Ceramic bearings?

metalmagic

New member
Are they really worth it? They seem a little high but I run dirt and if they will last more than a year then I might go for it
 
Ceramic bearings come in a number of designs and material.
None are known for longer lives than quality steel ball bearings.
In fact, most are rather short lived.
Installing ceramic bearings in karts is an expensive stab in the dark.....which has no payoff.
 
I have ceramics in my platinum, they roll so free, no grinding, no drag, I have also had steel bearings roll that free as well. I honestly couldn't tell you if they are worth the money or not. My next set will not be ceramics just due to the cost.
 
i think they do hold up a little longer but for the price i can keep new steel bearings in each month for 5 months for the price of one set of the ceramics.
 
I don't know what ceramics these people are using but they are hands down better than steel. At least the PRC ceramics are. Last forever, no grinding and roll about double as good as steel
 
PRC ceramics are far better than any bearings over ever used. They roll soooo free and over never worn any out. If what BadMax said is true, then after 5 months they start paying for themselves anyway.
 
I agree prc bearings have lasted over two seasons worth of hard racing on our karts, prc ceramics pay for them selves bottom line!
 
No one has any suggestions?
NO....they are not worth it! But....if You want too buy them, they wud probably 'work-4-u'! I have a 200+mph dragster w/ $1400 worth of ceramic rearend/wheel bearings....was/is it 'worth' it(?)...."Darn if I know, I just wanted the 'Best' I cud get!
 
They are like everything else. When you are looking for the last 100th of a second they might be worth it. If you are just racing locally or even big events but you are not on top of the game you´d better spend your money on tires. JMO
 
Wow this is a popular topic all of of a sudden! Here was my post on the other thread...


The tough part on here can be separating the facts from the opinions.

Facts...

Are they more expensive? Yes
Do they perform better? Yes
Do they last longer? Yes
Are they higher maintenance? No


Opinions...

Do you need them to win races and championships? Everybody has a different situation.

Are they worth the money? Depends on what your money is worth to you.

If you run pro kart tour, tri state, mid atlantic, etc., most of the real competition is gonna be on ceramics. It's not a coincidence that the teams that spend the money are the ones collecting the prizes.

If you are winning on a local level or just plain satisfied with your performance using standard bearings, you don't need to spend the money.

I ran standard bearings for two years and then switched to ceramics. I'm convinced. Here is why...

When I ran the standard bearings, there is no doubt that they would become sloppy over a period of several races. The trouble was trying to figure out what level of sloppiness was I willing to accept before deciding to replace them.

Of course the ceramics felt tight on day one. I can honestly say that after almost a year running them in two pro series, they feel just as good as the day they were installed. History tells me that I would have replaced the steel bearings 3 times over the same period. I don't find myself wondering if I can squeak one more week out of a set of bearings before replacing them. There seems to be no performance lost since new. If nothing else, the piece of mind of knowing is worth it to me. Jmo.

Based on my experience, I compare a new steel bearing to a ceramic bearing like this...

Both new, out of the box, is the closest they will ever be to each other in performance. Some may say they are equal at this point or at least the difference is immeasurable. What hooked me though is - the steel bearing doesn't just fail over night, it starts to degrade as soon as it starts to spin. Immediately the performance level of the two begins to spread. After 8-10 nights of racing it will be considerably different. This is where the ceramic bearing advantage comes in. The ceramic seems to continue to hold tight and certainly when it begins to degrade, the curve isn't nearly as steep of a decline.

My point is, when making your decision, compare a ceramic with 50 races to a steel bearing with 50 races.

I will add that I am using the PRC ceramics as well.

Hope this helps.
 
Ha Ha because I just asked this last week ...scroll down until you see ceramic bearings and be ready yep you picked a topic that everyone just loves haha!
 
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