[JSPONT]

Pulled my motor to freshen it up. Has a steel eagle crank. The rear wide bearing I did not like the look of after a flywheel issue. I had an extra set of federal. They were a little tight for my liking. Richie Hoffman had a set of Clevitte I he measured it was the same as the federal. The only company that had bearing with extra clearance was king. I bought the set. It was dead on what they said it would be. My only issue is there is no chamfer so I will have to do that. The fit real tight to the cap and register.
I took out the thrust to compare also. The King bearing has all the minor tricks most do. The parting line if filed already. They have the notches on the thrust sides too. ( federal has the notches too I think)
I did like the quality, I will now use king from now on. Butler did stock extra clearance ones too.

[darbikrash]

I've taken to using King now as well. I really like them, the Alecular bearings are great for steel cranks, and just about their whole product line is pretty good in my opinion. Regarding the thrust with the grooves in the load surface, I don't think either Clevite or FM do this anymore, and I think it is pretty important.

[mgarblik]

I agree the King Bearings are very nice. I guess the term I would use is the King bearings are "detailed" compared to FM or Clevite. I have had good success with all the brands as long as clearance and housing bores are accurate. When FM moved the performance bearing production to Mexico, I do notice the oil clearance is .0007-.001 tighter than the older USA production bearings. I compensate by having the cranks prepped slightly smaller to get the desired clearance. I do wish one of the brands, Clevite, ACL, FM or King would make -.030 and -.040 race bearings. King has bearings as small as -.050 for BBC Chevy. Hard to scrap a $3500.00 billet crank because you need a -.030 or -.040 bearing set.

[JSPONT]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I agree the King Bearings are very nice. I guess the term I would use is the King bearings are "detailed" compared to FM or Clevite. I have had good success with all the brands as long as clearance and housing bores are accurate. When FM moved the performance bearing production to Mexico, I do notice the oil clearance is .0007-.001 tighter than the older USA production bearings. I compensate by having the cranks prepped slightly smaller to get the desired clearance. I do wish one of the brands, Clevite, ACL, FM or King would make -.030 and -.040 race bearings. King has bearings as small as -.050 for BBC Chevy. Hard to scrap a $3500.00 billet crank because you need a -.030 or -.040 bearing set.

Yup funny you say that, I needed .001 compared to the older one I had the new ones were tight. Clevitte was bought by mahle now. I just hate buying a few sets of bearings to get the desired clearance. I did not want to pull the crank for 1 bearing.

[PAUL K]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

I agree the King Bearings are very nice. I guess the term I would use is the King bearings are "detailed" compared to FM or Clevite. I have had good success with all the brands as long as clearance and housing bores are accurate. When FM moved the performance bearing production to Mexico, I do notice the oil clearance is .0007-.001 tighter than the older USA production bearings. I compensate by having the cranks prepped slightly smaller to get the desired clearance. I do wish one of the brands, Clevite, ACL, FM or King would make -.030 and -.040 race bearings. King has bearings as small as -.050 for BBC Chevy. Hard to scrap a $3500.00 billet crank because you need a -.030 or -.040 bearing set.

No need to scrap it, I'll take it off your hands and even pay the shipping.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by JSPONT

Yup funny you say that, I needed .001 compared to the older one I had the new ones were tight. Clevitte was bought by mahle now. I just hate buying a few sets of bearings to get the desired clearance. I did not want to pull the crank for 1 bearing.

If you ever get in a jam again, I have quite a few broken sets of 3" main bearings from our funny car mis-adventures. PM me with needs and I may have the weird bearing you need.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by PAUL K

No need to scrap it, I'll take it off your hands and even pay the shipping.

Believe it or not we are using plain old FM 4040 street bearings in #1 and #5 on one of our cranks because that's the only -.030 bearings I could find for a Pontiac. They survive in the funny car for now. If it were #2,3,4 they would be toast. The front and rear of the block is surprisingly strong and rigid. By the time we give up on a crankshaft, it really is junk!

[JSPONT]

Originally Posted by mgarblik

If you ever get in a jam again, I have quite a few broken sets of 3" main bearings from our funny car mis-adventures. PM me with needs and I may have the weird bearing you need.

Thanks! I will keep in in mind but I hope I will not need it anytime soon!!

[chiphead]

When I built my 3" 434, I noticed that the STD FM 113 bearings ran about .001-.0013" tighter than the FM 4040M.

With the STD 113s, I averaged about .0032" main clearance.
With the STD 4040M I had .0042"! at the rear.

I had to go to 4040M .001 undersize to get the mains to .0025"-.003" clearance. The housing bores ran on the high side and the Scat crank was on the low side at about 2.9985".

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by chiphead

When I built my 3" 434, I noticed that the STD FM 113 bearings ran about .001-.0013" tighter than the FM 4040M.

With the STD 113s, I averaged about .0032" main clearance.
With the STD 4040M I had .0042"! at the rear.

I had to go to 4040M .001 undersize to get the mains to .0025"-.003" clearance. The housing bores ran on the high side and the Scat crank was on the low side at about 2.9985".

Yea, that's why you have to measure everything. I have to admit I was pleasantly surprised that the ordinary street bearings FM 4040M survived at well over 3100 HP! They looked and measured fine. Bill Miller, (BME) told us that at the (puny power) we were making, they would be fine and damn he was right. He loves to make fun of us, but is a huge help. He said when he ran the Fontana blocks in his early top fuel days, no race bearings were available and street bearings worked just fine for drag racing at least.