Spherical plain bearings and rod ends SAL

Rod ends consist of an eye-shaped head with integral shank that forms a housing for a spherical plain bearing. As a rule, rod ends are available with left- or right-hand female (internal) or male (external) threads.ù

The various rod end designs and variants are described in the following:


Rod ends requiring maintenance

SKF manufactures rod ends requiring maintenance with a steel/steel or a steel/bronze sliding contact surface combination.

Steel/steel rod ends consist of a rod end housing and a steel/steel radial spherical plain bearing from the standard assortment, where the outer ring is secured in the housing. These rod ends are available with:

- a female or male thread
- a female thread with a slotted shank (special series for hydraulic cylinders)
- a welding shank with cylindrical or rectangular section

Steel/bronze rod ends are available with a female or male thread. They consist of a rod end housing and a steel/bronze spherical plain bearing. These bearings have an inner ring made of steel and an outer ring made of bronze. The bearing is held in position by staking the housing on both sides of the outer ring. These rod ends are available with a male or female thread.

Relubrication facilities
SKF rod ends requiring maintenance are provided with a grease fitting or a lubrication hole in the rod end housing. Relubrication via the pin is also possible. Exceptions are steel/steel rod ends in the SA .. E and SI .. E series and a few smaller rod ends as indicated in the product tables.


SKF Explorer steel/steel rod ends

SKF Explorer steel/steel rod ends in the SI(A) and SA(A) series can be equipped with SKF Explorer steel/steel plain bearings in the GE series, which makes them virtually maintenance-free (SKF Explorer steel/steel plain bearings). Their sliding surfaces are treated further to improve wear and corrosion resistance.

The rod end housings are equipped with lubrication holes due to manufacturing reasons, which are plugged to avoid contamination and relubrication.


Maintenance-free rod ends

SKF manufactures maintenance-free rod ends with three different sliding contact surface combinations in different seriee.

Rod ends with either a steel/PTFE sintered bronze or steel/PTFE fabric sliding contact surface combination contain a bearing from the standard assortment. The outer ring is staked in place in the housing.

Rod ends with a steel/PTFE FRP sliding contact surface combination consist of a rod end housing and a spherical plain bearing inner ring. Between the housing and the inner ring, a sliding layer of fibre reinforced polymer, containing PTFE, is moulded to the housing.