Information is power, you win this round. Globalization gives with one hand ($25 in your case) and takes away with the other (computer interaction vs high Victorian ceiling and a worn hardwood floor).
Max -- Sent from my Android phone with K-9 Mail. Please excuse my brevity. David & Kristin Gilmore <dandkgilm...@frontier.com> wrote: I was surprised recently to discover how inexpensive ball bearings have become. I needed two bearings to fix a piece of farm equipment. I have learned it is is better not to go to the original equipment dealer for bearings since they charge a premium for a name on a box that contains a generic bearing. Instead, I usually go to a store (for some reason called a "bearing house") that specializes in bearings. You just slap the bearing on the counter and some old guy matches it to one he has in stock. Well, unfortunately, you can't do that in Wheeling WV any more. On a hunch I had called first and I was told the business was sold and moved to some place in Ohio about two hours from me. Alternatives were as far away. Wheeling is one hour. I was guessing the dealer would want $50.00. Just for fun I checked MSC's web site - the bearing I wanted (SKF 6207 2RS) was $37.42. (This is a common Metric 35X72X17 sealed ball bearing.) When I Googled the SKF number up jumped many vendors wanting to sell cheaper than $37.42. Since these bearings would be going into an item that already had a couple thousand hours on it and the bearings were fairly easy to get to, I chose a vendor that advertised bearings equal to the SKF in load rating - 25,000 N dynamic and 15,000 static. The winning vendor was vxb.com. $7.77 each. They have ten ways to ship, from $0.00 (pick it up yourself at their outlet in Los Angeles) to $90 something for next day air. I chose the "take your time" at $5.00. This turned out to be the USPS which took 4 days. The bearings (labeled CXJSD) looked and felt right and tapped in with about the same force it took to remove the SKF ones. I put it all back together and used it two hours. OK so far. I have mixed feelings about all this. I suppose in my own little way I have contributed to the loss of local jobs. But if the Asian countries can make quality stuff this cheap I think we would be better off doing something else. In fact, we are doing something else locally - a shale gas boom that has brought lots of jobs and money. But I guess not as much need for a bearing house as there used to be. And it had a high Victorian ceiling and a worn hardwood floor. Dave Gilmore, Cameron WV I have lived here so long I trip over what has been gone for years. _____________________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
