Tapered Roller Bearings vs Green Bearings

[Gary AAR]

Looking for thoughts and advice on going with original tapered roller bearings vs Green bearings for my rear axle restoration.  My car is an original 1970 AAR Cuda 340 4 speed with 3.91 rear end.  I've read some info on the Dr. Diff website as well as older posts on this subject, and it appears most view the original style tapered roller bearings are superior to the Green style ball bearings.  Would like to keep the car as original as possible, but also want the best function and reliability at the same time.

Which is better, original tapered roller bearings, or Green ball bearings?  Which do you have in your car, and why?

Thanks in advance for everyone's help!

[Burdar]

There is no reason to switch to green bearings unless you HAVE to.  With a stock rear end center section, stock axles and stock brakes, there is no reason to do it.  Stay with the stock style bearing.  Adjusting axle end play is easy.  Don't let that scare you.

Sometimes it's necessary to change to green bearings.   If you are running a spool for drag racing, the stock bearings will not work.  Some aftermarket rear disc brake kits don't work with the stock bearings either. There are two different styles of green bearings.  One style has a reputation for failure.  The other does not.  Of course lots of people say ALL green bearings are junk but that's not the case.

[6Pack70]

I have 4 speed, 3:91 rear also and went with the same as factory. Tapered bearings.  Bought Timkens from Dr. Diff.   I plan on driving the car and enjoying it.  I've heard that Green type bearings are best suited for strait line use.  I've also heard of guys have no issues with using them.  Well, with not having any experience with the Green type bearings, I chose what came in my car from the factory.  Never had an issue using factory type bearings.   Eddie

[Chryco Psycho]

I never use green brgs , the tapered roller are Far superior , they last far longer & handle side loading properly , tapered can last 150,000 miles easily if greased , you cannot grease the green brgs as they are a sealed brg & they can last 20-40,000 miles

[headejm]

Doctor Diff has some interesting thoughts about bearings.

http://www.doctordiff.com/blog/tech-info/why-green-bearings/

[Brads70]

Maybe it was the " first generation" but they didn't even last one night circle track racing . Tapered original style all the way for me. Even in my new Dana that Cass supplied I got oversized tapered bearings.  Also compatible with DrDiff rear disc brake kit FWIW 

[GoodysGotaCuda]

I never use green brgs , the tapered roller are Far superior , they last far longer & handle side loading properly , tapered can last 150,000 miles easily if greased , you cannot grease the green brgs as they are a sealed brg & they can last 20-40,000 miles

I suppose I don't follow that logic. There isn't a wheel bearing on a car made within the last decade [or two] that is greasible. Just about all of them exceed 100,000 miles if not 200,000. 

That said, most cars on this forum will be lucky to see 20,000 to 40,000 miles in their future years. I'd prefer to run tapered bearings, but my Wilwoods require green bearings, supplied by Dr. Diff.

[Chryco Psycho]

Most newer front wheel brgs are sealed & non greasable , but they are also doubled up with twin sets of rollers .  My Caravan ones didn't make 100,000
My personal experience has been more like Brads

[Fastmark]

I've replaced several sets of the newer roller bearings on later model cars and trucks with way less than 100,000 miles on them. They are much bigger  and double rowed. Common sense will tell you that a ball bearing has less surface on them to deal with side load than a roller bearing. They are sealed and not serviceable so they can sell you new ones. I don't think I have ever had to replace a tapered front wheel bearing on a muscle car. I just replace them back in the day because new USA ones were cheap and plentiful. I just clean them up now unless they are pitted from moisture. I only buy the USA ones if I can help it. I just replaced a set of original oem rear bearings from a 70 Challenger. It's because they had gotten moisture in them and were pitted and starting to make noise and failed.  The only real reason I have to replace most of them in the first place is because the seal is leaking grease. You can't change just it without destroying the bearing. Go with the tapered oem.

[MoparLeo]

Here is a link as to the descriptions of all types of commonly used wheel bearings. A good read .
https://www.carid.com/articles/wheel-bearings.html

Tapered roller thrust bearings consist of small tapered rollers arranged so that their axes all converge at a point on the axis of the bearing. The length of the roller and the diameter of the wide and the narrow ends and the angle of rollers need to be carefully calculated to provide the correct taper so that each end of the roller rolls smoothly on the bearing face without skidding. These are the type most commonly used in automotive applications (to support the wheels of a motor car for example), where they are used in pairs to accommodate axial thrust in either direction, as well as radial loads. They can support rather larger thrust loads than the ball type due to the larger contact area, but are more expensive to manufacture.

Go Timken or SKF if available. Quality is key to any bearings life.

[bc3j]

I've have experiences similar to Brads during my circle track days. The green bearings didn't last one night. As a matter of fact we didn't even finish the night.

[screamindriver]

Still rolling on the green bearings  Cass used in my dana 60 build...Behind a 500hp 440-6 and a torqueflite/3000 stall convertor...They've been in there for close to 10yrs now...And I don't baby them either I've got over a foot wide tread pattern and smoke them most every outing..

[Chryco Psycho]

 
When I built my Dana I built it from a truck housing , I had new ends welded on That used a larger tapered roller brg system which forced me to open the backing plates up to fit the brg through , I ordered custom axles & now have a power lock 3.73 diff , I doubt I will live long enough to where it will ever need rebuilding again