Ceramic Thrust Bearings
 

Anyone use them and if so what is your take on them are the worth getting ?

As with every discussion: is ceramics better?

If it is for the clutch I do not even use a bearing... When does the thrustbearing actually works. Only on the moment the clutch engages. With Idle it runs free due the play and on high revs it is standing still.

Does it need a performance or a light resistance?
No, because when the cluch is engaging there is already a huge slip withthe clutch shoe and bell...
So Because the thrust bearing can fail in a race I eliminate the chance on a failure to zero by replacing the ring with the balls with a brass 10x5 washer with some greese.

http://www.euronet.nl/users/tooms/koppeling/messing.jpg

See it as a ball less bearing

Good info thanks

Not needed here. Taking the extra chance of fractures in this application not worth it. A thin film of high quality grease is enough. The more grease you add, the more dirt sticks around. Use it sparingly.

What happeneds for the symptoms when a thrust bearing fails ?

When the thrust bearing fails you get:
- changing ways of how the clutch engages, from low rpm to many slip.
- when all the balls are out the clutch will stop working

What kind of high quality grease do I use with I run without the thrust bearing ?

The same grease, the white which came with the Mugen kit. It is a bearing grease of which I also did get a large tube.

Cool thanks for the info.

I use Lucas oil red and tacky.

I've used a brass bushing before. Do you flip the end plates around and use the flat surface without the bearing races? You just need keep track of the wear on the brass bushing thru out it's life span.


Pass you soon...

Depends on what washer you end up with. Brass is soft and I dunno how long it will last. A durable yellow metal would be a bronze alloy and I don't know if they are readily avail. I would do a graphite or Teflon solid type grease on brass and on bronze type, any good general grease should be ok. It has to be very light if you go to this, any excess grease will attract dirt.

I use ceramic bearings in my clutches because I can run them without lubrication to keep the inside of the clutch from being contaminated. I have ceramic clutch bearings several years old that still work fine, despite being run without lubrication from the moment I installed them.

If you want to use a brass washer instead of a thrust bearing in a Centax clutch, you should use an Oilite bushing instead, because it will supply its own lubrication as it wears-down.

The brass bushing idea is pretty clever if you polish all three plates and the bolt to the point where there would be almost no friction between them with bushing lube or bestline powertrain lube. You can thereby eliminate grease totally, and avoid the mess... I have used the master formula polish on brass bushings before and they can get super smooth enough to do away with balls for good....

Good info thanks Guys