Best shell bearings (2020)

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Best shell bearings (2020)
 
MIni Cooper bearing shells fit Triumph Twins. They are copper-lead. They are one though of an inch bigger in ID, but have a thou more crush.
 
So Andover still sells Federal Mogul/ Sealed Power bearings? I'd prefer that over King if I knew for sure.
 
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chaztuna said:
Any chance you can supply a close-up photo focusing on that 9- or 10-digit number on the bearing shell? The label on the box is probably what was made in the USA. Same for the " Made in the UK" label on the plastic bag. :)
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No, that's it. That project was complete 4 years ago. Running good if that helps. :cool:
 
elefantrider said:
So Andover still sells Federal Mogul/ Sealed Power bearings?
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I believe they are from US but from the remains of the Clevite factories now owned by Mahle, cast bronze strip made in the Plant at McConnelsville Ohio and finished in Atlantic Iowa.

What is confusing is that for six months after a large number of plants being sold by T&N to Federal Mogul the Glacier/Vandervell/Clevite plants where part of the deal, as long as they were sold on within a short time which they were to Dana. Hence the confusion over who made what. Clevite were the originators of the Cast leaded bronze process and bearing (for the US WW2 war effort in aero engines) and Vandervell licenced the process, Glyco copied the process after the patent expired and became part of Federal Mogul. Sealed power were part of Dana and sold to FM but they made piston rings but as a Trademark used in the aftermarket sold Glyco shells after FM took over, as Wassel uses Hepolite TM to sell shells where Hepolite never made a shell in its original factory.

Its a real mess.
 
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King Bearings are not made in US, their US sales office is in NJ but their bearings are made in Israel.

M stamp may be for Mahle ? Mahle own what remains of Glacier/Vandervell/Clevite

Best shell bearings (2020)
 
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When it came time to fit new bearings I had a set of shells from both Andover Norton and RGM on the shelf.
They looked to be quite different to me.
 
Which ones did you end up using?

I find it hard to believe that a billion dollar company like Federal Mogul/Speed Pro would package bearings in a non-branded blister pack or white box.

Frankly, I don't understand the big secret as to the maker of these bearings, leaving us guessing their source.

It seems I have been spoiled with data when buying car bearings on Summit Racing for all these years.
 
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kommando said:
King Bearings are not made in US, their US sales office is in NJ but their bearings are made in Israel.

M stamp may be for Mahle ? Mahle own what remains of Glacier/Vandervell/Clevite

Best shell bearings (2020)
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That sure looks like their stylized M trademark. :cool:
 
elefantrider said:
Which ones did you end up using?
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I used the RGM shells, they seemed to have a more robust surface and the clearance was more to my liking but not perfect.
It seems stock size shells (in general) are on the wide side clearance wise on journals that measured all but perfect.
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I had noticed from the early 1990's management starting to keep their ar$e against the wall (not want to make decisions for themselves and ask up the chain / accountability)
I noticed perhaps some time later more and more control was in the hands of bean counter / accountant types in large companies / organisations.
It was not unusual for your supervisor to have no real idea (piping supervisor a carpenter type hired for their 'management skills, those 'skills would normally earn you another $50k per job with extended time taken to completion.

Name brand components that were of average quality (ie RTJ ring joint flanges (gas) that would distort or close up at torque up)
Bosch grinders that you could not kill once that then did (including soft commutators etc) Made in China from material just enough to meet a minimum spec ?

It comes as no surprise regarding quality or dubious origins of today and the lost skills within industry in general.
 
Time Warp said:
I used the RGM shells, they seemed to have a more robust surface and the clearance was more to my liking but not perfect.
It seems stock size shells (in general) are on the wide side clearance wise on journals that measured all but perfect.
#
#
#
#
I had noticed from the early 1990's management starting to keep their ar$e against the wall (not want to make decisions for themselves and ask up the chain / accountability)
I noticed perhaps some time later more and more control was in the hands of bean counter / accountant types in large companies / organisations.
It was not unusual for your supervisor to have no real idea (piping supervisor a carpenter type hired for their 'management skills, those 'skills would normally earn you another $50k per job with extended time taken to completion.

Name brand components that were of average quality (ie RTJ ring joint flanges (gas) that would distort or close up at torque up)
Bosch grinders that you could not kill once that then did (including soft commutators etc) Made in China from material just enough to meet a minimum spec ?

It comes as no surprise regarding quality or dubious origins of today and the lost skills within industry in general.
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Well said.
 
Time Warp said:
They looked to be quite different to me.
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Internally the leaded bronze is cast for AN and sintered and rolled for RGM. The RGM will have a fatigue strength lower than AN by 5% as despite the rolling operation there will be cavities left over from the sintering. The only other difference will be the overlay plating, this can be Lead/Indium which is a dull silver or lead/tin which has a shinier finish (there may be others as work was ongoing for new plating types). The Lead/Indium is an excellent anti seize so will assist running in with tight clearances, has better embedibility ie will accept more crud into the surface protecting the journal. However as its soft this lining will be removed quicker than the harder Lead/Tin. Once any of the leaded bronze is exposed the acids in the used oil will attack the lead in the lining leading to premature failure. AN is possibly Lead/Indium, RGM would have no access to Lead/Indium.
 
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