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Near the end of the 1970's evidence showed that the competitive advantage of alloy steel and tapered roller bearings manufactured in the United States was being challenged by the European and Japanese steel and bearing companies. The response to this challenge by a company that participates in both the steel and bearing markets is presented. The challenge was met with technology applied through investment in plant and equipment and continuous improvement of processes to make steel and bearings. Results of these efforts including new products and comparisons to worldwide benchmarking of steel cleanness are discussed.

Fatigue life testing was performed on tapered roller bearings using several fire resistant hydraulic fluids. The test fluids included an ester-oil blend, synthetic esters, invert emulsions and water glycols. For comparison, tests were also run in a reference petroleum oil and a petroleum type antiwear hydraulic oil of similar viscosities. Test results show that the relative bearing fatigue life compared to the reference oil ranged from 100+ percent for the ester oil blend to 14 to 24 percent for the water glycol.