Boca Bearings vs. Acer bearings...ceramic sets.
 

I have Acer ceramic bearings on all my trucks and love them. they are lighter and faster. however, i have seen ads for Boca Bearings and read a little about them and they sound like great bearings. until now, i have never been able to find Boca bearings in complete sets like Acer does. the Acer sets i have bought were $90 but Boca wants like $200 for their set. also, the Acer set is rated ABEC 5. i have seen as high as ABEC 9 on the boca site but according to this kit it says they are only ABEC 1. so, who can tell me which is the better bearing? does it matter? and if they are both ceramic shouldnt the friction coefficient be about the same? why is one rate ABEC 1 and the other rated ABEC 5? i know i am kind of anal about this stuff but for some reason i feel i have to have the best i can get for my rides. so if the Boca really is a better bearing i am willing to pay the extra dough.

has anyone out there actually tried both types of bearings and can tell me which is better?

I use stock traxxas bearings :mdr:

I would say in all honesty the ABEC 5 rated Bocas are more than fine, especially if you are happy with them in your past/current vehicles. I cant even imagine spending $200 just for a set of bearings, you'd have to be bonkers.... http://www.clodtalk.com/images/smilies/icon_shocked.gif

a vote for acer. bocas are too expensive. and acer's are expensive too.
i run acer in all of my 1/10 elects and they are great! never had 1 fail

Just remember no one ever said "thanks to this $200.00 set of bearings I won the race".

The chance you would notice the performance difference is slim to none. I dealt with this in my machinery buying super high end bearings that were supposed to last longer and greatly increase performance. Most of the time they lasted the same or less and no performance increase was notice. I did have some critical applications the required bearings with very little tolerance, but that's a whole different basket of cookies.

I have a set of bushings in my stampede...:surprised: Better change those out...:lol:

but look on the bright side, instead of spending 200 dollars on bearings, I could replace my bushings for like 40 cents.:rofl:

I've had good luck with Avid bearings. $1 apiece.

ok, i get the point. i am a sucker for the tricky marketing sometimes. i have this stupid disease that if it costs more it must be better. i know thats not the case. just going to stick with the Acer. i have definitely noticed that they spin longer, with less resistance, over stock. whether it makes a difference on the track i doubt by much but i already have them and they do reduce overall weight by about 1-2 ounces.

its just the classic i have better stuff in mine than yours. thing:wink:

in my previous job I was in charge of a production operation that was in a high temp enviorment and in my travels I had come across some bearings that were advertised could handle some incredible temps ( exceeding 1000 degs) that usually lasted 9-12 months before they failed, which we felt was acceptable. With bearings as long as the machinery kept turning they were doing thier job....

higher ABEC rating more precise the bearing is and has higher chance to die when dust gets in.
ACER bearings are not bad but are not really dirt/water friendly. Had a set on my mugen and after 4 races half of them died.
I stick to cheap (like 60cents) ABEC 3 steel bearings and will try stainless steel this year that cost like 70cents. They last suprisingly long. of course they are not as smooth as Acer, but i at least remove the grease and put acer bearing oil in.

so i went back and forth on this and after reading up found that the ABEC rating does not mean they are faster. just means tighter tolerances. also, i talked the ebay seller down to $125 on the boca bearings and then found out they were a full-contact seal instead of no-contact seal like Acer so i just went with Acer. i have never had issues with mine. never failed and very smooth and fast. plus i just clean them out every so often and use the Sin lube and that keeps em running smooth.

Wow. I don't believe any of that. I went through 2 sets of Acer bearings last season in a Losi 8ight. I was HIGHLY disappointed. I am running Boca Bearings now with 7 races on them. 2 races were mud, and I mean mud, and 1 one was on an exrtemely "gritty" track thats notorious for tearing up bearings and anything else. I have yet to have one failure. I still don't even have a "crunchy" bearing. Not one. Good luck with your Acers but I'm telling you, save your money and buy the good stuff. You get what you pay for.
For any of those who doubt what I'm saying pm me your address and I will personally send you some used Acers. Its not pretty.The bearings were actually so useless that I was reconsidering ever buying any ceramics again. Boca Bearings 100% or you'll be sorry. Not an opinion, this is fact.

wow, thats good to know dude. thats 2 people now that have had acer problems. i have yet to have any problems with any of my acers but i am going to get the boca set to try them out. thanks for the heads up.

You won't be disappointed with the Boca's. The first "mud" race I had to hit with them I was mad at the fact I had just dropped the $$$ on them, thinking they would get destroyed like the others. Not the case.

For any of you that hit the warmup to the North Carolina state championships at WCRC know what I'm talking about. If they can make it through that weekend, then I don't think there is anything you can throw at them. Same set, not one crunchy. Amazing! :yes:

just playing the devil's advocate here:diablo:

a car needs a teardown anyway after a muddy race, I would much rather just replace the bearings with cheapies as opposed to cleaning/relubing/babying bearings that cost me a days wage. It's more time and cost efficient to use cheapies and replace them at any sign of wear/dirt.
After one lap outside any efficiency gained is lost by the addition of dirt, dust, bugs what have you. Unecessary fluff! Especially for a car driven in dirt.
Save them for the gold plated shelf queen!:lol:

that's just me though.........

dirt, water and who knows what else in offroad racing will get any bearing eventually. abec35.com - cheap bearings. metal, rubber shielded, some sizes in stainless so you dont have to worry when washing your car with water, ABEC 3 and 5 (for offroad ABEC 3 is better). been using them for couple years and they work great and you cant beat the price.

i did have ACER set on my truggy, but most off them died after 4-5 races. They were replaced by the cheap bearings and since then i actually did not have to replace a single bearing. the got over 6 races on them.

looks like my universal bearing thread answer :party:

I kept burning through those traxxas stock blue paper bearings on the 3905, I bought some of those Bocas and they run like champs. 8-9 months of bashing and they are fine. ( a few drops of trinity bearing oil when I break my truck and take it apart) The Traxxas ones were like $1.97 for 2 and the bocas were $15 but I think it was worth it just not to have that issue anymore. The traxxas ones blue cover thing kept flying off and then the whole bearing was toast

zero maintenance on the Boca's. Zero means nothing. I only take them out and wipe them down. Thats whay amazed me after racing them in rain!!!

No greasing, no relubing, no air blasting,.......nothing.

wow! two users happy with boca, and testimonials of longevity. very interesting food for thought. thanks for the input cdbias and jayjay:yes:

i have an offer out on a set of bocas for the RC8t and a set for the MBx5T (got a Mugen coming off ebay :party:).

btw, anyone interested in a brand-spanking NEW set of Acer Ceramic bearings for the Associated RC8/RC8T ?? huh, huh? any takers? com'on, you know you want them. especially after reading this thread. i will throw in some bearing oil for free.....since your gonna need it.

btw, i had bought the set of Acers before i started this thread and then i saw the Bocas and....the rest is history.

I'm quite curious what you'll think, Ryu. I love actual data and a/b comparisons.

Just gotta throw this out there.......Boca babes are always smoking hot, that's worth some $

what? Boca babes? they have hot chicas too? where are they? i have only seen the hot Acer chicks. in fact, i am on the mailing list for Acer and i get some new pic of a hot-a$$ mama in my inbox practically everyday. maybe thats how they got me to buy their stuff. sneaky little bastar*s. using sex to sell stuff. where did they come up with that idea? so show me some Boca babes!!

hmmmmmmmmmm...... maybe it was acer, but i swear there are boca babes. I'll be back.............

Unless your sponsored and are getting them for free, they aren't worth it. Even then it doesn't make much of a difference. I bet you are very rarely going full throttle and thats the only spot where you would get any performance gain. For most speeds you motor has more than enough power to overcome the friction of regualr bearings. You might gain a few seconds of runtime, but nothing that would make a difference.

well it works!:yipi::party::lol: its smart marketing! (balls) :rofl:

i have bought all of my cermaic bearings from wala wala and extreme

can you provide some links to where you buy them from? havent heard of wala wala before. whats their story?

Talking about bearings: Does anyone know a shop where to get 5x11x5 (standard motor bearing size) rubber shielded bearings?

mcmaster probably has them, but if you do a search on google you can probably find the same thing for cheaper

walawalastore found at scale4x4rc

http://www.scale4x4rc.org/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=58

first find by google

http://www.vxb.com/page/bearings/PROD/5mm/kit768

German google only gave me results for wholesale shops :P

Thx, I find vxb a bit expensive but Walawala is a nice store!

boca vs. acer
 

just thought i would weigh in on some of this discussion.

1. Boca Babes: unfortunately they belong to RC Boca not Boca Bearings :)

http://myrchobbyshop.com/RC-Boca-Hobbies.html

2. Ceramics vs. Standards

this is a question as old as ceramic bearing technology itself. everyone has their own preference, so we supply everything from inexpensive to ultra high end bearings. ceramics perform better and last longer but if you have no problem with swapping out old bearings or cleaning them out regularly, then you can get great results out of our standard bearings.

- Inexpensive 99 Cent bearings sold individually: http://cli.gs/9tYYA3
- Inexpensive 99 Cent bearings sold in 10 packs: http://cli.gs/2qhWHg
- Inexpensive 99 Cent bearings sold in kits: http://cli.gs/16EY85
- Ceramic Lightning Bearings, ABEC 1, Ceramic Ball, Full Contact Seal: full list here http://cli.gs/VsXbgM
or search by your MFG/Model here: http://cli.gs/MgPTnX
- Orange Seal Ceramics, ABEC 7, Ceramic Ball, Non Contact Seal: http://cli.gs/7nZNrP

We recently put a bunch of the popular RC Car & Truck ceramic kits on special and keep your eyes peeled on ebay for new specials every week. Please let me know if I can ever answer technical questions. Thanks for just talking about Boca Bearing.


_________________________________

Jason Flanzbaum
BOCA BEARING COMPANY
755 NW 17th Ave. #107
Delray Beach, FL 33445 U.S.A.

Toll free phone: (800) 332-3256
Toll free fax: (800) 409-9191
Local phone: (561) 998-0004
Local fax: (561) 998-0119
Email Address: jason@bocabearings.com
Skype: JayFlanzbaum

Just use standard Tamiya plastic bearings! :lol:

I promise you they won't rust or die! :lol:

Hey, welcome to RCM Bocabearingco!:intello: I love to see manufacturers on here.:yipi:

I run Acer ceramic in my 1/8 diffs and they do spin longer and w/a lot less resistance. I won't run ceramics in the wheels, just the diffs.

hey Boca, (Jason)

when will you have complete RC model sets in the Orange Seal ceramics and what kind of price tag can we anticipate? also, will the orange seal be a bearing that needs maintenance from time to time since it is a no-contact seal?

also, i am buying some of your yellow seal sets right now thru ebay (is that you i have been talking with? my ebay id is lilkingbimmers) and i am wondering if it is possible to replace the grease with oil instead just by cleaning the bearing and then oiling it? from what i have read it is the lubrication that determines the speed of the bearing more than anything.

thanks,

Ryu

True. The grease causes a lot of friction at high speeds which can overheat the bearing. Oils and/or synthetic lubricants cause less friction, and therefore less heat. On the other hand, grease is better at keeping dirt/debris out of the bearing.

From an engineering design standpoint, ceramics usually only come into play when heat and the resulting thermal expansion are an issue, or if you are on the cutting edge with weight or rolling resistance. IMHO, the bearings in RC's are not subject to high enough heat levels to succumb to heat issues. Most of our failures are due to outside elements (dirt and rust) being introduced inside the bearing. That being said, if you look at one of Ryu's first posts, he spoke of a rating on the bearings. In all likelyhood, most ceramic bearings are made to a higher standard than your standard Traxxas rubber "sealed" bearings due to manufacturing costs (ceramic being more expensive to machine). If you can find steel bearings made to the same spec level, and at significantly lower price you'll be just fine. Those "standard" kits that Bocca sells are an excellent bearing that will likely outlast the RC flavor of the month!

We basically have all of the bearings to make full Orange Seal kits for RC Cars. As new cars come on the market we are making full sets in Orange Seal but if there is an older kit that you are looking for in Orange Seal let me know and I will put it together for you. Price is going to be higher than our Lightning series because these are high precision bearings. Originally we were only thinking about people using these in their wheels but response has been overwhelming to them so we expanded the sizes we offer.

Lubrication definitely has an affect on rolling resistance but not necessarily speed. For example the average 5x10 ceramic bearing is capable of achieving max 90,000 rpm. Which I am pretty sure you guys are never getting near 90,000 rpm on a wheel bearing. So you are not as concerned with bearing speed as you are with how much energy and how quickly you are able to get your car to its max rpm. Everything you can do to reduce rolling resistance will translate into your car being able to get up to its max speed quicker and with less energy expended.

But to answer your question, yes we are happy to clean out bearing grease and replace with oil, leave dry or add our Ultra Dry Lube process. Let me know if you have any other questions.


_________________________________

BOCA BEARING COMPANY
755 NW 17th Ave. #107
Delray Beach, FL 33445 U.S.A.

Toll free phone: (800) 332-3256
Toll free fax: (800) 409-9191
Local phone: (561) 998-0004
Local fax: (561) 998-0119
Email Address: jason@bocabearings.com