Spherical bearing for precise shifting of gear under high stress in MG Rover

• What was needed: igubal spherical bearings
• Requirements: high stress due to numerous switching operations over the years, durability and long-term precision of the bearings
• Industry: automotive
• Success for the customer: the bearings fit perfectly into the available installation space - at a fraction of the cost. The customer receives heavy-duty spherical bearings that operate with high precision and no maintenance over a long time. The car manufacturer expects the bearings to outlast the cars.

The gear lever of an MG Rover is fitted with a rubber bearing as standard, which allows for the gear shift movements. However, as countless gear changes put a heavy load on the bearing in the long term, the rubber bearing gave way over time. As a result, the bearing slowly wore out and became porous. This is also clearly noticeable when driving. The gearbox gets too much clearance and the gears are suddenly noticeably more difficult to engage. What makes it all the more annoying for end customers is that they cannot buy an identical replacement, and a completely new gear lever means high costs with another limited service life for the rubber bearing.
The car manufacturer was therefore looking for an alternative product that would also work precisely and reliably in the long term.

In the search for a better solution, the car manufacturer received a small selection of different bearing products from us. One of these - an igubal spherical bearing - quickly proved to be the ideal solution for this application as its specifications offered a number of advantages compared to the old system. In addition to the accuracy of fit in the application, which required no further adjustment of the installation space, it eliminated any clearance in the gear shift at a fraction of the cost. igubal spherical bearings are highly resilient and do not lose their precision even under permanent stress. They are also maintenance-free and self-adjusting, so that they require no further work and the car manufacturer expects the components to outlast the cars themselves.