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Rebuilding a 22G1128 4 synchro remote box . Purchased a rebuild kit from Minispares . Having noted spiders advise on bad bearings I was surprised to see similar bearings to spiders images . Went to Minispares to question them on this and was informed that they have had no problems with them and that they are from Japan and not Chinese copies. Same design . Perhaps spiders bearings were the copy . What do people think ? . Minispares are aware of spiders post regarding this type of bearing but are saying that the ones supplied to them have probably been copied. In a bit of dilemma as what to use . Genuine bearing (old style) on the right . Minispares supplied on the left

I am a minispares fan and have been for many years. But the fact is that the more rollers you have in the cage, the greater the bearing surface area - and while there are other factors, like the depth and quality of the hardness of the rollers, it's the overall surface area that counts for me Swifty. That said of course, in this instance this bearing is constantly running in oil

Last time I bought laygear bearings and the little bearing
between 1st & 3rd motion shafts for a 22g1128 from minispares they were the typical cheap Chinese rubbish. Despite this, they didn't actually fail although the case hardening on the small end of the minispares 'competition' layshaft was knackered after about 4000 miles when the box was pulled apart due to broken factory crown wheel and pinion.
Since then I've managed to pick up NOS BL bearings for both ends of the layshaft and 1st to 3rd motion shaft.
All the genuine bearings have longer rollers in the cage and more of them. We'll see how they wear compared with Chinese bearings next time the box comes apart.
I'd imagine the Japanese bearings are higher quality than the Chinese ones, but they still appear to have fewer rollers.
What have minispares supplied for the small end (88g396) of the layshaft? This is the end the suffers the most wear.

The Bearings that were in my original post on this were from Mini Spares and were KOR Brand, which I traced back to Chinese origins. It was a few years back I was supplied with these.

NTN are a reputable brand.

Be aware though, that while in some types of bearings, they can have the same basic dimensions, there are different ratings and it looks to me like these have a lighter rating than the originals or it might be possible for the bearing alone to have the same rating (as was claimed by the KOR Bearings ), however what needs to also be taken in to consideration is what it is they are running on.

If we took a ball bearing race, as long as it's the right size and right ratings, then what's inside doesn't matter (to a point) as it has an inner and outer race as well as the balls and cage. However in the case of these particular bearings, the needles in them run on the Layshaft and inside the Gear which are designed to have a bearing of a particular rating, with a certain number on needle rollers and of a certain length. When there's less needles and / or they are shorter, the Layshaft and bearing race in the Laygear aren't rated for that and so while the needle roller itself may not fail, the Layshaft and / or Laygear will.

Hopefully you'll be able to see this OK.

This is a couple of pages from the Koyo Catalogue. Same Bearing Sizes here (I've highlighted in yellow), but different types (highlighted) and different ratings;-

Thanks for that spider as ever always useful information. A more direct question if you don’t mind , would you use these bearings ? …. Shirley

swifty wrote: ↑Thu Jan 12, 2023 11:12 am Thanks for that spider as ever always useful information. A more direct question if you don’t mind , would you use these bearings ? …. Shirley

Shiley, they might be OK in lower powered, sedately drive cars, to a point, however, while we always tend to gravitate towards engine power and how this or that part might stand up to higher power levels, the other side of the equation with all transmission and drive line is on the over-run and shock loads that can be associated with that (that come from road surface / condition).

In answer to your question, no, I wouldn't. I have a small box of these bearings in my reject pile.

In the UK, I would try BEARINGS-ON-LINE. I tell them the application and size and come up with the answer. When I wanted the NLA steering pinion bearing replacement, they went out of their way for a couple of hours before I went away - happy.

So I’ve decided to use the Minispares bearings . If they fail I will have a receipt , box they came from and photos to prove . So we’ll see what happens . Hopefully everything will be fine …. Shirley

I think that you are right Swifty. On a normal summer use road car they'll out-last you. Run it ragged and........