IMS Bearing Lubrication Upgrade

[JFP in PA]

Originally Posted by southernstar

Thanks JFP, makes sense. But in removing the outer seal, shouldn't one also be able to inspect the bearing for damage without removing it?

Brad

Yes and no; you will be able to see part of the bearing, but that is about it. It is difficult to get a magnification device in there to look at the races and balls for signs of pitting or wear. We have seen bearings that looked good in the car, but after extraction and a good cleaning looked a lot different. So running the existing bearing is a bit of a crap shoot for everyone short of the 2005 and on cars that cannot extract the bearing through the cases. Even then, Raby has developed a way to upgrade those engines as well, but only does it at his shop.

[The Radium King]

one of the early pioneers of the oil-fed ims bearing concept (perhaps even the guy tuneRS bought the idea from) developed his idea here (LONG read):

Who has done an IMS change (New Oil Fed Design Idea) - Pelican Parts Technical BBS

so, some testing results. one thing that gets missed, however, is one of his theses that the bearing is actually unevenly loaded as installed and that moving it outboard improves the loading of the bearing and might reduce failure.