TIMKEN automotive bearings

The Timken Company engineers, manufactures and markets bearings, gear drives, belts, chain, couplings, lubrication systems and related products, and offers a spectrum of powertrain rebuild and repair services. As the leading authority on tapered roller bearings, they apply deep knowledge of metallurgy, tribology and mechanical systems to improve the reliability and efficiency of equipment, machinery and vehicles worldwide. With more than 17,000 employees operating from 33 countries, Timken's employees and their products keep industry in motion and make the world more productive.

In 1890s, Henry Timken, a carriage maker in St. Louis, Missouri, recognized that heavy freight wagons had a difficult time making sharp turns. To solve the problem, he applied a tapered roller bearing design that could handle both radial (weight) and thrust (cornering force) loads. The results were encouraging and provided several customer benefits. First, the application ran more smoothly, reducing repair and replacement costs. In some cases, the bearings improved wagon performance so much that fewer mules were required to pull them. Finally, better cornering meant less chance of losing a load of goods. Henry quickly realized that the tapered roller bearing could improve product performance in many other applications as well. Henry and his sons, H.H. and William, founded The Timken Roller Bearing and Axle Company in 1899.

By the 1920s, Timken supplied bearings to 80 percent of America’s cars and quickly broadened its reach into new industrial markets. Today, we power the hardest-working industrial machinery, from the fields to space.

Automated, high-volume bearing production at unprecedented speeds propelled Timken to new levels of productivity and profit in the 1950s. But, we never cease to improve. In 2014, we introduced the DeltaX initiative, a major investment designed to accelerate product development and line expansion.