars on his lot by now, and he must be about 85 or 90 years old. There is something about this story that doesn't sound right, or else there is more to this story.

Also, you say you have to get the car fixed up enough to drive it home, but you've never said how far you have to drive it. Are we talking a 50 mile drive or a 2000 mile drive? Regardless, even the "plastic" bearings you're talking about, which I've never heard of, by the way, ought to last you that long. I think I'd rather have new bearings, housed in plastic or otherwise, on my car for the drive home than a set of bearings that are 51 years old, have 10 years and who knows how many miles of use on them, and have been sitting out in a field for the last half-century. When you get the car home, you can change them out for the gold-plated ones you apparently think are necessary.

With all due respect, the bottom line here is, this is much ado about nothing. I mentioned Timken bearings earlier. They're one of the oldest, best names there is in roller bearings, and you can get them for your car at your local Autozone store. If Timken has farmed out some of its production to China in recent years, that's sad, but it doesn't mean that the bearings are suddenly crap because not everything made in China is crap, and because I doubt very much that Timken would put its name on something, regardless of where it was made, if it wasn't a quality product.

So go to Autozone, or wherever, buy the bearings, put them on the car, drive it home, and don't worry about the bearings again for 20 or 30 years.


In the meantime, give us the name and address of this never-sells-the-cars-he-takes-in-on-trade dealer you've found so we can go and see his cars for ourselves.

redoldsman

Jaunty75

I think you are getting a little off subject about the dealer. They guy just wants to know about wheel bearings. This is a new member. Why don't we try and make him feel welcome.

Captain_Fish

The dealership that the guy owns is Pletcher Pontiac in Gassaway, WV. He is in his 80's. He has thousands of cars on his property. I believe he stopped parking cars on his property in the 70's. I'm not certain why he did that, but he did. I'll gladly take pictures for you guys. I'll talk to him and see what amount of business and publicity he wants to deal with and see if I can give you all his information for potential business.

As to the bearings, I want to be certain to get the best deal I can when it comes to quality and price combined. That's why I asked suggestions. I'm not spending a couple hundred dollars on garbage bearings with a plastic RETAINER that are going to fail within a few months. I can't call some places to ask specifics about their product right now due to the holiday weekend. The local Autozone doesn't have them in stock, so I can't just readily go pick them up.

I live approximately 20 miles from where the car is currently located.

jaunty75

There is no way he could stay in business if he took cars in on trade, cars that still had value, and just parked them. The only way any new car dealer makes money on a trade is to turn around and resell the trade-in. This is simple business 101. My guess is that he didn't park EVERY car he took in on trade. Rather he parked cars that were near the end of their retail life, anyway, and parked those rather than sell them to a junkyard or scrappage yard. He might have lost the $50 or $100 or so he might have made on each car selling them to the scrapyards, but that's a lot less of a loss than the thousands of dollars he would have lost if it was a late model trade-in he was parking. So I'll guess that most of these cars you're talking about were pretty much gone at the time they were parked, and today they're in even worse shape. All the more reason not to take wheel bearings off one of them.

It may be a holiday weekend, but Autozone can still put in the order for you and have the part in a day or two. Fusick and all the rest of the online places aren't open, either, and they certainly aren't going to be able to get a wheel bearing to you faster, or even as soon as, a local auto parts store could get one in. Like I said earlier, Autozone sells Timken wheel bearings (other places do as well, I'm sure), and you aren't going to find a better wheel bearing anywhere. The price is high, though, at a total of $181 for an inner and an outer bearing. That's $360 to do both sides. Not cheap, but you seem to indicate that price is not important as it's the quality you're concerned about. Fusick's catalog shows outer and inner bearings at $63.50 each, or $127 per wheel. That's about 2/3 of the Autozone price, but Fusick doesn't tell you the brand of the bearing.

If you have a short time frame here in which to get the car, which you say you do, you should be ordering the bearings today, pick them up when they come in on Tuesday or Wednesday, and then get on with it.

jaunty75

Off subject? Who brought it up? He brought it up, I commented on it. Certain parts of people's posts are off limits? I don't think so. Perfectly legitimate. Plus, it was only a portion of my post. Most of it concerned the bearings, which was his main point.

Blk71SX

I'm curious to where you got your info concerning bearings with plastic cages. GM used that design for OE for several years before going to the sealed hub assemblies on their RWD cars.

15 years of brake work, repacking bearing and selling them for a living I never saw a failure that could be contributed to plastic cages. improper lubrication and/or preload? yes.

But then this is your project, your time and money. Good luck with your endeavor

Captain_Fish

I've known a number of people, as well as mechanics, who know what I'm talking about regarding the plastic retainer. In regards to the particular bearings on the '59, I haven't taken the old bearings out YET so I don't know precisely what exact bits are plastic yet, but I've seen lots of bearings that have different pieces made of plastic. For instance, I know of bearings made for a Tacoma that have the bearings in a plastic retainer which can flex and cause unwanted strain on the bearings and also create gouging in the races. It's not an uncommon issue, but it's commonly misdiagnosed.


If you're really that concerned about it I'll ask for the man's entire life story for you and his entire business model for the past 55 yrs. I've already stated that the guy sells ENTIRE VEHICLES as well as parts. One of my best friends has been doing business with the guy regularly for the past 15 yrs. You've already been told you're going to see some pictures at some point.


I've already stated my intentions and nothing else really matters. I'm not going to spend nearly $400 on bearings that aren't what I'm looking for if I can find better bearings for less. ESPECIALLY if I can have new roller bearings crafted by a friend at a very reputable shop for a he*l of a lot less than going to Autozone. If that's my best option, then I can take good used bearings off of a parts car that'll last until I get the d@mn thing home.

I know what I'm looking for and I know what I'm talking about. Anything I wanted to know more about I asked about (i.e. RETAILERS AND THEIR QUALITY, which is why I previously said "when it comes to quality and price combined").

I'm not looking for any pretentious backlash.

I do my research and I do it thoroughly. This is not my only resource for information regarding this car.

Captain_Fish

Thank you for the courtesy btw. I meant to say that sooner

jaunty75

Well goody for you. 99.999% of the rest of us don't have the option of a "friend" building wheel bearings for us and are forced to suffer with mass-produced wheel bearings with or without plastic purchased at a local auto parts store or online. Judging from the complete lack of complaints, here or otherwise, about a rash of failing wheel bearings, there ain't much actual suffering going on.


You said right at the beginning of all this that you had a week to get this car because the current owner is going to England and needs it gone. I don't believe that your friend can build them to the same quailty as a Timken bearing on a one-off basis AND keep the price below what you can do at a local parts store AND do it in less than a week. Just like the economics of your Land of Oz car dealer doesn't make sense, the economics of this doesn't make sense, either.


And another thing. If you have this friend who can make you high quality bearings at low cost in apparently no time at all, why did you even start this thread? Why did you even for a minute consider taking bearings off of a 50-year-old junkyard car when you had the perfect solution right there in your back pocket all along?

jaunty75

Now you're changing your story, as this is emphatically NOT what you said in your earlier post:

What does "never" mean if it doesn't mean "never?"


Do you begin to see the problems I've had with your postings right from the start? I'm not as mean a person as my postings might make it look. There's even people on here who have asked to be my friend, as unlikely as that sounds. But, on the other hand, people who tell half the story, and then when you point out the flaws in the story come back with something like "I forgot to tell you this" or "I didn't mention that" drive me crazy.

Right from the beginning, you have asked people to swallow quite a lot. Nobody seems to have heard of bearings with plastic parts but you. Certainly no one has heard of bearing failure due to plastic retainers. You tell a story about a car dealer whose business model would put him out of business in 10 minutes. You have this magical friend who can produce top quality wheel bearings at a moment's notice at low cost, yet you would still apparently seriously consider using 50 year old wheel bearings off of a parts car instead.

Forgive me if I raise a few questions.

redoldsman

This is turning into a pizzing contest which does nobody any good. Please let cooler heads prevail. This is not the tone of most post on this board. With this said, I am done posting on this thread.

Jamesbo

Gentlemen,

Please let's just deal with the facts. I hate it when these threads get out of control. Please take a deep breath, go outside, listen to the birds and celebrate the holiday.

Many Thanks,

Jamesbo

citcapp

Ok guys lets cool the jets, remember this is a discussion forum to solve problems and help out where we can.

The question was asked about where to purchase good bearings several good answers were given, time to move on to a new subject.

Captain Fish, one subject at a time on a forum helps keep things on track. Please remember that from now on.

Lets set down have a beer and talk about cars that's what we do here

I hate closing threads

Captain_Fish

Sooo f**king sorry that you don't have friends in a particular industry. My fault? H*ll no!
Did I say my friend could have them done in a heartbeat? H*ll no. Why else would I mention USED bearings??
Did I say they were one-off? NO. I give him part numbers, he builds the **** to spec with roller n not *****.
Did I say they were DEFINITELY going to be a h*ll of a lot cheaper? NO. I said "ESPECIALLY if I can have new roller bearings crafted by a friend at a very reputable shop for a he*l of a lot less than going to Autozone.

How 'bout reading the very next sentence dipsh*t... Makes sense to me.


Give me one instance...

Next time you wanna pull apart a thread and try to make someone look stupid, try to do a better job at it.