Ceramic wheel bearings. Anyone tried these?

[orange4boy]

They were suggested to me on a Previa / Estima site in the UK. I'm researching them to see if they can be had for street vehicles.

Apparently they were used by NASA in the space shuttle's engines. Now they are used in F1. Can be run dry. Sounds interesting.

Euro Auto - Ceramics Build Better Bearings - 07/08

[SVOboy]

Sweet bike wheels have them,

[almightybmw]

have some computer fans with ceramic bearings. Said to last 100,000 hrs instead of 10,000. And that's just a basic sleeve type. I'd love to afford roller bearings in major spots of the car, ie wheel bearings, transmission bearings. The friction loses would be reduced, applying ??% more engine power to the wheels, allowing for a smaller, less powerful motor.

Cost. Profit. That's what stops manufactures from using high tech components. I'm guessing this is what makes WRC cars $250-500K. Not something for us po' boys.

[orange4boy]

I'm going to make some phone calls tomorrow to find some pricing. they sound promising:

"Been lurking for some time, first post. We use ceramics extensively in Superbike applications. Both engine and chassis. I can positively document gains in top speeds with ceramic bearins in the wheels vs. steel. When we used to race at Brainerd we saw an increase of 4 mph on the front straight, thats huge. Elkhart and Daytona showed similar gains. Google TKO bearings. They will put ceramic balls in your existing bearings with the appropriate clearances. In our application, well worth the money. "

"On a chassis dyno we can see a rear wheel increase on a 600 cc bike from about 128hp to 131. Once again, documentable."

Unfortunately no link to any hard science at that forum.

They also sound $$$$$$

[Will]

Ooooo... I would love a set, if they are available.

[BrianAbington]

Originally Posted by almightybmw

I'm guessing this is what makes WRC cars $250-500K.

No I think that the engine that puts out 500+ lbft of tourque from 800rpm to redline affects the cost abit more than ceramic wheel bearings.

[aerohead]

Okay you guys,help me out here! If the ceramic bearing can be run dry,are they? If the ceramic has only 60% of the "friction" of a hardened steel bearing,is that a dry steel bearing(which I've never heard of),or a "greased" wet roller,or ball bearing? If we're comparing to a wet bearing,then hydrodynamic forces enter into the equation and the article says nothing about it.If the ceramic bearings are run "wet",then they would also be subjected to hydrodynamic forces,and again,the article makes no mention of the distinction.

[Hasbro]

VW 1 litre car:

"The wheel hubs are made of titanium, and the balls in the lightweight-construction wheelbearings are ceramic."

[orange4boy]

I think they are run dry in certain applications but I don't know if that includes automotive. I read somewhere that they use a lower viscosity lubricant.

I just started looking into this yesterday so I'm pretty ignorant on the specifics. I know they are in heavy use in racing so you know there is some gain to be had.

[cfg83]

orange4boy -

I was also thinking they were pricey. They sounds like custom one-offs for F1 racing. Are they in any "normal" commercial cars, like luxury cars or something?

CarloSW2