Beware - bad parts from Hamburg-technic
 

Okay - at first I thought I was just unlucky, but I will not purchase parts from Hamburg-Technic again.

I ordered a bunch of parts from P**formance P**ducts and have been shipped mostly crappy products from Hamburg-Technic (sorry, sponsors, this was before I joined the list...)

The latest bad part appears to be the front bearings. Since I couldn't torque down the clamping nut enough to restrict rotor movement, I disassembled the wheel assembly and measured it compared the new bearing to the old one. The old one is a Koyo, made in Japan and has an overall height of 18.6 mm. The new one from Hamburg-Technic has an overall height of 19.4 mm and has an overall "less-finished" appearance.

Other parts I have had to return:

Guide rod mount kit - Hamburg-Technic, no point of origin - rubber bushings were mis-cut, bolts were two different sizes and did not fit into either my old M-B original guide rods, nor the new (but curiously also defective) Febi-Bilstein made in India guide rods, the self-locking nuts were also different sizes.

Guide rods - Febi-Bilstein, made in India - bolt holes were too small for either the "new" Hamburg-Technic bolts or the old M-B original bolts. And yes, there's a note in the service manual about version 1 guide rods using an M10 bolt and later versions using an M12 bolt, so it is possible that it's correctly manufactured to the incorrect specification.

Don't take my word for it, look at the pictures.

Did you replace the cups and the cones?

Unforunatly the "Brand Name" companies seem to be slapping their name on the inferior products bought from who ever sells them the cheapest.
And, us customers order thinking we are buying the older good products they used to sell.

I am not India or China Bashing as I Blame the "Brand Name" companies for not insisting on quality.

If the labor is cheaper to begin with they ought to have more $$$ to spend for at least equal quality.

If you are pissed off now; wait until you see the Mercedes Star on these same parts at the Dealer.

There's liability at stake at the dealer though, so they would likely not source low quality parts to sell as OEM. Too risky.

Nooooooooo!!!!

I bought some Hamburg UCA's and they just arrived today. Have I made a HUGE mistake? I have not opened the bags to look at them.

I don't have a problem with things made in China, not everything is cheaply made.

Hamburg - Technik
 

Folks,
I always try to buy a "little something" from "Perf Prod" just to keep their catalog coming, I like their exploded views....it's almost as good as a toy catalog.

A couple of years ago, I purchased a W123 front wheel bearing from them, figured that a wheel bearing is a just a tapered roller bearing, how bad could they be.....well folks, I prefer my bearings of any type to arrive in a nice little box, wrapped in greasy wax paper, or sealed in a little bag.....these came in a plastic bag, prominently marked Hamburg - Technik that was about 5 x too large for the bearing, thus it had separated and the race was loose in the bag.....I opened it, the bearing was crude, and unmarked, no number, no name......I immediately came here and ordered a W123 "Front Wheel Bearing Kit" from Phil....and have never ordered anything mechanical from PP again.....now I only purchase simple stuff like cleaners and waxes to keep the catalog coming.

SB

Any car part made in china is junk. Return it and get the good stuff.

I also don't like to support products made at essentially slave-labor factories, in a communist country.

X2.... And im in the furniture business!:eek:

Well they are going to start making airplanes for Airbus.

SO I need to return these UCA's... great

Thanks

No, I did not replace the cups. I cleaned and inspected them and felt the difficulty in replacing an apparently good cup outweighed the likelihood of fitment issues with a new bearing - I may have been wrong.

I realize there may be fitment issues with "unmatched" cups and cones (or race and bearing, depending on vernacular) but based on my experience so far with Hamburg-Technic parts I am reluctant to believe that there may be deliberate manufacturing differences that would create a precise fit if I were to replace both the cups and the cones as a set. It could happen, but call me skeptical.

Is the consensus that races and bearings MUST be replaced as a complete set?

The other data point which causes me to suspect H-T parts from Perf Products is that I also ordered new UCAs from them and received two. One was in a re-used/recycled box that was taped back up. I inspected that part upon receipt. What I neglected to do was actually open the other box and verify that I received the correct part. The outside of the box said it was a left UCA, but inside the box was a second right UCA. Kind of hard to fix your car with two right UCAs.

Absolutely. No doubt about it.

x 2

so would anybody use these? Should I absolutely return them, if I can?

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...D/IMG_0453.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...D/IMG_0454.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...D/IMG_0455.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...D/IMG_0456.jpg
http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x...D/IMG_0457.jpg

I know it is or was a quality company but I know that Timken used to sell the bearings and the Bearing Races (cups) separately or you could buy them as a set.

I have seen the Races by themselves replaced on Truck hubs after the Tapered Roller Bearing were carefully inspected for visual defects.
Concerning Tapered Roller Bearings I do not know why the Race seems to come out worse where there is a problem. Perhaps the Rollers are harder than the Race.

I've replaced the front bearings on 4 of our cars (2- w126, 1- w124, 1- w123) all without changing the races....and they've all been fine.

In looking at those upper control arms, I'd still return them. Chances are the metal is cheaper grade, and the rubber on the bushings and boot of the ball joint is probably cheapo and would degrade quickly. And who knows about the quality of the ball joint itself. Never trust China parts on a car.