Ball Bearings

ProSource is the Chattanooga area's trusted supplier of a wide variety of ball bearings including agricultural, hanger & trunnion Bearings, angular contacts, deep grooves, self-alignings, thin sections, thrusts, and loose ball bearings. Our stock is available in both inch and metric sizes to meet various needs. With our trusted brands we ensure that our products meet any potential requirement including specific needs for radial retainers, thrusts, pivots, angular contacts, high-speed radials, and/or full ball complements. 

Angular Contact Ball Bearings Available at ProSource

Our angular contacts are designed for a combination of radial and axial loading applications. Designed with inner and outer ring raceways, the axial load carrying capacity of angular contact ball bearings increases as the angle increases. The single-row bearings feature high thrust capacity in one direction, while double-row bearings can accommodate thrust in both directions. Features of Angular Contact Ball Bearings include: 

• Specific geometry of angular contact bearing raceways and shoulders 
• Ball contact angles that support higher axial loads. 
• Cage materials, special lubricants, and preloads
• Coatings for additional resistance to corrosion.

Design:

• Single row angular contact ball bearings
• Double row angular contact ball bearings
• Four-point contact ball bearings

Deep Groove Ball Bearings Available at ProSource

The deep grooves we offer at ProSource provide a reliable performance across a wide variety of conditions, industries, and applications. Deep groove ball bearings are the most widely used bearing type and are especially versatile. Designed especially to be low friction, they are optimized for low noise, low vibration, and high rotational speeds. The features of deep grooves include:

• Easy Interchange– Deep grooves are dimensionally interchangeable and they follow ISO standards. 
• Brass Cage Availability– ProSource deep grooves are available in many sizes, and offer durability in the harshest of conditions. These bearings boast extreme shock loads, high vibrations, and high acceleration forces.
• Quiet Operation for Electric Motors– Deep grooves are often used in electric motor applications in an effort to minimize noise and vibration. For this reason, they are designed with super finishing on raceways for reduced friction, premium grease for performance, less noise, and low torque, and preferred clearance designation (C3). 

Designs

• Single row deep groove ball bearings
• Stainless steel deep grove ball bearings
• Single row deep groove ball bearings with filling slots
• Double row deep grove ball bearings

Loose Ball Bearings Available at ProSource

At ProSource, we offer loose ball bearings, which is a specially crafted, highly spherical, and especially smooth ball that can be found in ball bearings. These loose ball bearings are manufactured to a specific grade, size, sphericity, variation, tolerance, and surface roughness. The lower the grade, the few defects, such as flats, pits, soft spots, cuts, and dents the ball has. 

The size, measured in inches, refers to the farthest distance between two specified points on the ball's surface. Below, we have provided a few different grades and their sizes:

• Grade 3 - Ranges from .006 inches – 2 inches
• Grade 5 - Ranges from .006 inches – 6 inches
• Grade 10 - Ranges from  0.006 inches – 10 inches

Contact us to discuss the sphericity, variation, tolerance, and surface roughness of each loose ball-bearing grade today!

Self-Aligning Ball Bearings Available at ProSource

An inner ring and ball assembly are enclosed within an outer ring with a spherical raceway in self-aligning ball bearings. In order to accommodate shaft or housing deflections or improper mounting, the bearing is constructed in such a way that a small angular misalignment is tolerated.

Self-Aligning ball bearing variants are:

• Open with a cylindrical bore, a tapered bore, and with an extended inner ring
• Sealed with a cylindrical bore and with a tapered bore.

The permissible operating temperature for self-aligning ball bearings can be limited by:

• The dimensional stability of the bearing rings and balls
• The Cage
• The Seals
• The Lubricant

The speed ratings indicate:

• The reference speed—enables quick assessment of the speed capabilities from a thermal frame of reference
• The limiting speed—is a mechanical limit that should not be exceeded unless the bearing design and the application are adapted for higher speeds.

Thin Section Ball Bearings Available at ProSource

At ProSource, our thin section bearing line offers high accuracy and low profile design in standard stainless steel or chrome steel configurations provided by Timken. 

Design Attributes:

• Precision tolerances – meet ABEC 5F (ISO P5) or ABEC 7F (ISO P4) for high running accuracy.
• Material selection – stainless steel and chrome steel.
• Superfinished raceways – provide a smooth surface finish to reduce internal friction and vibration.
• High-quality ball complement – grade 5 or better balls optimize smooth rolling performance.
• Retainers – various configurations and materials to meet performance needs.

Thrust Ball Bearings Available at ProSource

Thrust ball bearings are designed to take axial (thrust) loads at high speeds, but they cannot take any radial loads. These bearings feature bearing washers with raceway grooves in which the balls move:

• Thrust ball bearings are classified into “flat seat” and “aligning seat” types.
  • Based on the shape of the housing washer (outer ring seat)
• As single-direction or double-direction.
  • Single-direction thrust ball bearings are comprised of two bearing washers (a shaft washer and a housing washer) and a single cage containing the balls. They can sustain axial loads in one direction.
  • Double-direction thrust ball bearings use three washers, with two cages containing the balls. This shaft washer is sandwiched between the two cages, allowing the bearing to take axial loads in both directions
• Seat washers that are spherical and aligned help to provide tolerance for mounting errors.

ProSource is Chattanooga's Trusted Ball Bearings Distributor 

If an application has moving parts, chances are it requires the use of different bearings. Examples of applications are nearly endless, from machines as large as trains to devices as small as a fidget spinner. Our bearings at ProSource provide low friction while rolling, and can support axial loads in both directions. If you are looking to control oscillatory and rotational motion within machines and systems, then you are in the right place. We stock top manufacturers such as:

• Chicago Rawhide Bearings
• Fafnir Bearings
• McGill Bearings
• NTN Bearings
• SKF Bearings
• Timken Bearings

Frequently Asked Questions about Ball Bearings

• What is a Conrad-style construction type? Conrad-style construction types are made by placing the inner ring into a position relative to the outer ring, with the two rings in contact at one point, which results in a large gap opposite the point of contact. The balls are inserted through the gap and then evenly distributed around the bearing assembly. This causes the rings to become concentric.
• What is a slot-fill construction type? For a slot-fill construction type the outer and inner and races are notched so that when the notches are aligned, balls can be slipped into the resulting slot to assemble the bearing.  A slot-fill bearing has the advantage that more balls can be assembled (even allowing a full complement design), resulting in a higher radial load capacity than a Conrad bearing of the same dimensions and material type.
• What is a relieved race construction type? With relieved race construction types the OD of the inner ring is reduced on one side, or the ID of the outer ring is increased on one side. More balls can be assembled into either the inner or outer race due to this, and then press fit over the relief.
• What is a fractured race construction type? By radially slicing, or fracturing, one of the rings all the way through, then loading the balls in, re-assembling the fractured portion, and finally using a pair of steel bands to hold the fractured ring sections together in alignment a fractured race construction type is created.
• What is a row construction type? Row construction types include single-row bearings and double-row bearings. The majority of ball bearings are a single-row design with only one row of bearing balls. A double-row design, like the name suggests, has two rows of bearing balls.
• What is a flanged construction type? To simplify axial location some have a flange on the outer ring. Housing can consist of a through-hole, but the entry face of the housing has to be machined normal to the hole axis.
• What is a caged construction type? Cages secure the balls. Without cages the tangential position is stabilized by sliding two convex surfaces on each other. With a cage the tangential position is stabilized by sliding a convex surface in a matched concave surface. This avoids dents in the balls and has lower friction.
• What is a hybrid using ceramic balls construction type? Depending on size and material, ceramic bearing balls can weigh up to 40% less than steel ones,. This reduces centrifugal loading and skidding, so hybrid ceramic bearings can operate between 20% to 40% faster.
• What is a fully ceramic construction type? Fully ceramic construction types make use of both ceramic balls and race. These bearings are resistant to corrosion and rarely require lubrication.
• What is a self-aligning construction type? Self-aligning construction types are constructed with the ball assembly and inner ring contained within an outer ring that has a spherical raceway. This allows the bearing to tolerate a small angular misalignment resulting from housing deflections or improper mounting.