Staffan

First of all thanks for heads up!
But man, I'm afraid you are right about me getting the plastic caged one.
When looking into this I saw there where different versions of it, so I asked Pelican if the cheaper one was the same part that Porsche sells. The answer was "Yes you can use it" (or something like that). I should have asked for the exact SKF part number.

I just have to wait and see what bearing I will recieve and then decide what to do. SKF is a Swedish company and a friend of mine could probably get hold of the right bearing with a decent discount. Another option is not to replace this bearing since there wasn't any noticable wear on it according to the shop.

Would it be a bad idea not to replace it since it sits just beside the bearing pictured? Or rather, is it standard to change both in this situation?

Staffan

Thanks Jeff!
I would love a shorter gears, it have to wait though.

PorscheII

My comments were regarding the ball bearing, while I think you are now discussing the roller bearing. If the rollers and races look good under a 30X microscope, there may be no reason to replace it ... on the other hand, you're already in there, so you may wish to replace it ... but ONLY if the replacement is of the same quality as your original.

In the distant past, *** and SKF were always equal in quality. Nowadays, you never know what you're going to get from ***, and the same may be true about SKF. Even when bad batches of bearings surface, the master supplier will take them back, and then slip in a few with every large lot sent oversees for years to come. They rarely discard them.

Generally, you want to stay away from plastic cages for racing use. Plastic is OK for street cars, but won't hold up to high heat of racing. It's common to see burned or even melted plastic cages in race cars with no added gear oil coolers ... especially when mediocre oils are used. As Porsche continues to cut corners on individual component costs, quality issues will become more prevalent.

Staffan

Well, as no surprise my gearbox doesn't have any cooling and it do get really hot on the track, no way I could use a plastic cage

The bearing in my first picture, ball bearing, manufactured by *** part number 574710/1, Porsche part number 999.052.164.00, bought it from Pelican for $224 usd. When looking at the picture at Pelican it do look like a brass cage.

The other one, roller bearing, manufactured by SKF part number N 308 ECM, Porsche part number 999.110.119.01, bought it from Pelican for $67 usd. Pelican have what they call a "Genuine Porsche" branded version of this bearing at $455 usd. When looking at the pictures of these two versions the cage looks different, the Porsche one seems to have a brass cage, the other one something else...

I don't know if we ever misunderstood each other or not, the important thing is that you raised my attention to that the "cheaper models" could have a plastic cage.

I hope to get my delivery from Pelican tomorrow (I also send an email to Pelican to get the SKF bearing part number). As a backup I have contacted a SKF reseller and they will get back with a price for the brass caged version of the roller bearing.

PorscheII

I'm not as familiar with the different versions of the roller bearing as I am with the ball bearing. The last roller I got in the original Porsche box was a "Made in India" *** bearing with plastic cage ... so this bearing may not have been available with a brass cage for many years.

Staffan

Pelican just verified that they shipped the ECP (plastic) version of the roller bearing

I found a source for the ECM version at 195 Euro, but I will keep digging to see if I can get a better price somewhere else

I just hope the roller bearing from Pelican has a brass cage, but it looks that way.

The information from Pelican has been really bad I think.
It doesn't say on their site that the bearing has a plastic cage and they didn't tell me about the difference between the two versions when I specifially asked them.

This situation would have been avoided if they had been more clear.

Metal Guru

If Pelican has a weakness, this is it,
They have a wonderful logistics system in place and for the most part, the best web-based catalog in the industry. All this is good if you are certain that you know what you are ordering. However, if there is any ambiguity in what you need or are trying to get, you are in trouble.
I have found that the guys at Sunset are more like the guys you would deal with at a dealership parts counter in that they are super knowledgeable about all parts and their application. Sunset's weakness is in information about order status and tracking.

PorscheII

Even SSF was selling the plastic caged bearing, so I wouldn't come down too hard on Pelican. I imagine that's all that will be available some time in the future ...

Staffan

My problem with the situation is that I asked a specific question to Pelican and they decide (twice actually) not to give me all the information. I have send them an email to find out what my options are.

Staffan

Recieved the bearings from Pelican.
The roller bearing on the left has a plastic cage, won't use it.
I ordered the correct bearing with metal cage today from a local source, SKF list price is $370 usd but I will get it for $180 usd.

viperbob

What gear oil were you using???

turboholic

Wow, thats a 50% discount, congrats!

Staffan

I was using a "racing" gear oil from a company called Statoil, don't think it's available in your part of the world. I think it might been a factor, either way I'm back to Mobilube SHC Delvac.

Staffan

Yeah, it pays to shop around which was the reason for starting this thread, but in the end the focus got into different versions of bearings, so very valuable for me and hopefully others.

For the record I didn't get this discount due to contacts the guy at the shop is interested in motorsports, they seems to have a good margin on these things.

viperbob

In the Porsche gearboxes when I see wear like that on a component the first thing I look at is the gear oil. You are lucky. When I see wear like that in the bearings I many times will also see it in things like the ring and pinion. Stick with a good lubricant and a lot of these things you will never see.... Good luck..