Originally Posted by
well biked
the most important part of the unit, the cups, would last longer with the load spread out over more area as with loose balls.
If ball-to-ball friction produces residue, that would effect the cups too.
Seems to me that in a radial bearing peak load occurs on one ball at a time, and that having the balls closer together
does not reduce peak load, but reduces the time that load is applied. If degradation phenomena such as micro-welding are primarily a function of load rather than time, cup degradation should be unaffected by relatively small differences in ball count.