ceramic or normal ?

[rockers]

hi guys the bearings on my car need replacing as there on there last legs alot have locked up, now ceramic bearings, is there any advantage having them ? they run dry ? what will a little water do to them ? there alot more price wise is it worth it or should i just get normal ones and clean em all the time ?

rocky

[creamsodauk]

ive been told by a good mate of mine that deals with bearings that ceramics are a gimmick, created purely to stop conduction of electricity through machinery or somthing like that, cant remember his exact words but rubber sealed bearings would get my vote

[midi-mania]

ive been told by a good mate of mine that deals with bearings that ceramics are a gimmick, created purely to stop conduction of electricity through machinery or somthing like that, cant remember his exact words but rubber sealed bearings would get my vote

so when your car melts the metal cased bearings in your clutch drum, buy some rubber ones? i dont use ceramic (not to my knowlege anyway) but if my clutch bearings ever go again, thats were im heading!

[Garry]

I've never felt any benefit from ceramic bearings. That doesn't mean that there isn't a benefit, just that I've never felt one.

If they are close to the same price a regular bearings, try them out, but they usually cost a lot more.

[Ziggy122]

Ceramic Bearings take heat just a little bit better

As ceramic isn't a conductor of heat

So they'd probably work better in high heat applications like in the Clutchbell - but thats probably about it

I used metal ones - and they lasted ages as it is so i wouldnt worry about them

However u considered Speedseal or Avid's bearings?

They have a Rubber seal 1 side a teflon/metal other

So u have outside protection from dirt via rubber

But slightly improved/less resistance on the other

Ziggy

[Tamiyacowboy]

ceramic bearings cost more than your usual metal variants.

yes they are better, being a skater i always fitted bones ceramic bearings too my boards, there was lotta difference, less heat meant less friction and a longer roll time, but they are not as strong and do wear out quicker.

renew your old bearings: will give around two weeks/month of running untill you replace.

you will need:

wd40

glass jar with lid

light grease/oil.

in an open area, spray wd40 into the jar, a liquid de-greaser will form and small bubbles/foam will appear. once jar is around 1/3rd full, place your bearings into it. you need too bathe your bearings for around 30/40 mins, place lid and give them a good swirl around, then stand, and every 15-20 mins give them a good vigorus swril around.

fish out your bearings and place onto a lint free cloth, give them a real good drying, leave them on cloth too leech out the rest of the de-greaser. Take a single brearing and hold centre, spin up and check for its freeness, it should spin up and for longer than before it was de-greased, if it wont or feels gritty back into the de-grease bath it goes.

dry bearings dont run too well and heat + friction causes more damage, you can run bearings fresh from a bath but i like too give them a thin coat of oil. to do this, place your bearings on clean part of cloth, and place a very small drip onto face surface. you will notice the oil is sucked into the bearing, using ringer work centre of bearing around, this will help oil into the case. pick up and give a good wipe clean. hold centre of brearings and spin up, if any oil comes out while spinning you have too much in and need too leave bearing laying down too leech oil onto the cloth.

re-fit bearings and enjoy another couple of weeks, rubber sealed bearins can disolve in the 4d40 so please test before submerging.

[Mr Terminator]

The only application were ceramic are better over metal,rubber and Teflon shielded ones is the clutchbell and even then it's only a minimal difference.Ceramic are a lot more prone to failure throughdirt ingress but do have a higher tolerence to heat and have a higher RPM rate than a lot of other bearings standards.Get some quality rubber or Teflon shielded and they'll be fine,the higher the RPM rating the better,I usually get 60,000-80,000rpm rated Teflon shielded...

[adamwatkins]

i spent my youth skateboarding and from experience 99.99% of us used rubber shielded metal bearings. Ceramics were available but no one really used them. Bear in mind skateboading involved alot of dust and grime, sometimes water, and takes an awful lot of pounding.

[midi-mania]

less heat meant less friction

wrong way round

[DataMatrix]

wrong way round

It works both ways

[Mr Terminator]

It works both ways

It sure does,heat causes expansion,therefore causing extra friction.That heat can only come from friction in the first place though so technically midis right...

[appy]

top tip for regreasing bearings is to heat the grease up in a pan ( no naked flames ) then when its nice and runny drop the bearings in. as the grease is nice in runny it gets into every nook and cranny

works well on my bike so im sure it will work for other bearings.

obviously dont over heat anything as it may distort

Edited July 10, 2008 by appy

[joe of loath]

I soaked mine in nitro fuel and burnt the fuel off

[Garry]

RC bearings should never be greased, it causes too much drag and is affected by temperature changes.

Sewing machine oil is perfect for lubing bearings.

[joe of loath]

I found that the bearings outside my diff case became greased of their own accord, so when I put them in the car moved really smoothly, then after a race they were sticky and slow. how do I keep grease out but oil in?

[Garry]

Don't use so much grease in the diff cases. A small splodge in a couple of points round the diff gear will find its own way around the gears.

Maybe try some spray lube instead? I tried it in a Tamiya Mini gearbox and it was fine, but needed replacing every couple of meetings: http://www.halfords.com/webapp/wcs/stores/...ategoryrn_31345

[joe of loath]

hmm ok, I'll try that, thanks.