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Imperial bearings use inch measurements rather than metric. You’ll find them mainly in older British machinery, American equipment, or anywhere that was originally designed with imperial specifications. The applications are the same as metric bearings – agricultural machinery, manufacturing equipment, transmissions, gearboxes, wheel hubs, vehicles, and general engineering.

The sizing works differently to metric. Where metric bearings use a numbering system, imperial bearings are often sized by the bore diameter directly. So you might order a “1 inch bore bearing” or use designations like R8 (which is a 1/2 inch bore). Some use the same numbering system as metric but with imperial dimensions – a bit confusing until you get used to it.

If you’re replacing bearings in older equipment, it’s worth checking whether you’ve actually got imperial or metric fitted. They look similar, but the dimensions don’t match up. Forcing an imperial bearing into a metric housing (or vice versa) causes problems.

We stock both open and sealed versions. Sealed bearings (2RS suffix) have rubber seals that keep the grease in and contamination out – easier to deal with than open bearings that need regular greasing. Shielded bearings (ZZ suffix) use metal shields instead, which handle higher temperatures but don’t seal quite as well.

Quality matters here too. Budget bearings for light work, branded ones (FAG, SKF, Timken) for anything critical. Imperial bearings aren’t as common as metric nowadays, so we don’t stock every size, but we keep the popular ones and can usually get less common sizes within a few days.