what are the best engine bearings? i heard clevite 77, are there any others that you can recommend?
thanks
Steven

Hands down on this one, the bearings that give the longest service are OEM. Ask yourself how many times you've heard people say " I put a gazillion miles on that thing and never had to do anything!".

I imagine Clevite makes all the OEM bearings no matter what the backside reads ...but that's an assumption on my part. I run Clevite or OEM, no impostors allowed in a machine that gets my name on it.

Bearing failures that are caused by the bearing itself are exceptionally rare.

I put King Alecular™ Bearings in my engine! Got them from Powerhouse.

GOOD bearings by me!

http://www.king-bearings.com/indexl.html

pdq67

My machinist wanted Michigan, so that's what I brought him.

I used "Clevite" for my rod bearings, because they are so highly recommended. But I went with "Federal Mogul" 3/4 groove main bearings, and I wouldn't use anything else there.

is federal mogul the same as speed pro? the same manufacturer?

I'm surprised to see so many answers without anyone asking "for what?" ;)

There are different materials that bearings are made of and each material has its own application. For example, stock bearings last a long time because they are hard, but hard bearings are not good for race engines. Then there are narrow bearings for cranks with large fillet radii on the journals. There are bearings with different eccentricity for different applications as well . . .

For my engine I use the Clevite H series and have had very good service from them.

77wolf, buy yourself a new GM crate engine, pull the pan and take a main and rod bearing out. There's no comparison between those and Clevite or King. They're not really even smooth, machine marks are visible where they're cut/worked. I don't know who makes GM's, but they're nowhere the quality of aftermarket, IMHO. Just because some OEM stuff lasts thousands of miles doesn't make it better - most of those engines rarely if ever see the high side of about 3500rpm's.

Gary, not doubting you on having encountered a groovy new bearing but...that only means the assembler had no standards:). I've pulled some damn good looking bearings out of car engines that had over 100K miles, so maybe the QC in Detroit ain't there anymore or maybe it means something else Idunno. And I have an 8 year old ZZ4 that has never seen kind treatment, I have no intention of pulling bearings out of it for awhile yet. Don't need it.

You and I will throw a new bearing away in a heartbeat if we don't like it's looks. They got robots building engines now in Detroit if the TV show How It's Made is right.

Quote myself..."I run Clevite or OEM, no impostors allowed in a machine that gets my name on it."
You'll notice I said 'machine'... Not car engine.

I work on huge stuff, and OEM bearings are second to none.
We replaced bearings in a machine this week with 77,555 hours on them. Hours, not miles. They were OEM and they could have run some more. We put OEM back in it. Be a fool not to on a million dollar machine.

The guy asked which bearings are best. One of the criteria for defining best in a service part is life expectancy. Hands down OEM bearings have racked up more hours than all the aftermarket bearings.
I use Clevite H or Clevite in tinker-toy car engines. I have never gone to Chevy to buy Chevy bearings, don't plan on it either. But that doesn't mean Chevy's bearings haven't racked up more hours than yours-mine-anybodies...and will continue to do so.:)

Clevite Tri-Armor coated bearings!

Like I said, King Aleculars are good bearings too!

pdq67

If I had a good enough camera, I could post pics of the rod bearings I'm referring to. Rather than having flat, smooth surfaces, these look machined - it looks like a bunch of flat surfaces cut on an arc, not round and smooth at all. These came out of a new crate engine last year. I've pulled some nice ones out as well but these were out of a GM crate shortblock, not a Target engine or something like that. Since I've seen these, I'll pull a rod and main cap off of every engine I drop in. If I build it, Clevite or King.

What kind of freaking engine and what is the application ???

engine is in sig. if u want to know more look at the pics in the sig. i need to chang bearings since there is a knock of some sort and just wanted to see what was out there.

Gary,

Where are these engines coming from??

pdq67

They were GM crate engines. A local shop builds 'em for a racing organization out of the states. They start with new complete crate shortblocks, tear 'em dow and rebalance and reclearance 'em. Not every set is screwed, it's kinda spotty. I'll have the assembler hang onto the next set rather than tossing 'em and I'll see what I can do about getting a good enough shot to post. They look like he11 but with factory clearances, they will probably make a bunch of miles. Who knows, this may be some screwey factory secret that actually works better!

is federal mogul the same as speed pro? the same manufacturer?

My 3/4 groove main bearing box says Federal Mogul, no reference to Speed Pro anywhere. I have the Federal Mogul catalog, and it also shows Speed Pro 3/4 groove main bearings. I far as I understand it, Speed Pro is a product line with a catchy name, that is made be Federal Mogul. I believe they are the same parts, just packaged differently, though I'd have to call Federal Mogul/Speed Pro to confirm that.

OK, now we know its for your 454. Now what kind of crank? Nice album, but I didn't see any detail on what is in the motor. Maybe I am not looking in the right spot.

soryy i may have deleted the info in my sig
well here it goes
deep breath in
i'll start from the bottom

world products motown sbc iron block
canton drag race oil pan
melling hv/hp oil pump
scat 4340 forged 4.00" stroke 400 main crankshaft
speed pro 140m main bearings
eagle H-beam rods 6"
speed pro 8-700ch rod bearings
mahle 4.250" forged pistons
total seal rings cr91905
ATI 7" super damper
dart pro-1 alum 230 cc heads 2.08 I 1.6 E valves 72cc chambers
comp cams custom grind hyd/roll small base circle cam
duration @.050 I 248 E 254
gross valve lift I .562 E .580 110* LSA installed at 105.5*
comp cams retro hyd/roll lifters
comp cams pro magnum full roller rockers
dual valve springs
dart single plane intake
mighty demon 850 cfm annular discharge vac sec
msd digital e-curve
thorley tri-y headers.

i started this thread because i believe i have a bad bearing and was considering any other options as to bearing durability for this monster motor. i have posted the part #'s on the bearings that are in the engine now hopefully some one can chime in on an equivalent more durable manufacturer or just go with the same again.
and thank you for the nice comments on my pics!!:beers:

soryy i may have deleted the info in my sig
well here it goes
deep breath in
i'll start from the bottom

world products motown sbc iron block
canton drag race oil pan
melling hv/hp oil pump
scat 4340 forged 4.00" stroke 400 main crankshaft
speed pro 140m main bearings
eagle H-beam rods 6"
speed pro 8-700ch rod bearings
mahle 4.250" forged pistons
total seal rings cr91905
ATI 7" super damper
dart pro-1 alum 230 cc heads 2.08 I 1.6 E valves 72cc chambers
comp cams custom grind hyd/roll small base circle cam
duration @.050 I 248 E 254
gross valve lift I .562 E .580 110* LSA installed at 105.5*
comp cams retro hyd/roll lifters
comp cams pro magnum full roller rockers
dual valve springs
dart single plane intake
mighty demon 850 cfm annular discharge vac sec
msd digital e-curve
thorley tri-y headers.

i started this thread because i believe i have a bad bearing and was considering any other options as to bearing durability for this monster motor. i have posted the part #'s on the bearings that are in the engine now hopefully some one can chime in on an equivalent more durable manufacturer or just go with the same again.
and thank you for the nice comments on my pics!!:beers:

It would seem highly unlikely that a bearing itself was bad. They are generally only affected by other things like clearance, oiling, coolant in the oil, etc. If clearances and oiling are good, then you shouldn't need to think about your bearings. Rebuild carefully and use Federal Mogul/Speed Pro 3/4 groove main bearings and you should be fine. I'd also recommend Royal Purple oil (you knew that was coming) because of its outstanding film strength (check out this link: http://www.animegame.com/cars/Oil%20Tests.pdf ) which keeps bottom ends looking brand new, as well as the rest of the engine. I also don't like ordinary spur gear oil pumps because they WILL cavitate at certain rpm's due to their particular design. I use gerotor oil pumps that can't cavitate, such as the Titan oil pump. :yes:

i did cut my filter open and there was metal shavings.
magnetic shavings

and here is a link to a thread that has a few pics of my filter

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=119426

geez sorry for so many posts but when i hit submit i remember something else vital
these pics are from my SECOND oil change
thank you

Thanks for the info. I agree with 540 Rat about the cause of bearing failure. You RARELY see a bearing as the actual cause for a failure. It is always oiling, clearances, or bearing type vs application rather than an actual bearing failure.

In your application I think that the Clevite H series would work well. Here is a description from Clevite on both the H series and the V series. I have never used the V series personally.

H-Series Race
These bearings were developed primarily for use in NASCAR type racing but are suitable for all types of competition engines. H bearings have a medium level eccentricity. They feature a high crush capacity. Enlarged chamfers for greater crankshaft fillet clearance. These bearings are made w/o flash plating for better seating. Use H bearings w/aftermarket performance steel crankshafts that have oversize fillets & where engines run in medium to high rpm range. If you buy a new crank with .125 radii these bearings are a must for rod clearances.

V-Series
These bearings feature a Tri-Metal™ cast copper-lead construction with a unique lead-indium overlay. Our cast copper-lead bearing features an intermediate layer with a steel back which offers the strongest foundation available for a performance bearing. Combine this with the unique lead-indium overlay which offers exceptional fatigue strength, durability, lubricity and comfortability, you end up with one of the finest performance engine bearings available in the world today. The bearing construction is such that it resists flaking and peeling under high-load, high-RPM conditions. The "V" series bearing is based on the popular Vanderveil design used with great success in Formula One, Indy Car, NASCAR and NHRA racing. The actual Vanderveil prints and dimensions were used to manufacture the "V" series bearings.

NOTE: These bearings do not have dowel holes or oversize chamfers.

wel wouldnt you think that a well kinown engine builder like ohio crankshaft know to clean out all oiling passages and check the proper clearances on their engines while building them?
btw, written on the build sheet by the main and rod torque specs are these numbers:
under mains is .005 E.P
and under rods is .022 S.C
what do these mean? are they the clearance specs for the main and rod bearings?
thanks
-Steve

.005 end play or thrust on crank

and .022 side clearance on rods

thanks wolf, what would be the proper clearance for bearing to crank and rod?
its a 400 main crank btw

thanks wolf, what would be the proper clearance for bearing to crank and rod?
its a 400 main crank btw

A good target for rod and main bearing clearances would be .0025, give or take a bit.

So, are you saying you discovered the reason for you problem, and it was the fault of Ohio Crankshaft? If that's the case, can you get them to make good on it? What did they do wrong specifically? Clearances or dirty passages? A place is only as good as its workers. One hatchet man can ruin a reputation. Sorry to hear about all your trouble. If you want something done right, you've got to do it yourself.

i may be jumping the gun on them. i dont know yet exactly what the knocking noise is since i have not removed the engine. the metal bits in my filter are magnetic and some one suggested that it is likely debris. it also may be a wiped cam since my car wont even start anymore. it will spin, but not fire. i guess ill have to wait and see to confirm the problem. but thank you to all of you who are helping me out!! i may be able to restore a car, but when it comes to the strict tolerances of an engine, i start shaking in my boots:o