why bushings and not bearings

[00nothing]

This is one that has been bugging me since i first started reading up on airsoft why would you use a bushing instead of a bearing I have a pretty extensive history when it comes to RC and will not leave a bushing in any of my trucks if its not bearings its not running. Any advice regarding this would be fantastic I jsut purchased a JG mp5sd and want to make some of the necessary ups soon.

[lemegacool]

because bearing can fail... and if the bearings fail then you gonna end up with serious gearbox damage, bushings cannot fail and they are cheaper and for the upgrades this is what i do to my new guns : bushings, airseal nozzle, hop up bucking, grease removal and shim job.

hope this helps

[L473ncy]

Not sure how true this is but I just read about it and it seems that

bushings are better for high impact, low speed joints.

Not sure if that answers your question (hey, I'm not doing Mech. Eng., I'm in Comp. Sci.). I don't know what that means but that's what I found after 30 seconds on google.

EDIT: lemegacool: It seems that bearings applied properly provide better alignment, less friction, and last longer. (This is from a motorcycle forum so I don't know how relevant it is to this)

[lemegacool]

youre right bushing are not meant to withstand speed, they are for low speed torque application ie: airsoft gearbox, thats why they uses bearings in r/c

[CDN_Stalker]

Higher powered springs put added strain on gears and therefore the bushings. And if you choose to buy bearings you also have to buy gears that will work in them too. Bushings are more reliable and flexible in the type/brand of gears they sit in, and are very good. Bearings are for high speed/low fps setups in airsoft guns.

[Skruface]

You obviously know that a bushing is one solid peice of metal. It cannot fail, other than the hole where the gear's shaft goes through wears down..this is very rare with steel bushings and a mild spring.

Bearings, on the other hand, have tiny metal balls held inside a metal frame by a thin peice of metal called a race. When bearings fail (due to pressure pushing the race out, or the bearing seizing because crap got into the bearing) the gears go out of alignment. The end result is usually pistons with torn-off rear ends from a piston jam, and peices of metal bearnig shredding the piston and gear teeth.

So, you can spend $15 on solid steel bushings and run 100,00K+ rounds through your gun with virtually no problems with a moderate spring, or spend $25 for bushings that have a substantially higher rate of failure and will in all likelyhood cost you over $120 in replacement parts when they do go...

The larger the bearing, the less chance of failure under moderate load. Buy quality 7mm or 8mm bearings (Kanzen, Prometheus), a matching mechbox, and paired with a moderate spring and you can rest pretty easy that the bearings will last a fair while. Buy cheap bearings (CA) or 6mm bearings and you are more than likely to have trouble.....