6203 wheel bearings

seattle##gs

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many available from very cheap to 5 times the price. Any to avoid or they all the same?
 
" We " once had a chief engineer who tried cost cutting when buying new bearings ( big industrial stuff so expensive. )

It didn't work out ! ...... Premature failure became the new order of the day.

Bearings that would typically be renewed every five years during preventive overhaul were being changed after a year to eighteen months and this on a major breakdown basis !

" We " used to do monthly vibration analysis on our equipment and were picking up worrying trends with the " new " bearings from as little as eight months service.

Naturally the " engineer " got sacked and saved us a LOT of unwanted work, we were busy enough anyway.

Ok so not motorcycle / automotive but the principle is the same, it can sometimes be better to buy a reputable bearing as long as the wallet will allow it.
 
Grandad said:
" We " once had a chief engineer who tried cost cutting when buying new bearings ( big industrial stuff so expensive. )

It didn't work out ! ...... Premature failure became the new order of the day.

Bearings that would typically be renewed every five years during preventive overhaul were being changed after a year to eighteen months and this on a major breakdown basis !

" We " used to do monthly vibration analysis on our equipment and were picking up worrying trends with the " new " bearings from as little as eight months service.

Naturally the " engineer " got sacked and saved us a LOT of unwanted work, we were busy enough anyway.

Ok so not motorcycle / automotive but the principle is the same, it can sometimes be better to buy a reputable bearing as long as the wallet will allow it.
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Did this same chief work for Norton when they selected the P.P.O.S. layshaft bearing? (don't make me spell it out, eh!)
 
No he was ex Royal Navy !!!

I worked alongside him many years prior to the bearings incident when I was an apprentice ... he showed his true colours way back then too !

He asked me to remove a 3/4 BSP plug from the base of a compressed air pressure vessel ( circa 6' diameter and 15' tall @ 8 Bar pressure ) and when I told him it was still pressurised he wouldn't have any of it, he insisted so I said to DIY and he did ..... Lol !!!!!!!!!!!!!

He didn't LOL by any description but screamed in pain, the plug flew out as he unscrewed it and slammed his hand against a steel pillar.
The air was dirty - rusty vessel and laided with oil and water and this blew into his hand and forearm like a shotgun going off.

The BSP plug being square headed left a huge dent in his hand which remained for months and also broke a couple of hand bones too.

Can I say " T*SSER " ??? .... well he certainly was ! ...................... I laughed out loud for sure as I drove him to hospital.


No he never worked for Norton, thank God !
 
dobba99 said:
avoid the cheap ones, stick to well known makes, SKF, FAG, SNR, KOYO, Timken, RHP, etc
Click to expand...
In general, I agree, however name no longer means very much. Timken (Ohio, USA company) sells 6203-2RS for approximately 5 times what PGN (Florida, USA company) sells 6203-2RS for. Neither is marked where manufactured. Timken has offices and manufacturing in many countries. I'm pretty sure that PGN does not make bearings in Florida! I also would not be shocked if the Japanese companies outsource to other countries these days.
 
If it is not a high speed application, given the sketchy nature of most things now a days (sonny), I drop the 6 and go for a max fill bearing. 6203 becomes 203. They are more expensive, are rated for higher load, but not high rpm. It is easy to look up the bearing specs. It is probably overkill but a shredded wheel bearing makes you a pedestrian.
 
2023/02/02
Timken Co. ... reached an agreement to buy the assets of privately-held, family-owned American Roller Bearing Co., which makes industrial bearings and is based in Hickory, North Carolina...
Timken's statement said ARB has about 190 employees and manufacturing plants in Hiddenite and Morganton, North Carolina. Three generations of the Succop family have owned American Roller Bearing since the company's founding in 1911 by C.F. Succop and investors..."
www.cantonrep.com

Timken Co. buys assets of two companies

Timken has bought a North Carolina-based industrial bearing company and the Nadella company in Europe that it owned from 2003 to 2005.
www.cantonrep.com
 
Bought this on Evilbay (ONLY place I could find it) and it failed in ONE HOURon a Woods belley mower, taking a brand new $100 V-belt with it. Eff the low quality junk with a rusty hammer.
6203 wheel bearings
 
Would someone who understands bearings be kind enough to comment on the difference between the two bearings shown.
Both sold as Commando wheel bearings. I've had a look on the FAG data sheets but that only confuses the uninitiated.
 

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2hrs is for 2 seals, what the h means when added to 2rs is not documented anywhere I have looked but could be a change of seal material, 1rs means one seal so only one side is sealed. If you fit two 1rs then fit the seals facing outwards each side after packing with grease.
 
You cannot go wrong with bearings rated for submarine service. Insert here big smiley face.
 
I think the average fellow is going to be hard pressed to know if his name brand bearing is indeed name brand or a pirate piece. Or even something the name brand outsourced.
Most of us would pay the high price IF they knew it was the real thing.
 
Thanks for the feedback.
Something which wasn't clear in the photos sorry, the box with 1RS on it must just be quoting the factory part reference. The bearing that was in that one is marked 6203-2RSR, so is also double sealed.
 
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