Coated engine bearings (1 Viewer)

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bjowett

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Anyone else around here use coatings? This will be my second engine to use polymer/moly coated main and rod bearings. I use Swain Tech, excellent company... I feel it is safe to say the Jury is back in on coated bearings, and they work wonderfully. The extra protection they offer is nice... here's a nice article on bearings (including coatings) for those interested....

http://www.automotiverebuilder.com/ar/eb030526.htm
 
Can other bearings be coated? Meaning, can I send the bearings out of a rebuild kit to a particular shop and have them coated or do they only carry certain models?
 
Short answer, yes, you can have any bearing coated.

Longer - You can have bearings coated, amongst just about any other part... that is how I did it, useing stock Toyota units. Up until a few years ago, it was the only way to obtain a coated bearing.

Swain Tech's price list..

http://swaintech.com/price.html
 
cruiseroutfit said:
Can other bearings be coated? Meaning, can I send the bearings out of a rebuild kit to a particular shop and have them coated or do they only carry certain models?

Yep, you can coat any bearing! I run coated main and rod bearings in my Honda. (little higher redline than the old 2F...)
 
I ran moly coated ones in my Mitsu engine on the rods and mains. I did the piston skirts also with a ceramic coating on the piston tops and exhaust manifolds as well as the turbine section. Personally I used Calico Coatings back east. They appear to work well in my non-LC application.

You will need to account for the extra thickness the coating adds. For my rods and mains it made the tolerances 'tight'.
 
slambson said:
I ran moly coated ones in my Mitsu engine on the rods and mains. I did the piston skirts also with a ceramic coating on the piston tops and exhaust manifolds as well as the turbine section. Personally I used Calico Coatings back east. They appear to work well in my non-LC application.

You will need to account for the extra thickness the coating adds. For my rods and mains it made the tolerances 'tight'.

Thank you! Calico is who I used...
 
landtank said:
Seems like a waste of money to me. I've never spun a bearing or even wore one out.

It very well could be a waste of money for many folks... with that said, just because you have not lost a bearing, dosn't mean it can't or won't happen. Several folks on this sight have lost a bearing, including me. There are situations offroad where oil pressure can be lost... I'll take the extra protection!
 
Just found out that a local shop (High Performance Coatings) offers this service, I may have them do all my 3FE bearings prior to build.

Question... Does the machine shop need to machine according to the thickness of this coating, or is it minute enough to discount in the build?

Thanks... :D
 
landtank said:
Seems like a waste of money to me. I've never spun a bearing or even wore one out.


Tank I respect what your saying but................................

Like alot of us arn't doing that already.
 
reffug said:
Tank I respect what your saying but................................

Like alot of us arn't doing that already.


I don't have a problem spending money on the truck, but justifying it can be a little rough.

I always look for the return on the investment. Brian stated he and others have had bearing problems with these engines. I must be going senial as I can't remember ever reading about it.

I am also assuming it's rather expensive to do so I should wait to see the final bill also.
 
A full Toyota bearing set for the 1FZ retails at about $216... as Cdan would say, a smart shopper could find them for about $160 - $170. Having the coatings applied will be about $80. Cheap insurance if you ask me.... Thanks for bringing up a counter point (that being cost/gain), Rick, it definetly helps folks see it from both sides.
 
I just made a bearing that had to be aluminum, sent it to http://www.nimet.com/ for hard Teflon anodize. Engine manufacturers are using coated aluminum bearings like that. They also have anti-friction coatings for steel and other materials, maybe something for your bearings. There are other coating places like this all over the country.
 

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