When I started in the roller bearing supply business almost 18 years ago, spherical roller bearings (SRBs) were the first product line I invested in heavily. I’ll never forget that first big sale—$120,000 for a mining operation in Western Australia that needed to keep their crushers running around the clock. At the time, SRBs seemed like the perfect workhorse: they handle heavy radial loads, accommodate misalignment, and perform well in harsh environments. But over the decades, I’ve learned that no bearing is one-size-fits-all, and SRBs have their fair share of disadvantages that I’ve had to walk customers through, often at the risk of losing a sale (but building trust instead). Today, I want to pull back the curtain on those disadvantages, not to bash SRBs, but because as a supplier, I owe it to my customers to be honest. If you’re spec’ing bearings, this is the stuff no sales rep will tell you without you asking. Roller Bearing
First, let’s get one thing straight: spherical roller bearings are double-row, self-contained units with barrel-shaped rollers between two raceways on the inner ring and a single spherical raceway on the outer ring. That geometry is why they handle misalignment so well—up to 2.5 degrees of angular misalignment in most standard sizes, and some custom units can push that to 4 degrees. But that same geometry is their biggest Achilles’ heel when it comes to axial loads. Unlike thrust bearings or even angular contact ball bearings, SRBs are not designed to handle high axial loads in either direction. I had a customer in the paper mill industry a few years back who swapped out their angular contact bearings for SRBs on a paper machine’s press roll. They’d heard SRBs could handle heavy radial loads and misalignment, which the old bearings couldn’t. But within three months, those SRBs failed, and when we tore them down, we found that the thrust load from the roll’s operation had worn down the edge of the inner ring’s raceway so bad that the rollers were skipping. The engineer admitted he’d forgotten to check the bearing’s axial load rating—something I now highlight in every pre-sale consultation. The problem is that SRBs can handle small, incidental axial loads, but when axial loads exceed 10-15% of the radial load, their performance drops off a cliff. The rollers aren’t aligned to handle axial forces, so they start skewing, which causes premature wear, heat buildup, and eventually seizing. I’ve seen this happen in everything from conveyor systems with uneven load distribution to marine propulsion shafts that experience thrust from wave action. It’s not that SRBs are bad here—it’s that they’re misapplied.
Next up, cost. SRBs are not cheap, and that’s a disadvantage that hits hard for job shops or small operations working on tight budgets. Let’s do a quick side-by-side: a 6208 deep groove ball bearing, common in industrial equipment, costs around $15-$20 for a standard quality unit. A comparable SRB, same bore and outer diameter, is $45-$60—two to three times more expensive. Why? The manufacturing process is more complex. The inner ring has two raceways that need to be machined with precision, the barrel-shaped rollers require specialized grinding, and the outer ring’s spherical raceway is a custom shape that can’t be produced on every lathe. Then there’s the material: most SRBs are made through case hardening or through-hardening with premium chrome steel, not the cheaper carbon steel used for some ball bearings. I’ve had customers come to me saying they “saved $3,000” by switching to a different supplier’s SRBs, only to have those bearings fail in six months instead of three years. But even with a reputable brand, the cost is a barrier. For applications where misalignment isn’t an issue, or radial loads aren’t extreme, the extra cost of an SRB just doesn’t make sense. A customer who runs a small packaging line with perfectly aligned shafts and moderate loads doesn’t need to pay for an SRB’s extra features—they’re wasting money. I once had a food processing plant owner tell me he stopped using SRBs on his conveyor system because he was replacing them every year for 20% more cost, when a ball bearing would last three years for half the price. That’s the reality. The value of an SRB only kicks in when you need those specific performance traits, and if you don’t, it’s a bad buy.
Heat generation is another downside, especially in high-speed applications. SRBs have more contact points between the rollers and the raceways than other bearing types, which creates more friction. That’s fine at low to moderate speeds, but when you start pushing the rotational speed, the friction turns into heat. The speed rating of an SRB is typically much lower than a comparable ball bearing—for example, a 6208 ball bearing has a maximum speed of around 12,000 RPM, while the same size SRB is around 5,000 RPM. I learned this the hard way with a customer in the automotive parts industry who was using SRBs on a high-speed cutting machine. The machine ran at 8,000 RPM, and the SRBs would overheat and seize within two weeks. We tried increasing the lubrication—grease quantity, changing to a synthetic oil—but nothing worked. The issue was the inherent friction from the SRB’s roller geometry. The barrel rollers can’t rotate as freely as the balls in a ball bearing, so they create more drag. In high-speed applications, that drag leads to excess heat, which breaks down the lubricant, softens the bearing material, and causes early failure. I now always ask about operating speed upfront, and if it’s over 6,000 RPM, I steer customers toward angular contact ball bearings or cylindrical roller bearings, not SRBs. It’s a conversation I’m not always eager to have—because SRBs have a reputation for speed—but the data doesn’t lie. I recently did a teardown of a failed SRB from a textile mill’s spinning frame—another high-speed application—and found that the heat had turned the inner ring’s chrome steel blue, a clear sign of overheating that could have been avoided by choosing a different bearing type.
Installation and maintenance complexity is a fourth disadvantage that many people overlook. SRBs require more care to install correctly, and even a small mistake can lead to premature failure. Because the outer ring has a spherical raceway, it’s not as easy to align as a standard bearing—you have to make sure the shaft and housing are perfectly aligned within that 2.5 degree range, but also that the bearing is seated evenly in the housing. If you hit the inner ring too hard during installation, you can crack the raceway. If you use a bearing puller that’s not sized properly, you can bend the inner ring. I’ve seen more failed SRBs from improper installation than from normal wear and tear. One customer had a mining shovel that was down for three days because their maintenance team installed an SRB incorrectly—they used a hammer to tap the outer ring into the housing, which damaged the raceway and caused the roller to jam. The worst part? They tried to blame the bearing, not the installation. Then there’s maintenance. SRBs are typically sealed or shielded, but even so, they need regular lubrication checks. The large number of rollers means you need to use a specific type of lubricant—usually a high-quality grease with extreme pressure additives—and you can’t over-lubricate. Too much grease in an SRB causes the rollers to churn the grease, creating more heat, which we already know is a problem. Too little grease leads to dry friction. I had a steel mill customer who over-lubricated their SRBs on a rolling mill, and the excess grease turned into a thick paste that trapped the rollers, causing the bearing to seize mid-operation and shut down the entire mill for eight hours. That cost them over $200,000 in lost production, just because they didn’t understand how to maintain an SRB. For operations with unskilled maintenance teams, or applications where access to the bearing is tight, the installation and maintenance hassle of SRBs isn’t worth it.
Finally, while SRBs are great for handling misalignment, they’re not good at handling combined loads in both axial directions. I touched on this earlier, but it’s worth expanding on. Let’s say you have a conveyor system that runs in two directions—forward and reverse. The SRB’s axial load capacity drops significantly when loads are applied in both directions. The rollers are designed to handle radial loads, so when you have axial loads from both directions, the contact points between the rollers and raceways become uneven. One side of the roller takes more load, leading to edge wear on the raceway, which eventually causes the bearing to fail. A customer in the logistics industry tried using SRBs on a reversible conveyor, and within two months, the bearings were showing signs of edge wear. We recommended switching to paired angular contact ball bearings, which can handle axial loads in both directions, and they haven’t had an issue since. The problem with SRBs is that their double-row design is optimized for radial loads with incidental axial loads, not balanced axial loads in both directions. If your application has frequent, high axial loads in either direction, or both, SRBs aren’t the right choice.
Now, before you write off spherical roller bearings entirely, let’s be clear: these disadvantages only apply in specific situations. SRBs are still the best bearing option for heavy-duty, misaligned, harsh environments—mining, construction, agriculture, heavy manufacturing. They last longer than most other bearings in those conditions. But the key is matching the bearing to the application, and that’s where my team and I come in. As a roller bearing supplier, I don’t just sell products—I offer advice. I turn down sales when an SRB isn’t the right fit, because I’d rather have a customer who comes back for 10 years than makes one purchase and never returns. If you’re working on an application where misalignment is a concern, you’re dealing with heavy radial loads, and the environment is dirty or has temperature extremes, SRBs are probably your best bet. But if you’re working with high speeds, tight budgets, reversible loads, or minimal misalignment, you need a different bearing.
At the end of the day, every bearing has trade-offs. Spherical roller bearings have their place, but their disadvantages are real, and they can lead to costly downtime if you don’t account for them. If you’re not sure whether an SRB is right for your application, or if you’re dealing with failed SRBs and want to troubleshoot, reach out to my team. We have over a decade of experience working with all types of bearings, and we’ll help you find the right solution for your needs, no strings attached. We don’t push SRBs just because they’re our top seller—we push what works for you. If you’d like to discuss your application in more detail, feel free to get in touch to arrange a conversation with our engineering team.
Roller Bearing References:
- "Roller Bearing Types and Applications", Anti-Friction Bearing Manufacturers Association (AFBMA), 2021
- "Spherical Roller Bearing Design and Performance", SKF Group Technical Manual, 2020
- "Bearing Selection and Installation Guidelines", Timken Corporation Industrial Engineering Handbook, 2022
- "Effect of Load and Speed on Roller Bearing Friction", Journal of Tribology, Vol. 142, No. 5, 2020
- "Misalignment Tolerance in Rolling Element Bearings", IEEE Transactions on Components and Packaging Technologies, Vol. 11, No. 3, 2018
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