I’ve search and maybe I’m not searching the right keywords or something.. but I’m going to get main and rod bearings from clevite and would like some opinions on which series to use. It seems to be that H series are racing bearings.. now I don’t plan on high HP.. it’ll be just stock p-pump 12v. I may upgrade turbo wheel and fuel it more in the future and I’m going to use arp studs because I have a set.. but it’s just going to be a street truck. I’d rather go with whatever will last longer in my application. I had originally thought I’d go with oem Cummins bearings, however, the local Cummins supplier is a joke.. I can’t get anyone on the phone and the time or two I have.. they are almost no help finding me what I need. My lady works at a parts store and I can get Clevites for her discounted price.. so that’s why I’ve opted to go with them.. I can’t find where anyone has had any major issues with them so I’m not leaning towards paying through the nose for Cummins name.. thanks for any opinions!

 

Anyone?? No one here has any experience with rotation assembly bearings at all?

 

Sorry, I always used Cummins parts- never heard of Clevite over here. I know this does not really help you...

If Clevite works like the bearing mfgs I know, I'd stick with their standard power application. It should last longer if you don't go too wild. (Less than 370hp, which would be the most powerful stock variant of this engine)
ARP studs are good, follow their lube and torque instructions.

 

thanks for the input! On KT performance and JEGs, they have bearings advertised as MAHLE clevite. So I assume they are made by the same manufacturer.. not sure but I guess I’ll look more into that.

 

As with many products, manufacturers can make parts that appear the same, but are actually made to different standards of quality, depending on who ordered the manufacture...Therefore it pays to look into that aspect, not just whether they are dimensionally correct......Ben

 

well I’ve gotten the item number for the bearing I would be getting by clevite and they match the same item numbers on jegs.. I’ll try and see if I can figure out where they were manufactured and if it’s any different.. if anyone has any other opinions on what to use or where to look then I’m all ears.. the H series seem to be up there close in price with oem Cummins.. so if I opt for those and not the P series, I may just go with oem..

 

OK, I see I did not make myself clear:

If Clevite (whom I don't know) or Mahle (who I do know) make 2 specs of crankshaft bearings, one standard and one performance, you can characterize these sets as follows:

Standard: Maximum longevity at the intended loads, rather low tolerance for overload or loss of lubrication under load

Performance: Maximum protection possible at overload or lack of lubrication under load , for the price of shorter service life under normal load.

Pricing does not necessarily signify quality and it's paramount to get the correct specs for the application before discussing quality. (Sawdust fake bearings from XXXXX excempted)

HTH

 

thank you for that, I was just stuck on the mahle/clevite and wondering if they were the same or not.. since higher dollar doesn’t mean it’ll be any better for my situation.. I’ll probably stick with Cummins at least for the internal bearings. Unless anyone chimes in with about the P series. I sure don’t want to have to tear it back down. Thanks again.

 

According to the description the Clevite bearings are electroplated, and AFAIK the Cummins bearings are sputter plated.

If you read up on the characteristics of both processes you will find that for an ordinary diesel or gas engine sputter bearings are preferable.

 

Clevite is, from what I can tell, a copyright name that Mahle owns. It may have originated with another company and somehow wound up with Mahle - I'm not sure. It may represent the 3-layer copper-lead-babbitt form of engine bearings and has been a widely known name here in the US for a long time. As the OP has seen, there are different versions - for instance, Clevite 77 (no longer around, I think), P, and H, and ???? Back in the day when TRW offered high performance engine parts, TRW Clevite 77 bearings were pretty popular and other companies may have also offered Clevite 77 bearings. Here are a couple of links that may shed some light on the different Clevite styles (or further confuse...):


https://www.stealth316.com/misc/clev...n-bearings.pdf
https://www.hotrod.com/articles/sele...gine-bearings/

Sounds to me like OEM Cummins bearings would be a good choice, as Alpine suggested. If you aren't getting help at your nearest Cummins dealer, try creating an account on QuickServe (you'll need your engine serial #) and see if you can find current part #s for the bearings. Then google and find the best place online.

 

Here's the Wiki on Clevite......Ben

 

I appreciate the help and information guys! This will be the first bottom end I’ve fully assembled myself.. I have no doubt I can successfully get it together without issue, however, different bearing types and as far as what they’re plated with.. I’m completely ignorant. I’ll definitely read into those links. And I’ll more than likely go with Cummins at this point, sure don’t want an issue with anything for a long time ones it’s running.

 

How did the old bearings look and did you measure your crank?

 

sorry for the late reply, I’m actually headed to a machine shop right now to have the crank measured. I bought the truck and torn apart motor from a man that wasn’t wanting to go through putting it back together.. so the engine was already at a machine shop in AL.. It had spun a rod bearing and broke a wrist pin clip, previous owner already had another crank for it so I had the shop resleeve, hone and polish the crank.. should have had them measure it too but I just didn’t think about it. So to answer your question, I’m not exactly sure.. but probably not too good..I think it had been run while knocking.

 

I'd talk to the machine shop after they measured the crank. They usually have experience on what works fine for the measurements they took.
If you buy bearings according to a list of measurements you will need to verify with plastigage after installation, and if not within specs the fun and blame games begin.