Green axle bearings on the street

[party340]

Do these bearing hold up for street use? If anyone is using them, how many miles do you have on them?

[cudabob496]

Check with Mancini. They sell them.

[wilks3]

69 Charger, 440 4-speed, 5000 miles with the green bearings, no problems.

[it's all dodge]

good for drag racing, not so good if you like to go fast around corners

[ehostler]

Once people start seeing this, you will get a mixed batch of responses. They will go from "Green bearings aren't designed for the side load of cornering" to "I have several thousands of miles on them, with no problems".

In the end, you will have to determine if they are what you want.

[73charger528]

today i just finished installing my new yukon axles i chose them due to thier strength.

trying to finish upgrades before the new engine is conplete to date leaf spings & modified upper & lower brakets ruber isolaters removed ,longer stocks ,axles ,brakes & hardware,posi and 391 gears in my 8 3/4.

if i had more money in my budget i would have put a dana in but due to budget and the fact that i have 3 good centersection with gears 3.91,4.57 and 4.88 i chose to stay with the 8 3/4 onley hope is the 528 stroker i am building dosn't tear it apart.

the axles i used are alloy steel with geen bearings and 3" studs.

these axles were much easyer to install than stock just replace the seals slide them in bolt them down no adjustments no hassels.

Bill

[keith mopar]

Here is a copy of a letter written to Bearing technology, don't remember where I got it from.

The question is whether or not the RP400 bearing kit for Mopar 8-3/4" axles is suitable for street car applications. There has been a lot of discussion that since your catalog lists it under "Racing" that racing is the only application. Some have also said that the RP400 doesn't have enough lateral retention for street use. Others have said that they have several thousand miles of street use with the RP400s in their axles and have encountered no problem. Can you clear up the issue for me?

Dear BTL,

I received your question about the RP400. I'll try to answer this to the best of my ability. The original intent of the RP400 designed by the Green Bearing Company was meant as a replacement for the original taper bearings in the rear end of Chrysler / Mopar applications. It was made for street vehicles, as were all of Green's automotive bearings. Over time these products became favorites of custom axle manufacturers such as Moser Engineering, Strange Engineering and Mark Williams Enterprises. Green, being a job shop, manufactured a multitude of bearings for these outfits and started categorizing them as "Racing" bearings due to the fact that the products were becoming popular in that application.

There are a lot of these bearings on the road in both street applications as well as on track applications. As far as performance, all I can say is that these have been a staple in our product line with no revisions / issues for a long time. The experts on the performance of the product in various applications would be Moser or Strange. If you would like to contact them, you have to ask specifically for the RP400 with the fixed flange because there is a modified version (MO400) which was designed by request for Moser and has a slide over flange with a snap ring retainer.

You can visit www.moserengineering.com or call 260-726-6689 for more information.

Thank you for your interest in our products.

Best Regards,
Brian Graziadei

Bearing-Technologies LTD

[73charger528]

for got to mention if you have a cluch type posi there is a spacer that may need to be removed for axles to ingage correctly.

[dgc333]

FWIW, I have taken apart quite a few FWD hub assemblies and and the vast majority have used ball bearing elements in the bearing. If the factory sees fit to use ball bearings I would venture to say that they are more than adequate for side loads.

[dave571]

Great letter Keith.

I have used the greens on the street too.

As said by dgc333, Modern applications use the same setup. It works for them, why not for an old mopar?

[roadchicken]

i have green bearings in two of my cars. driven on the road for several k miles with no problems. but i have heard the rumors.

[cudabob496]

Originally Posted by 73charger528

today i just finished installing my new yukon axles i chose them due to thier strength.

trying to finish upgrades before the new engine is conplete to date leaf spings & modified upper & lower brakets ruber isolaters removed ,longer stocks ,axles ,brakes & hardware,posi and 391 gears in my 8 3/4.

if i had more money in my budget i would have put a dana in but due to budget and the fact that i have 3 good centersection with gears 3.91,4.57 and 4.88 i chose to stay with the 8 3/4 onley hope is the 528 stroker i am building dosn't tear it apart.

the axles i used are alloy steel with geen bearings and 3" studs.

these axles were much easyer to install than stock just replace the seals slide them in bolt them down no adjustments no hassels.

Bill

Bill, my Cuda has a limited slip 8 and 3/4. To go with green bearings, won't I have to drop the pumkin cover to take our some kinda spacer?
Oops, just saw your previous response.

I want to put Wilwood lightweight discs on the rear, but I heard I have to have green bearings to do it. Anyone know about that?

[cudabob496]

Originally Posted by dgc333

FWIW, I have taken apart quite a few FWD hub assemblies and and the vast majority have used ball bearing elements in the bearing. If the factory sees fit to use ball bearings I would venture to say that they are more than adequate for side loads.

I couldn't say the factory always makes the right decision. Sometimes they sacrifice performance for saving money.

[keith mopar]

Originally Posted by cudabob496

I want to put Wilwood lightweight discs on the rear, but I heard I have to have green bearings to do it. Anyone know about that?

Yes that is true, If you go with dics on the rear you must go green. The reason for this is, the dics must be in a fixed position, and the old bearings can move the axel in and out with the adjuster, putting it out of range with the pads installed. Hope this makes sence.
Here is the wilwood kit on an 8 3/4.

[Mopar Trac]

You was wondering about side load on green bearings. We have ran them on dirt oval track racers for years with never any problems. Believe me no one put more side load on a rear as a dirt track racer !

[cudabob496]

Originally Posted by keith mopar

Yes that is true, If you go with dics on the rear you must go green. The reason for this is, the dics must be in a fixed position, and the old bearings can move the axel in and out with the adjuster, putting it out of range with the pads installed. Hope this makes sence.
Here is the wilwood kit on an 8 3/4.

Thanks. Ya, love the Wilwoods. Have them on the front. I'd like to put the lightweight discs on the rear, but the law says for the street I need an emergency brake.

[matador60]

I have the rear disc from Wilwood. I believe all of them are designed for the
green bearings. The one I used had a recess built into the backing plate to
hold the bearing circlip, which is only on that bearing. I had end play when I
test fit the axles and didn't have to remove the spacer. Have 7000 miles on them with no problems.

[go-fish]

Originally Posted by cudabob496

Thanks. Ya, love the Wilwoods. Have them on the front. I'd like to put the lightweight discs on the rear, but the law says for the street I need an emergency brake.

You can always put a yoke mounted disc and caliper on your third member. My Wilwoods in the rear have a drum brake on the inside of the rotor which is a pain to set up, they're not the drag brakes though.

[matador60]

I don't know if I would go with yoke mounted disc and calipers on the rear. I
had to replace mine with the Wilwood set up to eliminate the low pedal. With
the tapered bearing on the axle it moves in and out. This move the pads far enough off the rotors that the pedal was almost on the floor to take up the slack. With the Wilwood setup my brake pedal goes down about 1/2 in and its stopping hard.
What kind of trouble did you have setting up the rear brakes. Once I was ready to put them on it took less then 30 min to do the whole operation on both sides.

[crvtec90]

i like the green bearings because they are sealed and i thought they would have less of a chance to get dirt and other foreign material in them.

[John Kunkel]

Keep in mind that many rear wheel drive cars (Ford) left the factory with single-row ball bearings and there is no epidemic of failures.

The Mopar tapered bearing design is superior and I'd use when possible, dirt intrusion isn't much of a problem thanks to seals.

[keith mopar]

Originally Posted by cudabob496

Thanks. Ya, love the Wilwoods. Have them on the front. I'd like to put the lightweight discs on the rear, but the law says for the street I need an emergency brake.

There kit comes with an e brake. The e brake is inside the hat. I'll take some pics of it later and show you.

[keith mopar]

Here is the pic of the e brake that fits inside the rotor.

[namvet67a1f]

Register MY vote as a NAY ... on the mean-greenies.

[John Kunkel]

When discussing Green bearings one should know that Green Bearing Company makes 2 different styles of Mopar (8 3/4" and Dana) conversion wheel bearings.

1. Old style (RP-400). The bearing retainer is crimped to the outer race. The bearing retainer can break off, allowing the bearing to fall inside the housing end. This style is unforgiving when used in bent housings (most housings are not straight). These are still sold through Mopar Performance.

2. MO-400, ST-400 (Snap-ring style). The outer race has a groove and spiral-lock arrangement that butts up against the outside edge of the brake backing plate. The loose bearing retainer bolts on top of the spiral lock to secure the bearing. This "loose fit" design is simple and durable. New Wilwood kits require this style.

[moparjoe318]

well i think that clears it up nicely.

[ehostler]

Yep. I think that all of the nay sayers have only experienced or heard horror stories of the RP-400 bearing.

[kamstra]

Street driven. I have been happy with mine.

[Tazdevilish]

I just bought a set of Yukon axles With Green bearings already pressed on for my 70 Duster with 8 3/4. I keep reading about removing center spacer if you have clutch type sure-grip. I pulled the axles out of the box, stuffed them in and the car drove fine. Did I miss something?

[matador60]

Only if you didn't check to see that you had end play with the axels installed.
You can do that now by pulling one side and remove the circlip and seeing that it will move inside past the circlip grove by 050 ths. If thats the kind you have. If you have the other kind without circlip, you still need to make sure you have end play.