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Rod end bearings

Scott Hersha

Well Known Member
From Aurora bearing company:

“Rod ends and spherical bearings that are Teflon lined are self-lubricating and are designed to be maintenance free and should not be lubricated.”

Is there a way to tell if/where I have ,Aurora or Heim, PTFE lined bearings? I usually lubricate, but maybe I shouldn’t.
 
Lube them. If there’s no zerk, it was probably a soft bearing metal or ptfe type. There are service bulletins in certified world that contradict the earlier “no maintenance required” instructions in their SMs. The ones that I remember call out Tri-flow or equivalent, which contains ptfe resin, in the lube schedule.

It certainly can’t hurt.
 
From Aurora bearing company:

“Rod ends and spherical bearings that are Teflon lined are self-lubricating and are designed to be maintenance free and should not be lubricated.”

Is there a way to tell if/where I have ,Aurora or Heim, PTFE lined bearings? I usually lubricate, but maybe I shouldn’t.

The COM 3-5 bearing is a special made for Mooney by Aurora from my searching.

I would guess you could turn the bearing and view in interior to see the coating, but Vans sourced part is made with an OD groove and radial lube holes inviting lubrication. I have never seen any Vans literature or on VAF mentioning not to lube a bearing. Maybe it has changed.
 
Gonna go so far as to say it’s more important on RVs than a lot of other aircraft. Vans doesn’t specify castellated nuts on their aero surface connections. I’m fine with that. If properly maintained, the bearing will rotate and not subject the fastener to rotation. That said, lack of attention can lead to the aforementioned bad situation.

The Vans approach is fine; but like most everything, it’s only fault tolerant to a point.

Stay safe.
 
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