Gentlemen, my wife worked for the Sealmaster division of Emerson Power Transmission, about 20 years ago as their accounting manager. She traveled to their different locations around the globe several times during the year and often got the tour of the plants. Although the races and the assembly was done here in the US, the ground and un-ground balls for most of the bearing manufacturers come from China. And they have been supplying inexpensive yet reliable balls for bearing for many decades.
To say that you won’t use ball bearings because they are made in China is like saying that you won’t use ball bearings at all. This goes for all of these products made by Timken, Fafner, McGill, Browning, Morse, Rollway, Sealmaster.
As to the comparison between the ball bearing and the roller bearing for the front of the Advance Design trucks, we’ve been thru this numerous times, the original ball bearings are still in use in the vast majority of these 50-60-70 and in some cases, 80 year old trucks and just about every one has seen about all the neglect and abuse that you could possibly subject a machine to.
So, just buy the original style ball bearings and don’t worry about where they come from, keep them greased and adjusted according to the shop manual and enjoy your ride for as many years as you will be alive.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL
