Smooth-running plain bearings for easy wheel mount handling for passenger vehicles

• What was needed: iglidur ® plain bearing
• Requirements: Smooth-running bearing that allows easy operation of the wheel carrier handling with as little effort as possible
• Industry: Automotive industry
• Success for the customer: iglidur® bearings are lubricant-free and operate smoothly. Since installation, they have been in daily use without any problems and the labour required to operate the wheel carrier handling system has been reduced to a minimum

A wheel carrier unit consists of a brake disc with bearing and drive stub (for all-wheel drive), a brake calliper and a steering knuckle. While such a complete wheel carrier unit is delivered in the horizontal position, further transport takes place in the vertical position. A wheel carrier handling system is used for this purpose, which simplifies the swivelling (repositioning) of a wheel carrier unit from the horizontal position to the vertical position. This process must be simple, fast and require little effort.
The wheel carrier unit is rotated via central swivelling axles mounted on plain bearings. These must enable reliable but also smooth rotation in order to minimise physical strain on the user.

Since the swivelling must be carried out easily and with little effort and the worker should be subjected to little physical strain, the swivel axles are today mounted on iglidur ® plastic plain bearings.
Specifically, two iglidur® bearings (of the QSM-2023-30 type) and four other iglidur® bearings with flange (of the GFM-3034-26 type) are used in the wheel carrier handling. The iglidur® bearings are particularly light and work without external lubricants thanks to self-lubrication. As a result, they are maintenance-free and work reliably and always smoothly in wheel carrier handling. Since the plain bearings were installed, the wheel carrier handling system has been in daily use without any problems. The smooth-running rotary axis minimises the effort required by the operator.