layedback1

Golly guys the difference between high quality steel bearing and ceramic ones is so tiny it really isnt worth arguing over. The difference is so thin as to equal a gnats hind leg sandpapered on both sides.

DMF 

15¢ vs. $15 is small?*

You been watching Land of the Giants re-runs again?






* Numbers extracted rapidly from ass.

davidad

For one thing, it's hard for me to visualize what happens when one preloads ball bearings. Does it involve where on the tapered race(s?) the balls ride?
Under load the balls sink slightly into the race. Preload takes this into account so that more than one ball is taking the load.

DMF 

I understand what happens when you decrease the clearance. I wasn't clear on the exact mechanism for doing so. But after some thought I believe I have it. Yes, clearance is reduced by setting the depth of a tapered inner race.

This seems to have a couple of side effects. First, it means that the force vector on the balls is not exclusively in the vertical plane. They ride between two races that are sloped with reference to the plane. So there is a thrust vector on the bearing. (Since there are two mirrored bearings, the vectors cancel.) Second, this seems to imply a wiping action, or perhaps more properly a torque around the center of contact. That would make lubrication important. Third, it explains how the bearing is able to take induced thrust (i.e. from cornering) without needing a separate mechanism like a thrust washer.

Thinking of them this way seems to explain a lot more than the simple but intuitive model of balls rolling between flat plates perpendicular to the vertical plane. More like a tapered roller bearing...