Rear wheel bearings

[jwilk01]

I am in need of new rear wheel bearings.  I would like to find out what the best is that is out there.

Thanks
Josh

[John_Kunkel]

A source of much debate. The original taper bearings are available just about anywhere under the P/N A7 (or Set 7).

http://www.doctordiff.com/tapered-axle-bearing-package.html


Some will try to convince to change to the Green ball bearings, ignore them. The original taper bearings are superior in every way.

[ws23rt]

I agree with john. The original style tapered roller bearings will carry much greater side loads than ball bearings. If you didn't go around corners then ball bearings would work fine.

Not intending to bring up an old debate but I have a problem with the term "green bearings"  I know where it came from and considering all the chatter lately about going green it just adds another complication for those that need sound mechanical advice.  

[jwilk01]

Thanks that's what I was looking for I put the green bearing in about 10 years ago but it probably only has about 12k miles on it.  It has recently started grinding and I hope that is the problem.

Thanks
Josh

[tan top]

A source of much debate. The original taper bearings are available just about anywhere under the P/N A7 (or Set 7).

http://www.doctordiff.com/tapered-axle-bearing-package.html


Some will try to convince to change to the Green ball bearings, ignore them. The original taper bearings are superior in every way.

   

[1974dodgecharger]

Meh, just opinions I guess...I have green bearings in mine from Dr. Diff....since install probably 5k miles on em.....

I personally don't drift so I chose greens vs the tapers....a lot of guys on here drift with their 2nd gen chargers.....I have manual steering, manual clutch, manual brakes.....

[mally69]

We run the green bearings in all our cars , for example had the same Set in my 69 for ten years haven't had any failures even with the other cars we have.

[ws23rt]

Testimonials of lack of failure only show the "green bearings" to be adequate.

The original manufacturer made a choice for their product and went with a better and more appropriate style bearing.

[c00nhunterjoe]

90% of modern cars use sealed ball bearings up to and including the 4200lb hellcat. I have the new style green bearings in both my 8 3/4 and now dana 60 with plenty of corners through them and no issues.

[LaOtto70Charger]

Are the modern cars deep groove ball bearings or angular contact?

[John_Kunkel]

90% of modern cars use sealed ball bearings up to and including the 4200lb hellcat.

Which were engineered for that application...not designed for retrofit.

[c00nhunterjoe]

Ok, then a better comparison would be fox body mustangs with the 8.8 diff. Same rear and bearings up to.... 2004 i beleive was the change over. And the exact same rear was put in 4x4 rangers which weigh more then our chargers do.

[ws23rt]

I can see how this topic can turn into debate.    Sealed ball bearings have real advantages.--such as plug and play with no adjustment needed. ---And perhaps cost.---

That the "green bearings" are not the "best" for this application has to do with the ID and OD of the space available and the loads the bearing will see. (as john mentioned--retrofit--).

Ball style bearings are not bad by design. If sized right they can handle any load the mind comes up with.

The original post asks a simple question. The answer is also simple.

However-- a proper part of this question should be quality of the bearings. Timken (for example) has a great history for their quality and I know of no reason to not still depend on them as a source.  I have no clue about the quality of the "green bearings" that are a part of this conversation.

About quality?----A few years back I was looking for a gear set. (spiral miter).  I needed 5" dia. to handle 400+ ft. lbs. of torque.
I found an off the shelf set rated for a max of 250 ft. lbs. for around $300.  Looking further I found what I wanted at a cost of over four thousand dollars. ---

[1974dodgecharger]

meh mah mopar considered them excellent for the cars the taper ones, but they also considered manual steering, manual brakes, drum brakes, etc..the BEST also and people say those are better than any modern car.....Even had someone tell me his manual 4 drum brakes is better than any car modern on the road on stopping...discs are going backwards he saids....drums better 

[John_Kunkel]

Ball style bearings are not bad by design. If sized right they can handle any load the mind comes up with.

I vehemently disagree, ball bearings are notoriously poor at handling side loads but they excel at handling radial loads. Side loads are what the car imparts on the axle bearing every time the car changes course from straight ahead.

On a given sized bearing the deeper the grooves in the ball bearing races, the better the bearing is at handling side loads but the ball size has to be reduced to facilitate loading so the radial load capacity suffers.

[ws23rt]

Ball style bearings are not bad by design. If sized right they can handle any load the mind comes up with.

I vehemently disagree, ball bearings are notoriously poor at handling side loads but they excel at handling radial loads. Side loads are what the car imparts on the axle bearing every time the car changes course from straight ahead.

On a given sized bearing the deeper the grooves in the ball bearing races, the better the bearing is at handling side loads but the ball size has to be reduced to facilitate loading so the radial load capacity suffers.

I agree that ball bearings (of the style in question) are poor at handling axial loads. For one they are point contact in the race as opposed to line a contact that the tapered rollers have.
My statement that they are not a bad design was a general view of that type. Their are many places where they work fine and high thrust/axial loads are not one of them.  (for example ball thrust bearings do fine for just axial loads but have virtually no radial capacity.  I did say that if they were sized right they could handle the axial loads (of topic). - A facetious statement.-  Should have added that of course there is not room for that size as retrofit on our rear axles.