53201 bearing: complete specifications & equivalents

Specification table

Source: catalog reference (SKF PUB BU/P1 17000/1 EN (Oct 2018)) · extracted 2026-09-28

Parameters extracted from the official SKF Rolling Bearings catalogue (SKF PUB BU/P1 17000/1 EN (Oct 2018)); SKF® and SKF Explorer® are trademarks of AB SKF, used here for identification only — mpnbase is not an authorized SKF distributor. Boundary dimensions are ISO 15 interchangeable; current production values may differ, verify at skf.com.

Cross references & equivalents

Interchange levels: full standard interchange · partial verify parameters · verify manual confirmation required. Links resolve to the equivalent model's specification page where available.

How the 53201 model number is decoded

Listed in SKF 17000 chapter 5, 53201 is an ISO 104 single-direction thrust ball bearing, 12 mm bore and 28 mm OD, with a sphered housing washer and U seat washer, standing 11.4 mm high before installation. The bearing is delivered as separate, interchangeable parts: a ground-bore shaft washer, a loose-bore housing washer and the ball-cage assembly between them, designed for one axial load direction only. 53xxx reads as 5 (thrust ball), 3 (single direction with a sphered housing washer), a 2–4 section digit and the bore code; the U seat washer companion carries the matching three-digit number. reading the ending 01: bore 12 mm for this single-direction size, via the standard exceptions 00/01/02/03 and ×5 above them. no cage suffix means the standard stamped steel retainer — a pressed sheet-metal ball-cage assembly that covers the bulk of the thrust-ball assortment. Envelope 12×28×11.4 mm (0.472×1.102×0.449 in), 8.0 mm radial section, C 13.3 kN, C0 20.8 kN, Pu 0.765 kN. Mounted height H1 13 mm includes the U 201 seat washer; the bearing alone is 11.4 mm high. reference speed 8,000 r/min (thermal) and limiting speed 11,000 r/min (mechanical), catalogue mass 45 g. Capacity density: 13.3 kN C from 0.045 kg of bearing steel gives about 295.6 kN per kilogram; static density is correspondingly 462.2 kN/kg at C0 20.8 kN. Preload at the mechanical ceiling: repeating Fam ≈ A·(n·dm/1000)² with factor A 0.0022 at the 11,000 r/min limiting speed raises the required axial preload to about 106 N; the reference-speed value 56 N is the thermal design point. Static-first selection data: 20.8 kN C0 spread across the 11.4 mm stack gives 1.8 kN of static rating per height millimetre, and the 45 g mass/C0 ratio is about 2 g per static kN — crane-hook and screw positions are normally sized on these two figures. Pitch-diameter arithmetic: dm = (12+28)/2 = 20.0 mm; at the 11,000 r/min limiting speed that corresponds to roughly 220k mm·r/min, the figure used when comparing cage speed demand across the thrust-ball series. Stack/annulus proportions: the 11.4 mm axial stack over the 503 mm² washer annulus gives 22.66 mm of height per annular square millimetre ×10⁻³, and at 45 g the bearing holds about 462.2 kN of C0 per kilogram. Sphered-seating order-number note: the convex back face of the housing washer is finish-ground spherical and is delivered to mate with the separately ordered U seat washer, which presents a flat face to the housing and a concave face to the washer; together they accommodate initial static misalignment, but the pair must be kept clean, greased at the spherical interface and never replaced by a washer-on-flat-steel makeshift. Procurement reminder for this specific page: 53201 and U 201 are two order numbers shipping as two articles; the installed 13 mm H1 rather than 11.4 mm H is the dimension the housing drawing must carry.

Typical equipment & failure modes

Selection pitfalls — read before you substitute

• The shaft washer remains the tight, ground-bore component on the 12 mm shaft; the sphered part is the HOUSING washer, and the U seat washer is the loose flat-backed part — the fitting order is shaft washer and cage set first, then housing washer and U 201 into the register.
• Minimum axial load still applies with factor A 0.0022: a self-aligning seat does not prevent ball skidding, so provide spring preload or sufficient rotor weight at light load and speed.
• The spherical seat accommodates INITIAL static misalignment between shaft and housing; it is not a swivel for continuous oscillation, and the bearing still carries pure axial load with no radial capacity.
• The sphered housing washer of 53201 MUST run against the U 201 seat washer, a separate order number; mounted bare on a flat register, the convex back makes point contact that gouges the housing under load.
• The 13.3/20.8 kN figures belong to 53201 specifically (the single sphered pressed steel execution of 53201); suffixed, sphered and counterpart-series order numbers are separate articles, and U 201 is ordered separately, so write the complete designation on the order and the maintenance record.