2012+ Unit Bearing question

So my wife comes home a few days ago and says that her Jeep is driving funny. Ya I know real specific. Long story short she has play in the Unit bearing and possibly a bad u-joint.

So I have been doing some reading on Unit bearings and the differences from 07-11 and 12+. To be honest the only certain fact that I have continuously read is that the 07-11 has a shorter ABS harness by about 5". With that I have cross referenced between 2012 and 2011 wranglers for parts comparisons. For both years MOPAR has the same part number listed for the ABS Harness. Would it be reasonable to say that I could use a 07-11 Unit Bearing on my 2012 and just re-use the ABS Harness?


Reason for this hassle is I can not find Timken unit bearings for 2012+ that are below $160 to save my life. I remember lookin at the exact same bearing on Rockauto for $105 not even 3 weeks ago. Now I cant even find them on FleaBay.

2012+ Timken Part # HA590482
2011- Timken Part # HA590242

I called Timken and I'm still waiting on a call back. The customer service rep was nice but not much help unfortunately.

Does anyone have experience in this realm. I have always had good luck with their products and I don't like change. If this doesn't pan out should I go with moog or oem?

Yes, the speed sensor wire can be used on either unit bearing. That being said, the 2012-up speed sensor is longer ONLY because they originally came mounted to the axle. If you are lifted, you've probably already removed the sensor from the axle and have re-routed it the way you would have on an 07-11 JK. In other words, you will be fine using an older unit bearing.

Thank you. The Timken Rep contacted me back and told me the same. She said their in the process of adding the longer harness to "Timken Part # HA590242". She also stated that it will be keeping the same part number, so hopefully in a year or so we can expect this to no longer be a issue. Again thanks for the help.