SKF and Timken are made in the USA. I personally don't seen the need to spend an extra $80 on SKF bearings but you could. As far as Timken going down hill I don't think that is true other than just about every company has had cut backs due the economy. If you look around online you will see almost all good reviews about Timken. I have had them on 4 cars each still running them for 40k+ miles.

Rockauto has the best prices right now from what I have seen and NAPA sells SKF which Rockauto has.