"They cost more, is there any real practical benefit?"
As someone who has gone through a couple sets of roller bearings on a truck, my opinions are mixed. The roller bearings are cheaper to obtain than the standard ball bearings. The quality of both ball bearings and roller bearings comes into question. With all bearings being made in China, I don't believe either will last.
When it comes to bearings look for the older American made Ball bearings, or the discontinued Japanese MBS roller bearings. I believe those to be superior to the chinese ones available today. It will likely cost more... about 2x more to get the better bearings. 2x more is still cheaper than being stuck on the side of the road 100s of miles from home with fried bearings on multiple occasions. Most parts houses no longer carry our obsolete bearings.
