Crank Bearings and Seals

Has anyone cross referenced bearings and seal for ML Huskys? I want to replace them in my 1977 360WR, But I'm having a hard time understanding the price.

Here are the two I've used in the past year. The SKF is available through Motion Industries or any SKF supplier. SKF 3205 E/C3. Only accept authorized SKF suppliers due to the counterfeit products out there. These are $100 each. There are a couple of less expensive SKF part numbers that will fit but they doesn't have the load rating this one does.

The other bearing is called New Force 3205 C3, made in CZECH. They are $40 each. I purchased mine from John at vintagehusky.com. I'm not familiar with the load rating on these but I feel if they're good enough for Vintage Husky then they're good for me. Also another poster on this site said he had been running them for a year with no issues.

As for seals I have used both Viton and Nitrile double lip seals on the crank and they both work fine. Viton cost more and is advertised having excellent resistance to petroleum products compared to Nitrile (Buna-N). However there are articles on the web that say the performance of Viton exceeding Nitrile around motor fuels is exaggerated. The best thing is to do research and decide for yourself.

the prices are what they are because of quality. not that expensive when you consider they last at least several hundred hours. if you want cheaper bearings just look the numbers up in a cheaper bearing. made in china ought to do the trick. i would personally stick with skf or an equivalent.

I have personally been using the CZ new force bearings in all my Husky motors for the last 15+ years and have never had a failure or problem of any kind with them. Forest Stahl sells and uses them also. I usually buy them 10 at a time (I have lots of Huskys) to get a better price like about $30.00-$33.00 each. I think the oldest or the ones with the most time on them are in my 1980 390/420OR, I installed them about 15 years ago and this last spring put fresh crank seals in for GP and the bearings were still plenty good. Just be sure to get the ones that are max capacity, that have the ball filling slot in the race on one side.

Marty

Thanks for the info. guys. I'm going to go with the CZ New Force.