Every one I've ever seen has had the same skf bearings, GM or pattern. Really no reason not to just fit a pattern kit.
Hello Kevin,
This was also my experience for almost the last two decades. However, a month or so ago, I fitted a cambelt kit for a chap locally to me on his 3.2 (using a kit he sourced).
I will post pictures when I can but the bearings were definitely not SKF. They had blue bearing seals instead of the classic orangey/brown SKF ones, and even more alarmingly, did not have the directional arrows on the pulleys that we are used to putting in certain positions.
The fastener holding the upper idler was an Alan Key female hex bolt, not the E12 male torx we are used to seeing.
The fastener holding the tensioner to the backplate was a bolt, not the usual threaded bar with a nut.
The tensioner itself also did not have the usual groove for alignment.
Using the setting kit (and years worth of GM V6 experience) I was able to get it installed without any problem - but the cambelt DVD or Haynes guide would have been useless for this kit.
It was very clear that this is a recent attempt at making copy cambelt kit parts that are not SKF. maybe due to lack of availability?
The usual stamp (EB/6B etc etc) was also not on the new backplate.
In fairness it felt good quality. I think it was branded QH. But of note, there was no lower idler in the kit. We got this separately from eBay for £30 ish. That one was SKF, but there’s no guarantee of it’s age, how long it’s been stored etc
Edited due to fat fingers on iPhone