think about this,most all center sections use taper bearings for the pinion and carrier loads,hence tons stronger. the green ball has a lower side strength than taper,period. IF you doubt,put one in a press,and try and push the center out.boom ...then try a taper. .if they work ok for some,cool. but the way the 8.75 is designed,the taper was used for a reason. would you put rollers in the front spindle of your auto/x car? nope,the ball would push through the side walls of the bearings... . i would agree that a minimal load,drag/street would be ok for a green,but i wouldnt want to chance a failure for the little work of setting proper axle end play on a taper,myself.

I only use the tapered bearings. Even if I have to go the trouble of buying new axles and/or cutting the ends off the housing.

It is getting hard to find the adjuster parts these days which is why a lot of stuff gets built with ball bearings.

Go to any local junk yard and you'll find at least 1 8 3/4 axle. Pull the axle and take your new adjuster set with you. You're looking at maybe an hours worth of your time depending on how far away the junk yard is from your house (driving will take most of your time). We expertly remove the bearing retaining collar with a torch. The only reason to need a new adjuster is if someone already messed it up. Has anyone ever seen an adjuster set fail?

The locking tang can still be purchased from places like Year One or The Paddock, or you could up to a couple of years ago. ... the junk yard still has them. And it is a piece you could quickly fab up on your own if you needed to.

Moser did a fine job making correct axles for me that use the standard bearing.

An argument I'm reading is that it takes soooo much longer to setup the tapered compared to the greens. How long does it take to check end play? It takes me longer to locate my tools than to check and adjust end play.

Alot of these "reasons" for not using the stock bearing sound a lot more like "excuses."

I do think the quality of the green bearing has improved over the years. Five or more years ago people couldn't get them to last more than 15 minutes. Just based on the number of failures you read about here it seems like the quality is up. I'd still rather eat fried cat than install them though.

I appreciate all of the information; as heated as it seems to be. Like everything, "each to his own". I have run them both and to be very honest never gave it thought either way. I am building my new car (slowly) and am exploring virtually every aspect as I go along. Because I have more time than money I find it worthwhile and interesting to explore many things that I have always heard about or been told it was a certain way. I installed a triangulated 4 link system in this car not because it was better per se, more because I have never done it and wanted to try it. It has taken me months of work and I am still not down with it; I could have just left the leaf springs in it and moved on, but where is the fun in that? This is just one more issue that I felt needed exploration and based on the responses I feel that I recieved the information I needed. What bearings I will ultimately use remains undecided but not from a lack of knowledge, rather more from the fact that I dont have to decide right this minute. Again, based on the information here, I would say that I believe the green bearings would suffice. Thier strength relative to tapered bearings was never the question. The question was "are they strong enough for autox or road racing?". I believe this was answered by those who have and are using them. Thanks again for the information.

Moser is actually a guilty party when it comes to the 8-3/4. They are a prolifigator of the Green bearing.

They buy up dozens of 8-3/4's then remove the stock bearings and adjusters and toss them in the garbage.

I've called them up and offered to buy the adjusters by the pair or by the bucket. No, they won't sell them. They prefer to scrap them.

I'd be curious- I don't know - if the Moser axles truly are good for stock bearings. Why? The axles companies do two or three things that ruin it for stock bearings. First, they don't properly size the length of the axle for use with thrust pins. That means if you order an A-body axle, stock width, they will send you an axle that might well be too short for even the adjuster to compensate for.

Next, they don't properly finish the end of the axle for a thrust button. What needs to be a machined, polished surface is often shipped as a rough, uneven surface. Usually the lathe center burr is sticking up.

Last, they change the register diameters in the journal area. Yes, the bearing will fit but the seal runs right on a step change in diameter which means the seal won't last long. On the last set of Strange axles I bought they had not machined the journal where the outer seal runs deep enough. If I had installed the stock bearings the seal would have been running on an unmachined rough forged surface.

These are all issues that wouldn't show up until a few hundred miles had been driven and you started leaking oil all over.

I call your

and raise you a

after 9 yrs of

then to haul a dolly with a wig wag 250 miles

tow a truck back,then drive 80 a day for a few days

I wont about it going out,got my $/use out of them

it was only one of them anyways

i am just guessing thats what took it out

its not like i didnt R&R them and keep an eye on them,i swaped gears to T&T/base line/

I had the same mind set from the git go,so I figure 50/50 on it

I got 9 yrs of on the street as a daily driver at 80+ miles a day

granted,swaped gears and killed a chunk along the way

thats my thrust block idea,the wig wag was on the 742 with no thrust block

I ran the 489 with the thrust block for 5 or so yrs..with gear changes

I aksed moser when I got them and they told me the axle would be cut to fit the 489 and run the large brake off set with greens with the thrust block

so IIRC the axle may come up a tad short

i dont know,thats why i bought them and stabed and jabed them in the narrowed houseing they cut to A-body specs with the A-body spec custom alloy axles

so I would with the comments about the mass produced axle not being stock bearing freindly

thats how i know the Doc has the best deal on the greens and seals

dont have to many wackin the seals in either,its a good 12$ to run with out them

which is why I know they seem to seal with only the o-ring

i would like to know more info on tearing the inner seal off a green so it has oil to it

wonder how long the other side is gonna hold oil in

when my one bearing went out,it leaked thru the axle shaft and lower race of the bearing( not the o ring)

so yea,I guess greens are made for us,as in me, a shadetree hickabilly rabid parts changers

run what ya brung..I do..and if you out run it..well,thats cause you can

i sent a pic to the good DOC, showing my dana 60 axles with greentype bearings WITHOUT inner seals/splash plates/whatever they are called. he replyed they were 57 olds bearings [i suplied the dimentions and #s from them] he said they were GOOD bearings, but very hard to find. just something to thimk about.....

Who ever designed Wilwood disc brakes didn't take into account the space once occupied by the original drum brake backing plates.

Wilwood backing plates double as wheel bearing retainers. This positions the axles too far inward. You must run a 1/8" spacer between the backing plate and the housing end, otherwise the bearings will self destruct due to excessive preloading of the axles against the thrust block.

I have real data [lots of road course miles] but it's with the stock tapered bearings. I would not use the green bearings even if they were free.

It's a poor choice for the intended application no matter which way you want to spin it...