Front hubs/bearing question?

About 6 months ago I replaced both front hubs with a pair from Advance Auto. Two weeks ago one started to "click" and this week the other developed play. Because I still had a warranty I just told them to give me my money back and I bought a uspair from a 4cyl model with 160k. They appear to be in good shape and ride fine. I don't know if I put them facing the same direction as the previous XJ and am not sure how long they are going to last. The OEM's are $260 and the junk Advance Auto are $117. My question is when they fail or if they fail where do I buy good/cheaper that OE hubs? Please direct me to any other info or mishaps you had with the hubs. I do have 31x10.5 Mud Terrains also.

There may be a reason why OEM cost twice as much. I replaced one hub on my '88 XJ a few years ago. Don't recall the mileage, but a bit over 100,000.

Almost two years ago I heard a suspicious rumbling from the front, and I was pretty sure the other hub must have failed. Upon checking it out, I had a bad hub alright -- but it was the same one I had previously replaced. The replacement was a Crown part, and they generally are supposed to be decent quality. However, the other OEM hub is still on there and I'm now at 239,000+ miles and sneaking up on 16 years.

sneaking up on 16 years

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Hmmm, I thought you were a little older than that!

Eagle said:

There may be a reason why OEM cost twice as much. ... Upon checking it out, I had a bad hub alright -- but it was the same one I had previously replaced. The replacement was a Crown part, and they generally are supposed to be decent quality. However, the other OEM hub is still on there and I'm now at 239,000+ miles and sneaking up on 16 years.

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Hey Eagle, did you do any post-mortem to find out who makes the bearings in the OEM hubs versus the replacements that are less robust?

Just wondering......

AZ Jeff said:

Hey Eagle, did you do any post-mortem to find out who makes the bearings in the OEM hubs versus the replacements that are less robust?

Just wondering......

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Nope. And it seems to be inconsistent. The '88 MJ I bought in 1999 had less than 100,000 miles showing on the odometer, and it needed both front bearings replaced. I do think the factory units are better, but I doubt they are consistently going to last twice as long. I'll continue to use Crown for replacements and hope for the best.