Wheel bearings are at the centre of Optimal as a brand, having been the first product in the company’s range. Here, Optimal takes PMF through its current range of wheel bearings, which remains one of its top-selling products.
As a popular product range, it is one that the company is said to be looking to expand in 2020 – the Optimal logo is even based on the product, highlighting the wheel bearing as a staple within the company’s offering.
All of the company’s wheel bearing kits come directly from its facility in Germany, and are automatically weighed as part of the packing process to ensure that all components are correctly boxed.
If the weight is deemed to be incorrect, the component will not be sent to be stocked until the error is rectified. This ensures that every wheel bearing kit that is sold is complete, with no component missing.
Optimal also has an established Quality Management System for the manufacturing of the kits, with an ISO 9001:2015 qualification. This certificate highlights the level of care and quality in the company’s bearings, and also allows for the regulation of the processes needed to pack and dispatch the kits to its subsidiaries.
The company currently has a range of more than 1,500 wheel bearings available in the UK, from single-row tapered roller bearings to complete wheel hub units with magnet encoded sensors that regulate ABS, ESP and other on-board electrical systems.
Optimal offers more than 200 ball bearings, including cylindrical, needle, double and single-row ball bearings. In addition, 100 types of tapered roller bearings are on offer. Like the ball bearings, these come in single and double rows, and, due to the fact that they are designed to work simultaneously with radial and axial forces, they are typically used for heavy duty applications.
With over 1,000 references available, the company’s wheel hub units incorporate the wheel bearings into them, and are sold as a complete unit. There are different generations of hub bearings on offer, all with unique specifications.
The final range on offer is ‘discs with bearings’. A consolidated range is available, covering over 1,000 applications. These bearings are being pre-fitted, removing the possibility of damage occurring on parts that are difficult to fit.
