Bearings vs Bearing Blocks

[Knufire]

Originally Posted by DampRobot

It often requires a heavier drivetrain, as you must use .125" tubing to properly support the bearings instead of much lighter .0625" tubing.

Can 0.0625" thick tubing handle the clamping force of tradition style bearing blocks (i.e., those sold by WCP)? Gut feeling feels like it might deform the material around the edges of the milled slot.

[DampRobot]

Originally Posted by Knufire

Can 0.0625" thick tubing handle the clamping force of tradition style bearing blocks (i.e., those sold by WCP)? Gut feeling feels like it might deform the material around the edges of the milled slot.

If you're talking about VersaBlock style, then yes. We ran .0625" drive frames in 2013 and 2014 (and that was Arial Assault!) with that type of wheel truck.

If you're talking about the type of bearing blocks, like the kind that 254 uses on their "OG" WCD, then I'm not sure. I know they and others (1323, eg) traditionally used .125" in their drive frame, but I'm not sure whether or not their designs (perhaps with small modifications) could handle .0625" drive tubing. If I was designing a 254 style drive, I wouldn't hesitate to use the VP .100" tubing to get weight savings.

In any case, an advantage of using bearing blocks is you can enclose the entire bearing in the block, which is a much better way to load bearings in general. Even with super thick .125" tubing supporting your bearing, you're still cantilevering half of your bearing.