1915 SD4 steering box bearings

[Studenut1915]

I have my steering box apart in my 1915 SD4. The worm thrust bearing cone and and cups are unusable. There is no numbers on the pieces the parts book shows the cup as 10875 and the cone as 10876. two of each are required. The ball bearing are locally available. Would anybody have anything going back this far or do I have to get creative?

[rbk]

I suggest that you contact Andy Beckman at the Studebaker archives and for a research fee he can send you the drawing of the bearing which may reveal

the original manufacturer and part number. abeckman@studebakermuseum.org

You can than go to olcar bearing and buy the bearing. 910-693-3324

[Stude Light]

I don't think the Studebaker Archives have much back to 1915 and my experience with thrust bearings going that far back is to measure up what you have and start looking for a comparable size currently available. There were not many thrust bearing companies back then (the Nice Bearing Company was one of the few) and the part numbers would not cross to any bearings today. Good luck.

Scott

[hwellens]

I do not have the bearing information you need now, but, the attached may help in the future.

studebaker bearings.PDF

[rbk]

I wanted to point out that OLCAR bearing Co deals in obsolete bearings and may even have an original listing for this bearing.

Robert Kapteyn

[studeboy]

Thanks for that great bearing reference hwellens. I made a hard copy right away.

[Stude Light]

That is a rather nice listing of bearings - I also made a copy. Obviously put out by the Timken Company and probably much sought after by non-Studebaker owners too.

Studenut, keep in mind that Timken made tapered roller bearings at the time and not thrust bearings. Too bad your bearings have no markings as that would probably help OLCAR identify them for you. Again, I would start measuring your old part and if OLCAR can't help out you can probably find something in production, although you may need to make some spacers too since today's bearings package a lot better.

Scott

[Studenut1915]

Sorry about not getting back to you sooner. I was out of town for a few days and have been playing catch up since. Thanks for all the advice. the bearing reference was great and will come in valuable in the future. I have left a message and faxed Olcar with no response, perhaps he is at a swap meet or just away. I have sourced bearings that will work with a little polishing. They will require a spacer that will ride on the inside 1/3 of the thrust bearing. The bearing loads for the road shock should be much less that that created by the roads a hundred years ago so I do not believe that should be a problem. Your comments are welcome. Again thanks for the support. I will let you know how I make out.

[avantey]

Thank you HWellens! I do not know if the specs are applicable to my '13 SA 25 but I bet they are since an SC 25 would be the same 4 cyl base car in their lineup.

Thanks,