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Comparing TR Clutch Release Bearings

Discussion in 'Boxers/TR/M' started by okiedude, Oct 15, 2014.

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  1. okiedude

    okiedude Formula 3

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    #1 okiedude, Oct 15, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    After much discussion in an earlier thread about TR clutch release bearings, I was able to procure both the $100+ "aftermarket" Eurospares and the $750 "OEM" Fpimp release bearings.
    I have a few observations and photos of both.
    First, the basic manufacture of this part, as it it really is made up of three separate pieces. The outer containment ring, the actual bearing and finally the raised contact ring. The bearing sits inside the containment ring, then the contact ring sits on top of the bearing, the upper lip of the containment ring is crimped or swaged around the outer diameter of the contact ring to secure it in place and allow the whole package to rotate around the inner race of the actual bearing-confused? Hopefully the pics will help.
    Eurospares bearing came in a simple box, OEM bearing came in a slightly fancier blue box, wrapped in anti corrosion paper.
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  2. okiedude

    okiedude Formula 3

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    #2 okiedude, Oct 15, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    You can see the construction of the two bearings side by side.
    The Eurospare bearing has a plain steel containment ring (possibly prone to rust?), the ring is continuously swaged to hold the contact ring, the contact ring appears to be steel and turned on a lathe (CNC?) and anodized(?). Its contact surface is fairly narrow, and has a small radius. The actual bearing is marked 6010 RS, which appears to a fairly common bearing number. The bearing spins smoothly with some minor resistance, expected in a new bearing.
    The OEM bearing has a steel containment ring, anodized(?), it is swaged and also crimped in 4 spots, where there are 4 detents on the containment ring, the contact ring is also NC turned steel, with a larger and more gradual radius. Actual bearing is marked 103936, Made in UK, search does not pull up this bearing (at least not for me). The bearing spins smoothly, but with more resistance than the ES bearing.
    One other note, which I just noticed while writing this. The ID of the ES contact ring is larger than the ID of the actual bearing, The ID on the OEM contact ring is slightly smaller the ID of the actual bearing. I have yet to tear into my clutch so I don’t know if that last observation is of any significance.
    One thing I did notice in looking at the exploded parts diagram at Eurospares, if you look closely at the release bearing in the diagram, it has the crimps which I find on my OEM bearing FWIW.
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  3. okiedude

    okiedude Formula 3

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    #3 okiedude, Oct 15, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    In the prior thread it was noted that there had been issues with the aftermarket release bearings being “too tall”, so I measured both bearings, using a MItutoyo Height gauge (with bearing placed on a 123 block on a surface table) and Mitutoyo calipers.
    The Eurospare bearing OD is 3.2260, OEM OD is 3.2325, I’m sure the slight difference is simply the material thickness of the containment rings. The ID of the actual bearings is both 1.9660.
    Now, I measured the height or thickness of the two bearings. I actually took four measurements, rotating the 123 block aprox. 90* for each measurement. I did this because I did get slightly different measurements at the different positions (though the variations were negligible). After adding the four numbers and dividing by 4, I came up with the following: Eurospares bearing is 1.0020” thick and the OEM bearing is .99925” thick, thus the ES unit is .00275” taller. I don’t know if this variation is enough to cause premature wear, as discussed earlier or not (or if I even measured these darn things in a meaningful way-LOL!)
    I'm not smart enough to know which one is better, but they are very similar in appearance/measurements/ and apparent functionality.
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  4. rpissm

    rpissm Formula 3

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    #4 rpissm, Oct 16, 2014
    I think I'll order my Eurospares part before they go up in price. :)
     
  5. rpissm

    rpissm Formula 3

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    #5 rpissm, Oct 16, 2014
  6. turbo-joe

    turbo-joe F1 Veteran

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    #6 turbo-joe, Oct 16, 2014
    hey joe,
    you may call them and ask.
    I ordered the last 3 weeks a lot of parts from eurospares, also "pattern"parts. those are rebuilt or remanufactured or even new built parts, not original, but also matching.
    I you call you may ask for CLAUDIO and say a nice hello from me.
     
  7. godabitibi

    godabitibi F1 Veteran

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    #7 godabitibi, Oct 16, 2014
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
  8. godabitibi

    godabitibi F1 Veteran

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    #8 godabitibi, Oct 16, 2014
    Thanks for that comparison Chad!
     
  9. okiedude

    okiedude Formula 3

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    #9 okiedude, Oct 16, 2014
    Claude, in your picture, the one on the right looks much more like my OEM bearing, at least the contact ring. The one on the left looks more like the Eurospares version, except it has the crimps. So, that makes for a third version now. The plot thickens.
    Which one did you get from SF, left or right?
     
  10. okiedude

    okiedude Formula 3

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    #10 okiedude, Oct 16, 2014
    Joe, so far no one seems to want to gamble on the $400 bearing from Eurospares. At this point it is an unknown quantity. When I inquired about it ($400 bearing), a few weeks ago, the response was simply, "Both of these bearings are made excellent.We hardly sell the OEM." If it truly is OEM, then it's a heck of a deal, almost $300 cheaper than the NA dealer OEM pricing. Someone else can buy that one and chime in-LOL!
     
  11. godabitibi

    godabitibi F1 Veteran

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    #11 godabitibi, Oct 16, 2014
    Last edited: Oct 16, 2014
    Sorry Blake I improperly called you Chad :-(. The left bearing is the one off the car which I assumed was OEM but I may be wrong. The one on the right is the new one that came from Superformance in the white box.
    When I had both bearings in hand they really looked exactly the same but I never thought about measuring.

    Lets hope Rifledriver will chime to tell us which is the incorrect one from his experience.
     
  12. okiedude

    okiedude Formula 3

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    #12 okiedude, Oct 16, 2014
    I've been called worse-LOL! No worries. Yes, the new one from SF looks very similar to my solid gold one.
     
  13. MS250

    MS250 Two Time F1 World Champ
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    #13 MS250, Oct 16, 2014
    Similar doesn't mean exact.

    This is what concerns me when looking at other products. Hopefully someone with real world experience can chime in and outline the difference, if any.

    Do other car manufactures have the same tolerance if a product is similar ? Or is just ferrari.

    Inquiring minds need to know.
     
  14. okiedude

    okiedude Formula 3

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    #14 okiedude, Oct 16, 2014
    Exactly, that is why I took actual measurements. Plus I was only referring to appearance. It would be great to get a release bearing from one of these super low mileage cars and get measurements from an original 1990 part. So far we have measurements on two, I believe there is a third bearing coming on the scene in the next few days, hopefully Christian will chime in on his.
     
  15. 302Tim

    302Tim Formula 3

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    #15 302Tim, Oct 16, 2014
    For everyones information, Maranello Concessionaires manufactures/sells reproduction parts under the "Mar Parts" label. If you look this bearing up on their site you will see a yellow box with "MP"--that means it is a Mar Parts replacement part--not OEM/NOS. I was once told they are the only Ferrari-authorized reproducers, and often use the OEM molds/dyes, etc., and have access to the original drawings so the parts are/nearly are identical to the OEM. I believe "Pattern" is a UK company reproducing parts, just not with Ferrari's official authorization--anyone know for sure?
     
  16. lear60man

    lear60man Formula 3

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    #16 lear60man, Oct 17, 2014
    I ended up ordering my bearing from Ferrari of Seattle who had to get it from a Ferrari warehouse in New Jersey. My price was also around $750.

    The bearing that is off the my car looks identical to Blakes 'OEM' bearing in his pictures.

    Interesting note, Ferrparts actually has a listing for their bearing on Ebay. It has the same box as Blakes 'OEM' bearing.

    Mine should be here tomorrow according to FedEx. Ill report back when it arrives.

    In the end, I chose to get it directly from Ferrari for peace of mind. My girl is in pieces and it drives me nuts. Hopefully was can collectively compile a list of known quality bearings/sources, with an acceptable price. This will hopefully give some solace to the next guy who is doing a clutch job.

    Paying $750 for a $20 bearing really sticks in my throat. But proper has a price tag sometimes.
     
  17. lear60man

    lear60man Formula 3

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    #17 lear60man, Oct 18, 2014
    Last edited: Oct 18, 2014
    Just got the Bearing from Ferrari. Below is a picture of the bearing that cam out (left) and the new one (right).

    [​IMG]

    If you peel of the Ferrari label, it says Maranello Classics. They list the bearing on their web site for $477. Nice mark up Ferrari......A**holes. As least we know where to get the bearing at the best price. Now we need to find out who makes the bearing for Maranello Classics and go directly to the source.
     
  18. godabitibi

    godabitibi F1 Veteran

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    #18 godabitibi, Oct 18, 2014
    For such a markup they should at least print a Ferrari box for it.
     
  19. okiedude

    okiedude Formula 3

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    #19 okiedude, Oct 18, 2014
    Ugh!Hopefully others can benefit from this thread, and save a bucks.
    Claude, exactly, where's the darn yellow box?
     
  20. ozziindaus

    ozziindaus F1 Veteran

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    #20 ozziindaus, Jul 10, 2015
    So in my quest to find a good TO bearing and not feel like I got ****ed in the ass, I have come down to the following conclusions:

    -The OEM is an SKF bearing but not necessarily the one you'll get from Ferrari.
    -in some cases, Ferrari repackage the Maranello Classics bearing (good find Christian but sorry you had to discover this at your expense).
    -The Eurospares bearing is sold by many distributors/retailers and with vast spreads. It is very likely that the $350 AW Imports bearing I received is the exact same one from Eurospares at $122 (Pattern).
    -Not clear what the $480 Eurospares bearing is or who makes it.
    -Not clear also who supplies Ricambi with their $780 bearing.
    -Superperfomance bearing with the 4x crimps are likely made or distributed by Capristo (exhaust guys) in Germany. This one too has a wide spread depending on who you call. SP has them for about USD$140.

    Now when it comes to quality, this is hard to tell. I thoroughly questioned every retailer about their bearings especially quality, returns, who they have sold to and how many they have sold. All have similar "we have never had any issues" replies.

    I'm also not aware of anyone having bearings prematurely fail and that includes the "cheapo" ones. Premature clutch wear was something that has come up but I'm really struggling to believe the height difference (0.00275"=0.070mm) as mentioned above is the root cause. That's almost half the width of a human hair.

    For now, I've decided on the SP bearing based on the larger contact ring (AW like the ES was really thin). Once I receive it, I'll check dimensions and post them up.
     

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