Some of Tracy's gear boxes have been flying for over 10 years with a
totally sealed ball bearing. Sealed rear axle bearings in Chevy's go
on  for years....

Paul Lamar

You make a good point there when noting the dependability of sealed-axle
bearings...

But one might argue that the application is not really the same.
Axle-bearings average rotations speed is low (~ 500 rpm) and side-thrust
is typically low.  Front wheel bearings that typically experience
larger/more-frequent thrust are cup/cone, not ball bearings.  Every time
I tear apart the front end of one of my vintage 4x4 pickup trucks
(especially those built before the days of CV axle-joints) I am amazed
that they last at all. The axle-shafts flop around. The seals quickly
get beat-up and barely mange to keep the rocks out.  The only thing that
seemingly allows them to function at all is the fact that they turn so
slowly.
And when I lose an axle-bearing on my truck I have more than 2 minutes
to find a nice open spot for an off-field landing.

R.Berglund


They get a fair amount of side load when cornering. As far as I know for the last 15 years none of Tracy's gear box's has ever lost a sealed ball bearing.

Paul Lamar
-
The Rotary Engine News Letter. Powered by Linux.
ACRE NL web site. http://www.rotaryeng.net
You Tube key word PaulLamar2
Copyright 1998-2012 All world wide rights reserved.