# 4 Bolt Flange Bearing for Salt Spreaders - Education & Comparison of Quality



## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

Ok, I thought I would show pics of some differences in 4 bolt flange bearing assembly qualities, there are a lot of cheap Chinese ones out there on eBay and elsewhere, I have even seen Western dealers sell pieces of crap from China, I will explain the differences as well, and why you are better off with the better quality ones. No one wants to replace these bearings constantly, everyone forgets or neglects to maintain them properly, so give yourself a better chance at a longer lasting bearing by educating yourself on them, and therefore be able to select a better quality bearing for your spreader, that you will be happier with in the long run. These are a pain to replace when they rust and lock up, so the longer lasting bearing you can get the better.

My company is the only one to offer an ALL STAINLESS STEEL 4 bolt flange bearing which is what we use here in Chicago, and that's what we use ourselves and recommend to our customers, they sell for three times the price of a classic rust forming bearing, which is not that much considering how expensive stainless steel is and how much longer it will outlast a steel/cast iron bearing. But if money is an object then you will be able to make some better choices on the standard cast iron/steel bearings after reading this thread.

Cast iron is a very cheap and fragile metal, and the worst metal to use if you don't want rust, in fact the failure in these combos comes from rust that forms on the housing and enters the bearing, eventually locking it up. Painting cast iron does nothing for rust protection. Cast iron is also very fragile. This is why we don't like them period, but if you must use them.... read on. My company did extensive research before developing our own bearing housings, this is the info we obtained.

Various manufacturers of the cast iron housing make the the height of the housing vary in size, the cheapest ones are really short, they are so cheap that they make them shorter (such as the KBZ F202S, the s stands for short) so they can make more housings out of the same amount of material, also this short bearing allows more debris and rust to enter the bearing do to a smaller wall around the bearing and has less protection in case something hits the bearing. Now keep in mind that cast iron is so cheap already, that the savings are minimal, it just goes to show you how cheap these companies are and that they don't care at all about quality. Cast iron is very fragile, and breaks (cracks) easily with little force so the less material the easier it is to break. Those of you that have snapped one in half during removal already know this. This pics below show some examples of short cast iron bearing housing with typical steel bearing insert. Also pay attention to the rough exterior surface of the housing, the rougher the surface the poorer quality casting it is.


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## Jeep_thing (Mar 3, 2014)

You are using a standard bearing right, who cares what the housing is made of, there is virtually no force on the housing?


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## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

Here is a pic of a USA made Dodge brand and the KBZ F202S, both poor quality, also notice on the back how these have very little detail on the back. Later I will show you what the back of a better quality one looks like. Also notice how the mating surface does not have paint on it like the rest of the housing, even though paint does little to protect cast iron from rust, why paint the rest and not there, the rust will start from there and quickly and spread. Also notice the jagged edges and machining lines on the mating surface, all signs of poor work.

FYI Cast iron rusts instantly on a humid day in a machine shop, they have to be oiled to keep from rusting before they make it to the customer, or immediately coated, which is why I think most of these are painted, to keep them from rusting short term, otherwise there would be rust on them when the customer opens the box.


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## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

My point is people should care what the housing is made of, with cast iron the housing quickly rusts, even more so under wet and salty conditions, rust particles form and make their way into the bearing, eventually ball bearings inside fail do to the rusty grit or the bearing just seizes up from the rust. I'm not concerned about any force on the housing, it's the rust that makes them fail.


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## kimber750 (Sep 19, 2011)

Since you are a sponsor why tell us a little about your business, what you make/sell and prices. Instead of just saying these are great and these suck. I don't even see any contact info.


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## Jeep_thing (Mar 3, 2014)

Again, it's the same bearing right in a different housing. My engine block is cast iron and is subjected to 400 lbs of torque and will last forever. 

In your other post you broke a housing in half due to improper removal from the shaft. I believe you have found a solution to a non problem.


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## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

Now onto the bearing inserts themselves, here is an example of a poorly installed, and off axis bearing insert which also creates a gap for additional salt to slip into where the grease is supposed to go. It misaligns the grease grooves for proper grease travel while re-greasing as well. May make it a bit harder to install straight on, but usually the bolt tightening will somewhat fix its alignment, or you can put it in a vice and use a bar to try and correct the seating of the bearing. This housing id is also a bit too large on one side as I can see the bearing slipping through on the wrong side. They are installed through the bottom, and no edge should poke through on the top. This particular one does.


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## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

kimber750 said:


> Since you are a sponsor why tell us a little about your business, what you make/sell and prices. Instead of just saying these are great and these suck. I don't even see any contact info.


My company Arico Enterprises Inc. has been in business since 2001, and some of the snow removal related products we manufacture are our stainless salt spreader bearings as well as the dual battery box/tray kits for the 2011-16 gasoline engine super duties, here are the links to those threads on this site. In addition to manufacturing we are also our own customer as we use all these products ourselves in our snow removal operations. You can either click on my banners, the button ad, or pm me for any additional contact info.

http://www.plowsite.com/threads/201...-battery-box-tray-kits-for-gas-trucks.168396/

http://www.plowsite.com/threads/sta...on-steel-factory-bearing.168398/#post-2172298

We also manufacture stainless steel hinge pins for the swing away western tailgate salt spreader, these are great as they prevent the rust transfer from the factory steel hinge pins to the mounting brackets, I'm posting these various items as time permits, I will post some pics of these soon.


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## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

Jeep_thing said:


> Again, it's the same bearing right in a different housing. My engine block is cast iron and is subjected to 400 lbs of torque and will last forever.
> 
> In your other post you broke a housing in half due to improper removal from the shaft. I believe you have found a solution to a non problem.


NO, the bearings used in the housings are DIFFERENT, even the steel ones, there are many manufacturers of the steel bearing inserts, WE are the only ones to use *STAINLESS* bearing inserts in our stainless bearings, they are costly, and NO one else uses them for this purpose. I will show some bearing insert differences shortly.

The cast iron bearing housing broke because it is weak and the bearing was rusted to the shaft, which is typical of these cast iron/steel bearings.


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## Jeep_thing (Mar 3, 2014)

2011F250Lariat said:


> Now onto the bearing inserts themselves, here is an example of a poorly installed, and off axis bearing insert which also creates a gap for additional salt to slip into where the grease is supposed to go. It misaligns the grease grooves for proper grease travel while re-greasing as well. May make it a bit harder to install straight on, but usually the bolt tightening will somewhat fix its alignment, or you can put it in a vice and use a bar to try and correct the seating of the bearing. This housing id is also a bit too large on one side as I can see the bearing slipping through on the wrong side. They are installed through the bottom, and no edge should poke through on the top. This particular one does.
> 
> View attachment 168536


That bearing is NOT 'misaligned.' Flange bearings use a self aligning bearing to prevent binding. The outer bearing race is not straight but curved so that the bearing intentionally angles in the housing as needed to align with the shaft. I am surprised that as a vendor you did not know this.


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## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

Jeep_thing said:


> That bearing is NOT 'misaligned.' Flange bearings use a self aligning bearing to prevent binding. The outer bearing race is not straight but curved so that the bearing intentionally angles in the housing as needed to align with the shaft. I am surprised that as a vendor you did not know this.


Wrong, the beveled bearing is misaligned, creating an additional gap and the grease groove inside is now off, I will post some pics shortly on how the grease groove has to be exactly in the same position as the housing grease groove for proper greasing, when they are inserted correctly they are perpendicular to the housing, as is the salt spreader shaft, it's not a huge deal cause they usually tend to seat properly once installed on the spreader, assuming nothing is bent on the mating surface, but it does matter, and can cause other problems, such as premature wear on the bearing do to the grease grooves not aligning, and making it harder to install, and also making the grease not lubricate the bearing properly, as it can't travel through the groove as it needs to. We have done extensive research on this and performed various tests. Care needs to be taken to properly install/seat the bearing in the housing, and to align the grease grooves, especially since it has a beveled o.d. and the grease groove has to match the housing grease groove, or the grease just comes out of the outside of the bearing instead of actually going into it, making the re-greasing process useless.


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## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

Here is a pic of some bearings with and without grease grooves and holes, if they are to be re greased they need to have the groove and holes, for the grease to travel through. The groove allows the grease to go all around the bearing in a chamber and enters into the bearing via one or multiple holes in the groove, and makes it's way into the ball bearing area. Various cheap bearing assemblies that we took the bearing out of lack either the groove on the cast iron housing, lack the groove on the bearing insert, or both, or don't have the groove but have a few holes which have to be aligned perfectly with the grease fitting hole on the housing, or use a grooved housing, or simply are installed off axis where the holes/grooves don't meet, and therefore the bearing cannot be properly re-greased. It's bad enough they are extremely small as it is for a thick grease to be forced through, and even though there is a grease fitting and they make you think you are re-greasing your bearing, when in fact you are not. When the grooves don't align or are absent any grease sent through the grease fitting comes out of the outside edge of the bearing, and comes out of the empty space on the underside of the bearing housing that is cut out for bearing insert installation. These bearings are NOT pressed in but rather inserted on an angle at the two cutout areas and flipped into the beveled housing edge, the beveling is there for this process to be permitted, and so are the two cutout areas on the housing, as the outer top edge of the housing is smaller then the o.d. of the bearing, allowing installation only from the underside of the housing. The beveled o.d. on the bearing is designed for allowing a one way installation only. And the tolerance is very small, some manufacturers allow for such a wide tolerance that the bearings don't fit as well as they should in the housings. The tolerance is critical for proper tightness and looseness, installation, and heat and cold contraction and expansion of the various metals that the bearing and housings are made of. The first two pictures show a greasable bearing with the groove and holes inside the groove. The next two are NON greasable bearings, yes these are being used in some poor quality Chinese cast iron housings with grease fittings. There is no way you will re-grease this bearing, period, and you don't know which you have unless you separate the bearing insert form the housing. Lots of these are sold online with improper designs or mismatched housings and bearing inserts. You can't just throw any bearing insert into any bearing housing as it will not work as intended. The bearings have different specs and performance and temperature ratings as well.


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## Jeep_thing (Mar 3, 2014)

The bearing is aligned in the housing by the shaft. Period. 

I did not know that some bearings had a grease groove and others didn't, good to know. 

If I was marketing your beating I would focus on this important feature and this only- that our bearing is greasable, instead of all this other nonsense. Just my opinion, and coming from someone that is married to a marketing major.


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## 2011F250Lariat (Oct 28, 2010)

With the winter season winding down a lot of you guys are going to be doing equipment cleaning and maintenance, now is a good time to replace your bearings as well. please let us know if you need any bearings weather you want the regular cast iron/steel ones or our stainless, thanks.


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