Road Wheels with Plain Bearings

[RichardT10829]

You can run 50mm ID bearings, you just need to make a shim (if budget is tight) it's about 4.50 for a 50mm bearing as supposed to 30 - 60 quid for the 40mm one

[kevin powles]

Hi, you can pick up the correct 40mm 6408 bearings for £12 on ebay. Cheapest option than making the spacer.

Kevin.

[RichardT10829]

What quality are the bearings like Kev ?

[kevin powles]

Rich, I bought enough for two carriers, they look ok, I will put a branded SKF on the inner front idler.

Kevin.

[Lynn Eades]

Richard, they'd have to be pretty bad, not to last longer than your supply of track.
Al. No personal experience with them. I understand they were used extensively in various types of carrier. (my carrier had RHP strippable semi thrust ball bearings in it)
I think all the manuals have referred to plain bearings, much care required in burnishing them, and in service they were to be replaced by ball bearings.
I think some of the Australian carriers used them, and that some British carriers went to North Africa with them fitted.

[motto (RIP)]

When WW2 broke out, Australia had no ball bearing production capability at all. In 1942 money was allocated to set up a single row ball bearing manufacturing facility as part of the Ordnance factory Echuca dedicated to the production of bearings for defence purposes particularly in vehicle applications.
In 1945 funds were requested for the purchase of tapered roller bearing production machinery from the US.
It's quite likely that some of the Australian carriers were fitted with locally made bearings
I have very little knowledge of what happened to the plant post war but suspect it was sold off and continued to operated for some time as a private company. i remember coming across bearings made in Echuca in packaging carrying the name of UBCO.
The manufacture of bearings in Echuca would have ceased many years ago as with so much other manufacturing capacity in Australia.

David

[ajmac]

I found two different brands of ball race, one with a steel cage and one with a Brass cage both I would presume are wartime. Although I consider the plain bearings historically significant they are all too badly worn to use in anger. Well they could be used but the wheel would rock a little so I will replace all with ball races. I have cleaned up one plain bearing to keep out of interest and the rest will go for scrap during the week. Does anyone have any spare spacers and seal assemblies? I am hoping the Loyd range wrecks will yield some small spare items for the bogie builds.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

I can see the plain bearings working well in slow-speed load carring applications.
These days Carrier restorers sometimes have to compete for wheels with people restoring static machinery etc.
Maybe they would be glad to fit those plain bearings Carrier guys are tossing out?

H.