Review on 🔧 Superior Performance: Gates TCK304 PowerGrip Premium Timing Belt Component Kit by Mark Taylor

Great kit for the price. However, while the label on the box indicated that each intermediate bearing (by part number) was made in Japan, Taide's toothed bearing (usually NSK) was made in China and stamped with the Gates logo. While I'm sure it will work fine, I don't trust a Chinese bearing when everything else in the kit (other than the timing belt itself) is OEM. The Taide bearing has a matte black tooth finish, while the NSK bearing has a mirror finish. Since I was able to buy an OEM NSK bearing on eBay for $25, I went ahead and did just that. Just a few months ago, reviewers were saying that all of their guide bearings were from Japan, so I don't know if this is the case is a new change. The packaging says you cannot return the packaging if you break the plastic seal/foil that keeps the contents in the box. But the labeling is wrong, and you won't know what's inside until you break the seal. I know Revain will take it back but I wasn't happy. In the photos below, the bearing on the left (red seal) is what came in the Gates kit, while the bearing on the right (black seal) was purchased directly from the NSK dealer. If you look at the stock photo associated with this kit you will see that one of them has a black seal (Gates number T42024). It wasn't like that. Not a very good photo but you should be able to see the difference in side view with the polished teeth on the right (NSK) versus the left (Tide).