Wheel bearings connect the wheels to the axle, which make them crucial components of the wheel hub assembly. They minimize friction to help the wheels rotate smoothly.

The company also manufactures complete wheelsets and can supply a complete truck assembly, which includes mounting wheelsets, traction motors, brake equipment, gearboxes and all suspension components on the truck frame.

— by Walter WeartRail wheels, axles and bearings are among the most fundamental elements of railroading — the very efficiency of railroading depends on how well these elements work together. Progressive Railroading recently reached out to a cross-section of companies that supply wheels, axles and bearings. Technology and market updates from six of them follow.

When getting custom wheels, be sure to take into account the load capacity and other specifications of your vehicle’s wheel bearings.

As mentioned, driving with bad wheel bearings can put you and your passenger at risk. Thankfully, you don’t have to break the bank to get high-quality replacements. You can find exactly what you need at an unbeatable price at CarParts.com.

"As the boxes wear, this can contribute to premature bearing failure, so Cooper Bearings has a special process to straighten the boxes out and machine them back into original specifications," says PowerRail Distribution President and Chief Executive Officer Paul Foster.

To prevent this from happening, make sure that your wheel bearings are in good condition. Watch out for the following symptoms that may indicate a faulty bearing.

"We are supplied those parts we don't make and, using our wheels, axles, brake discs, gears and rubber vibration isolators, assemble and test the complete wheelset," says Racine.

"Rail was strong for Timken in 2012, and we will continue to focus on this market as well as the global markets to provide value," Ruel says.

In 2007, PowerRail Distribution acquired Cooper Bearings Inc., which remanufactures bearings and journal boxes. Cooper Bearings has been remanufacturing transit-car journal boxes since 1996.

"We bring them back to our shop and perform the required work, returning the components when the work is finished," says Brandimarte.

ORX also made the wheelsets for Amtrak's Acela power cars and coach trainsets, and currently is overhauling trucks for the Acela trainsets under a contract with Alstom.

The company also has provided truck overhaul service to the JFK AirTrain and is currently providing New Jersey Transit River Line wheelset and truck maintenance services.

WS Hampshire Inc. is a full-line custom fabricator and supplier of non-metallic materials. In the rail sector, the company offers a computer numerical control shop.

Choose from a wide selection of competitively priced wheel bearings sourced from the leading brands in the industry. They passed stringent quality control tests, so you’re sure to get parts that are built to last.

"We also manufacture mono-block or solid wheels starting with the forging and continue to process these through to the final product," he adds, noting that Penn Machine sells to OEMs and transit companies.

To start, fill out our vehicle selector to narrow down the catalog to compatible bearings. Then, use the search filters to find the products that match your preferred brand, price, etc. We have a round-the-clock customer service representative, so if you have questions, don’t hesitate to contact them via our toll-free hotlines.

The CarParts.com Research Team is composed of experienced automotive and tech writers working with (ASE)-certified automobile technicians and automotive journalists to bring up-to-date, helpful information to car owners in the US. Guided by CarParts.com's thorough editorial process, our team strives to produce guides and resources DIYers and casual car owners can trust.

ORX overhauls locomotive wheelsets with or without a motor. The wheelset is disassembled, the motor is tested, then gears are inspected and repaired or replaced as needed, Brandimarte says. If the truck is equipped with a u-tube, the bearings are inspected and replaced if necessary, he adds.

Meanwhile, the company also remanufactures locomotive bearings for both EMD and GE models. The unit is dissembled to the core, inspected for wear and either rebuilt or replaced. The bearing assembly is rebuilt, lubricant is added and the bearing is sealed. Then the unit is ready for service.

In some cases, yes, custom wheels and tires can cause your wheel bearings to wear faster. This is because original equipment (OEM) bearings are designed to carry specific loads, which means they won’t be compatible with every single tire out there.

And when it comes to bearings, Amsted Rail continues to develop lower-torque bearing seals, which help reduce overall rail-car rolling resistance, resulting in improvements in fuel efficiency, and reduce bearing operating temperature, says Manager of Product Engineering, Bearings Mike Mason.

The development of the MicroAlloy® wheel also solved a wheel-shelling problem brought about by long, cold winters and dry blowing snow. MicroAlloy wheels are designed to combat thermal-mechanical shelling, which occurs due to prolonged tread braking, combined with high wheel loads, in heavy-haul freight service. MicroAlloy wheels have a higher yield strength than AAR Class C wheels at elevated temperatures, and have better fatigue resistance, which helps to reduce tread damage, according to Amsted Rail.

Keep your trips safe and hassle-free by ensuring that all faulty bearings are replaced right away. Have a mechanic check your vehicle as soon as your vehicle exhibits any of the symptoms above. Replace faulty bearings if needed, so you can get back on the road in no time.

As of mid-April, there were slightly less than 3.5 million wheelsets registered and the database was growing at a rate of about 83,000 per month, Vaughn says.

For example, high-speed rail provides opportunities to provide high strength fiberglass panels — to Kawasaki, for example, Harms says.

Have your vehicle checked by a mechanic as soon as you notice unusual wheel noises. Even if the wheel bearings aren’t the culprit, it’s better to err on the side of caution and make sure that your wheels are in top condition.

In the meantime, rail traffic congestion, fuel economy and emissions will continue to make rail an efficient freight movement method, Ruel says. It'll also continue to drive the need for high-performance rail technology, products and systems.

Abnormal tire wear may be caused by other suspension issues, so it is best to let a mechanic rule out other possible parts that may be causing your tires to wear unevenly.

If the noises are different across varying road surfaces, there’s a good chance that the sound is being produced by your tires. However, if the sound remains the same, it’s likely caused by failed wheel bearings.

The company recently completed construction of a 35,000-square-foot facility in a new technology park that's part of the Sussex County Airport in Georgetown, Del. The plant was designed to utilize more efficient manufacturing techniques, as well as PowerRail's new TrueBlue™ manufacturing system to ensure product quality.

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Out-of-standard tolerance wheels and axles are re-machined or replaced, and gear boxes are overhauled with Penn Machine-manufactured gears as necessary. Units then are completely re-assembled and inspected.

In an ideal scenario, wheel bearings can last up to approximately 85,000 to 100,000 miles. But remember that this is just an estimate. Several factors can affect the lifespan of your bearings, such as their quality and the way you drive your vehicle.

Since the tire assembly may loosen, drivers could end up losing control of the vehicle. Needless to say, this situation could cause major accidents on the road.

"As safety is a top priority, there is a need to know where components such as wheels, side frames, bolsters and couplers are located when in service and who manufactured them," says Jerry Vaughn, Railinc's senior manager, product management.

For example, the company currently is producing tires for Bay Area Rapid Transit and Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority, says ORX President Glenn Brandimarte.

"We discovered that a natural frequency vibration was causing these defects and were able to develop a design which corrected this problem," Oliver says.

In response to market demand for noise and weight reduction, Penn Machine's licensor, BVV, has developed "a new type of wheel [that] will reduce noise and weight, and with modified absorbers mounted on the wheel, will also reduce vibration," Racine says.

The short answer is no. As mentioned, driving with a bad wheel bearing is dangerous. Severely worn bearings may cause the brake rotors to wobble, resulting in reduced brake performance.

"We dismount the components, examine and test the components as necessary, and will replace or otherwise refurbish the parts," says Racine.

The curved or low-stress wheel designs Amsted developed in the 1960s have minimized overheated wheel failures, Oliver says. In the late 1990s, Amsted Rail addressed shattered rim type failures by making process changes and improvements to ultrasonic inspection testing, he adds. The company also developed a solution to the wheel failures that high horsepower locomotives were experiencing during the late 1990s and early 2000s.

Timken is also expanding its EcoTurn® seals line, which currently includes Class F and K seals, says Alan Buchanan, Timken's chief engineer-rail.

"The trucks are brought into our shop, where they are completely disassembled and each component is inspected for defects," Brandimarte says. "All dimensions are checked for wear with repairs or replacements as needed."

The process originally was designed for a transit authority; now, PowerRail markets it to other transit- and freight-rail customers, Foster says.

The Timken Co. continues to make advances and improvements in several bearings areas, says Brian Ruel, Timken's president- rail. Among the advances: the Timken® Sure-Fit™ Universal Backing Ring, which made a "significant reduction" in loose backing ring problems by providing an interference fit between the axle dust guard diameter section and the backing ring, Ruel says.

The company recently entered into an agreement to serve as the authorized bearing remanufacturer for NTN Bearing Corp. and Kawasaki Rail Car Inc., Foster says.

"We found that dry snow would get under the wheel and as it rolled, the snow was packed in the microscopic cracks in the wheel," which caused the cracks to widen and led to much more rapid deterioration and earlier replacement of the wheel, Oliver says.

Cooper Bearings also offers a Hyatt journal box with new or re-conditioned bearings. The company performs work on both Electro-Motive Diesel Inc. and GE Transportation locomotives — "from GP-7s to the most modern AC locomotives," Foster says.

Driving with bad wheel bearings can put you and your passengers’ safety at risk⁠—it can cause your wheel and/or tire assembly to become loose.

Penn Machine Co. L.L.C., a Marmon Group/Berkshire Hathaway company, started out by supplying the many mines in the Johnstown, Pa., area. In the mid-1960s, the firm began to diversify, obtaining a North American license agreement with Bochumer Verein Verkehrstechnik Gmbh (BVV) for its "state-of-the-art transit wheelset technology," says President and General Manager Dennis Racine. The agreement enabled Penn Machine to enter the transit market — specifically, the resilient wheel market.

Under the program, wheelset components are tracked; each is given a two-dimensional barcode that is recorded. When a wheelset is put in service, the wheel shop places a component bar code on the axle and the data is entered Railinc's Umler™ component registry, Car Repair Billing and Equipment Health Management System. Information can be used to evaluate performance. If a defect is detected, a "precise recall can be initiated," Vaughn says.

Amsted Rail manufactures an array of freight-car undercarriage components, including wheels, axles and bearings. Two new focus areas are in the wheel realm — alloy wheels and vertical split rim research, says Vice President of Technical Services John Oliver.

Timken also led the effort in 2012 to change an AAR rule to require fitted applications for Class E and Class F bearings using either a fitted backing ring on a toleranced dust guard or a universal fitted backing ring on dust guards too small to provide a 0.002" interference fit, Ruel says.

Faulty wheel bearings can cause your vehicle to pull to one side as you apply the brakes. However, take note that it’s also possible to experience abnormal side pull due to faulty brake components as well. For instance, a defective caliper or a worn-out rotor may cause similar issues.

If you’re not equipped with adequate knowledge and tools to identify the problem, let a mechanic troubleshoot your vehicle for you.

Amsted also recently reopened a wheel manufacturing facility that had been idle since 2001. The company made a substantial investment in upgrading the facility, Amsted Rail's fifth U.S. wheel plant, says Amsted Vice President of Research and Development Cameron Lonsdale.

Driving over potholes and speed bumps can cause your wheel bearings to wear faster. Constantly bumping into tall curbs can also damage them. While you can’t exactly change the conditions of the roads you pass by, you can deliberatey drive slowly.

Contacting or rubbing surfaces in the seal creates torque, which leads to hotter bearing temperatures and possible false readings from wayside detectors, he says. Higher torque also requires more power and more fuel to operate. The EcoTurn is designed so that it can retain lubricating grease and exclude contaminants that can affect overall journal bearing and system performance.

One thing we want to provide is a high-quality online shopping experience. With our website, you can find and order the perfect wheel bearing replacements with just a few clicks.

Meanwhile, development of the program's second phase — CEPM-Side Frames, Bolsters and Couplers — is under way and on track.

"We have found that EcoTurn is a near-zero torque seal, which provides the lowest temperature and is very stable," says Buchanan.

Failing wheel bearings can make the steering wheel feel rough and cause excessive vibration when accelerating or cornering.

Resilient wheels feature an elastic layer between the steel tire and wheel center; the elastic layer comprises a number of highly engineered and proprietary individual rubber blocks or ring elements with precisely matched elasticity and damping properties, Racine says.

Wheel bearing noises are typically in sync with the rotation of your tires. The sound may become noticeably louder as your vehicle accelerates. In some cases, the sound may also change depending on the direction of the steering wheel.

"We are the only rail axle manufacturing company in the U.S. with our own in-house heat treating facility to sub-critically quench axles vertically, which produces much less distortion and stress in the axle," Racine says.

A result of that focus: Timken recently reached an agreement with the Greenbrier Cos. Inc. for the purchase of Greenbrier's reconditioned wheelset roller bearing equipment in Elizabethtown, Ky. As part of the deal, Greenbrier entered into a long-term supply agreement with Timken for reconditioned and new bearings.

The program's first phase — CEPM-Wheelsets — offers component-tracking capabilities in Railinc Inc. data systems that provide the North American freight-rail industry with visibility into wheelset health status and history. Railinc is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Association of American Railroads.

Amsted Rail also is developing bearings for heavier loadings, including the MEGA-TONNE™ for loads up to 45 metric tons. And the company has made "major investments" in the Brenco bearing plant near Petersburg, Va., Mason says.

"We had an opportunity to develop a phenolic tube, which is used to insulate the axle shaft for rail maintenance vehicles," Harms says, adding that the tube had to be able to withstand being crushed by the machine's weight.

While wheel bearings are designed to last the life of your vehicle, they aren’t invincible. They can wear and fail due to a number of reasons, such as the following:

A rail industry supplier since 1979, ORX is a full-service shop that provides both new and overhauled freight car, locomotive and transit vehicle products, including wheels and tires, wheelsets, axles, trucks and gear units.

"In the 1960s, we corrected thermal cracking by developing a low-stress wheel design and we are now concentrating on the split rims," he says.

These bearings are usually held together by a metal ring. Most modern vehicles have single wheel hub assemblies, which integrate the hubs and bearings. However, on some vehicles, these two parts are considered two separate components.

Wheel bearings come with a seal that protects them from water, mud, and road salt. In some cases, however, these contaminants can get past the seal, contaminate the grease, and damage the bearings.

Unusual sounds coming from the wheel are often the first sign that something may be wrong with the vehicle’s wheel bearings. Bad wheel bearings produce noises that are often described as growling, humming, or rumbling sounds. In some cases, these failing parts may also produce a high-pitched sound.

Launched in 2011, the Comprehensive Equipment Performance Monitoring (CEPM) program is a multi-phase, multi-year program that provides rail industry participants visibility into rail equipment health and performance. The idea: enable managers to make decisions that improve rail safety, reduce equipment maintenance costs and operate more efficiently.

It is normal for tires to wear out because of prolonged use or unfavorable driving conditions. However, uneven tire wear may also be caused by faulty wheel hub components, such as loose bearings that may cause misalignment.

Any information provided on this Website is for informational purposes only and is not intended to replace consultation with a professional mechanic. The accuracy and timeliness of the information may change from the time of publication. Read our full disclaimer here.

On the axle front, Amsted's AXIS L.L.C. manufactures more than 50 different railroad axle types. In 2008, AXIS opened a state-of-the-art manufacturing plant in Paragould, Ark. — the first new facility to produce AAR-certified railroad axles in decades. All operations, from forging to machining to testing, are performed in the plant, Lonsdale says.

Your anti-lock braking system (ABS) warning light may also turn on if you have a bad wheel bearing. This is because the ABS sensor or encoder ring of some vehicles is integrated into the wheel hub assembly.

It’s easy to overlook this symptom—especially if you often drive with loud music on. But the moment you turn the radio off, these noises become noticeable from behind the wheel.

In the meantime, Harris hopes to boost business by expanding across product groups. New materials such as high-performance phenolics provide that opportunity, he says.

"Using Nomex, we have been able to fabricate insulation material for the past 15 years for both GE and EMD, which are being used in locomotive alternators and generators," says Director of Sales and Marketing Dean Harms. "As a highly specialized shop, we see our role being to drive out cost by providing precise parts that fulfill a unique need."

"We have also developed a universal fitted backing ring for older-style axles," he adds. "A fitted bearing application helps prevent wear and corrosion on the axle, and a universal fitted backing ring is designed to create a fitted application on older axles that were not toleranced."

"The CEPM program provides the participants with detailed information about the health and performance of the components and will allow them to more effectively manage their operation," he adds.

Cracks grow in the wheel rim to the point where the wheel fails inspection or comes apart. Amsted Rail researchers are cutting wheels and, by using X-ray diffraction, measuring internal residual stress.

WS Hampshire also supplied some thermoformed interior panels for Talgo trains that were assembled in Milwaukee last year.

Another way to check the source of the sound is to temporarily overinflate your tires. If the wheels produce the same sound while you drive, the noise is likely coming from your wheel bearings.

While bigger and wider tires can certainly make your vehicle look cooler, they might be too heavy for your OEM wheel bearings. The added load can cause them to wear and fail faster.

Like other symptoms, steering difficulty may be caused by more than one faulty component. It’s best to take your vehicle to an auto repair shop for proper diagnosis.

Take note, however, that these unusual sounds do not always mean that your bearings are faulty. Cupped tires and other wheel hub-related issues may cause similar noises.

The exact price can vary depending on several factors, including your vehicle’s year, make, and model. In general, however, you can expect a wheel bearing replacement to cost anywhere between $10 and $660. If you own a luxury car, you can expect to spend a lot more as its parts tend to be more expensive.

Another symptom that drivers may observe is looseness or excessive play on the steering wheel. This typically becomes more noticeable while driving over rough road surfaces.

Whatever the cause may be, vehicle warning lights shouldn’t be ignored. Have your vehicle checked right away, so you can have the wheel bearings or any other faulty components replaced.

Rail wheels, axles and bearings are among the most fundamental elements of railroading — the very efficiency of railroading depends on how well these elements work together. Progressive Railroading recently reached out to a cross-section of companies that supply wheels, axles and bearings. Technology and market updates from six of them follow.