Bearing Technology in Chassis Parts

What Are Bearings?

Used in rotational and socket-style steering and suspension parts, bearings play an important role in chassis parts like ball joints and tie rod ends. Designed to reduce friction and ensure smooth rotation, bearings are critical to the steering and handling of a vehicle.

In a ball joint, bearings are located in a housing and they help facilitate the swinging and rotating of the stud. Connecting the steering rack to the steering knuckle, bearings in a tie rod enable it to turn in the direction that the wheel is turned.

What Do Bearings Do?

Besides ensuring smooth rotation, bearings also:

• Enable grease to flow through it, directly to the surface of the stud
• Help transmit force into the wall of the housing and cover plate

Gusher Bearings

More resilient to contamination than plastic bearings, gusher bearings are designed to offer greater resistance to corrosion and degradation from water, dirt and other road contaminants. Well suited for harsh driving conditions, MOOG gusher bearings feature a sintered powdered metal design to allow grease to flow through the bearing to help lubricate the parts. Commonly found in truck applications where vehicles carry more weight, MOOG uses gusher bearings in a variety of chassis parts like ball joints, tie rods and control arms.

Carbon Fiber-Reinforced Bearing with PTFE

For applications that don’t need as much strength but need less friction or less weight, carbon fiber-reinforced bearing with PTFE is a popular choice. Used in ball joints and tie rods for applications such as electric and hybrid vehicles, this type of bearing provides improved durability and lower friction versus typical non-reinforced bearings found in OE steering and suspension parts. This type of bearing allows engineers to specifically blend the strength of carbon fiber strands into a mix with lubricating fillers (PTFE) to give better wear life to bearings.

Right Bearing for the Application

From reverse engineering to in-house prototyping and testing, you can be confident that MOOG bearings are made with the right materials and geometry so fit and function are optimized for the specific application.

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