Lunati Announces Distribution of Clevite Coated Trimetal Bearings

Lunati is now a leading distributor for Clevite TriMetal bearings. These bearings offer protection against foreign particles which bi-metal bearings cannot provide. Lunati supplies Clevite bearings in molybdenum/graphite coated and uncoated form.

Official Release:

Olive Branch, MS: Lunati, a firm with over forty years of crankshaft know-how, has become a leading distributor for Clevite® bearings. When protection for crankshaft journals is the chief concern, Clevite’s TriMetal™ bearings offer a useful advantage.

TriMetal bearings provide critical protection that bi-metal bearings do not. They enable foreign particles to become embedded in the soft surface layer of the bearing. This innovation often protects crankshaft journals from harmful foreign particles.

Oil contamination is almost always the cause of journal damage: Because the soft overlay on a typical Clevite TriMetal bearing is approximately .0005in thick, larger particles will extend beyond the bearing surface and cause damage to the crankshaft journal. Lunati suggests contamination is usually caused by dirt or abrasives—often honing grit remaining in the block after overhaul—or metallic particles from other failed parts in the engine, including adjacent bearings. Best practice is to replace all engine bearings only after thorough cleaning of the entire engine and inspection of the oil pump.

Lunati supplies Clevite’s TriMetal bearings in coated form or uncoated. Developed for high performance and race engines, the coated bearings have a proprietary molybdenum/graphite treatment applied to the bearing surface, but not the bearing parting lines. The molybdenum serves as a high pressure, high load dry film anti-wear agent. The graphite provides additional protection across a wide range of temperatures, especially when oil flow is marginal. These coated TriMetal bearings are identified in the part number suffix by the letter K.