What are the good quality bearings for a TT?

[myredracer]

Timken or SKF are as good as they get? A frame shop told me few years the name of a good one made in Japan but can't remember the name.

This is the first time for me to be ordering bearings and seals for our TT. Do I just need the part number off our axles and go onto the bearing and/or the Alko's website? Do they come as a kit with nut, cotter pin etc?

A bit unclear on the info. on our axle sticker. Says axles are 4400 lbs and are T52D-H9. Alko's website says T52 axles are rated 5K lbs?

[brulaz]

Perhaps the light grease is new grease the dealer put in via the EZ-Lube last year? And they didn't completely push out the old black grease. EDIT: like ninerbikes says.:)

Don't think that small stain on the brake lining will be much of a problem. Does it feel greasy? When one of mine got greased on the old trailer, linings (and everything else) were covered and messy. I replaced the whole brake assembly with auto-adjust brakes.

The drum surface does get scraped by the magnets. My current drums had a slight grease leak that reached this area but not the linings. So I'm just cleaning that surface and the magnet and replacing the seal.

[NinerBikes]

My Alco axles had black grease in the bearings from the factory. They too, were under filled. My guess is that the shop refilled the bearing through the zerk fittings with the yellow grease.

These are items, I guess, you need to perform yourself, if you want it done right, or at least provide the material and supervise the work actually being done.

[landyacht318]

Not all greases are compatible with each other. I pumped some Redline CV-2 into my new ball joints and tierod ends. It degelled the grease which came in the susepnsion components and I wound up wasting a tube of grease over a week purging the old grease until it no longer dripped.

[myredracer]

Further to the above... 😄 Nothing ever seems to be as simple as it should be:

Pulled a drum off today (not on the one that was running too warm) and found two types of grease in there. One a light-ish and clear-ish yellow color and the other a higher viscosity black type that is oozing out of the holes in the axle where grease gets pumped out when using the EZ-lube feature.

Last Nov. the dealer was supposed to have completely overhauled the brakes (including new shoes) and the bearings due to failed seals that allowed grease onto the brakes. Someone pumped too much grease in and it had to have been the dealer during PDI which would explain why the seals failed. Dealer initially wanted to charge us $1,000 to fix it but after I called Alko, it was supposed to have been done under warranty. They obviously did not clean and repack the bearings. As well, the castellated nut was on too tight which probably explains why the one on the other side is running hotter than all other three.

Then I found some dark stains on the brake lining material on both shoes. I'm guessing this is from the black grease that previously got pumped in? Anyone able to confirm the stain is likely grease?

The drum surface where the magnet rides against seems scored more than it should be to me, but maybe it's normal.

Pretty certain I'll find more of the same in the other wheels.

It's looking like the dealer did nothing to fix the contaminated brakes other than maybe use a little brake cleaner and install new seals. Seal is Dexter while axles are Alko.

I need to phone Alko tomorrow to get correct part numbers for the bearings. Not sure if the markings on the bearings are good enough for the local bearing supplier. Don't seem right. Will ask Alko if they can shed any light on the above. Not sure why we should have to pay for a single thing to fix this.

[CJW8]

RJsfishin wrote:

Second, there are no junk bearings sold in the united states, and probably goes for any other country in the world too. Don't blame your inexperience in replaceing bearing races, or adjusting bearings, onto cheap junk bearings !!

I respectfully beg to differ. There are a growing number of counterfeit bearings being sold in the USA and abroad to unsuspecting customers. Most times, even the dealer doesn't know they are counterfeit. I don't know how these counterfeit bearings make their way into the distribution network but the counterfeiters have it down to an art even to the packaging.

After 3 failed bearings in a month on a large crude oil pump (2300 bbl/hr) and everyone blaming the installation, a root cause failure analysis determined the bearings were counterfeit. These were branded as SKF but a metallurgist determined the balls and races were from China. There ARE junk bearings out there.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

"And we saw a bunch of Apaches back there"
"Excuse me sir, but if you saw 'em, they ain't Apaches"

65 minimum downhill off the mesas. 🙂

"You can't do thaaaaaaat!" everyone screamed as I cleaned the green urea grease out of alternator bearings and replaced it with LE Almagard 3750 grease (No 0).

Five years later when brushes wore out the LAPD alternators (Mostly Crown Vic 3-G alternators) had tight front bearings. Frequently spun to 15,000 RPM during code calls.

Like with most other things mechanical or chemical, there is theory then there is reality. In fact, Shell Oil Darina AX hectorite clay base grease is pretty good stuff. For regular grease.

But I am lazy. I believe in maintaining excellent seals, lubing once then forgetting about it. PLUG N PLAY FOLKS!

Someone made a comment about "NTN Worldwide" The largest NTN plants by far are in Canada. Then Britain, Germany, South Africa, Israel, India, Indonesia, and Korea. But the Poles know their stuff when it comes to bearings.

[CKNSLS]

buc1980 wrote:
I agree China bearing are junk don't buy them .In fact 99% of Chinese products are pure junk.I hope the government will stop import them.That what we need MADE IN USA.

This post seems to be pure junk......

[brulaz]

For the Canadiens in the crowd, this CanTire semi-synthetic seems to meet all Dexter's specs and is easier to find and a bit cheaper than Mobil 1 red in my area:

Semi-synth

NLGI Service Classification category GC-LB
NLGI No. 2 grease
Dropping point is 500 degree F or 260 degree C
Application temperatures between -25°C and 163°C
Multi-purpose lithium complex grease

[RAS43]

Ozlander wrote:
Mystic JT-6 Hi Temp Grease #2 is what they sell at Walmart.
Been using it for years.

Haven't seen it lately at WM, only their brand and one other??? Sure do like the Mystic too.

[buc1980]

I agree China bearing are junk don't buy them .In fact 99% of Chinese products are pure junk.I hope the government will stop import them.That what we need MADE IN USA.

[RAS43]

But they didn't travel 65+ mph :@

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Covered wagon wheels were lubed successfully with tallow.

[myredracer]

jodeb720 wrote:
Having just been through an ordeal with AlKo axles, bearings and drums, I can tell you that the maintenance is more important that the source. My 4400# axle bearings have been greased annually by me since I purchased my cougar. I greased them before the first time I took it out on the road (once I got it home) and they were under packed from the factory!

In checking into part numbers, it seems that the 4400 lb axles are a bit of an oddball and harder to figure out the correct numbers. While the axles are labelled as 4400 lbs, they have 12" drums which should indicate 5,000 lb axles. But do they have larger dia. spindles?

Went to a local bearing supplier that has bearings for just about anything mechanical. The guy said the have Timken and they're US made and that he probably has them on their shelf. However, to get the right ones, they can't use the Alko designation and need a bearing number. Looks like the only way to be 100% right on these axles is to get the number right off the existing bearings. Good thing it's warm and sunny out.

[CKNSLS]

I use the cheap blue grease in cartridges that meet all the temp specs from Walmart.

I have towed my TT all over the country with zero issues.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Take a tapered roller bearing to four hundred plus degrees and you ain't going nowhere. Where do these HG Wells grade theories come from? The thermal expansion rates between 53300 bearing race steel and cast iron are stupidly different. Even at 400F.

Of course it may be perhaps I ruined a cupcake tin and partially filled each reservoir with "actual grease samples" then stuck them in an oven. What the labels on the grease cartridges claimed and what reality revealed was a shock. PS Mystik JP whateverthehell was the worst. It started smoking at around 430F.

I keep complaining about this but when Reagan de-fanged the Federal Trade Commission you is equal to arthritic three legged antelope on the Sarangeti.