Is It the Same Bearing? Cross-Brand Equivalence Before You Compare Price

A distributor that sells several brands wants to show them side by side: same bearing, three prices. That only works if the bearings really are the same specification. Part numbers make this harder than it looks. It is the third failure point in why multi-brand bearing catalogs break.

The base number is the easy part

The base designation, such as 6000, 30204 or 22205, follows ISO dimension series and is shared across makers. Equivalence breaks in the suffixes: seals and shields, internal design, cage, clearance and precision class.

Seal and shield codes by brand

Maker	Shield, both sides	Contact seal, both sides
SKF	2Z	2RS1
FAG (Schaeffler)	2ZR	2RSR
NSK	ZZ	DDU
NTN	ZZ	LLU
Timken	ZZ	2RS

So SKF 6000-2RS1, FAG 6000-2RSR, NSK 6000DDU, NTN 6000LLU and Timken 6000-2RS are all 10 × 26 × 8 mm bearings with contact seals on both sides. That makes them candidates for the same specification, not confirmed equivalents: limiting speeds and ratings differ between makers, so confirm each against the maker’s own data. SKF 6000-2Z is the same size but shielded, which changes friction, speed limit and protection. Matching on dimensions alone would merge the two.

Suffixes that change the comparison

• Internal design and cage: SKF ETN9 on a self-aligning ball bearing, FAG E1-XL on a spherical roller bearing. Load ratings and speed limits can differ between makers for the same size.
• Clearance: C3 means greater radial internal clearance than normal (CN). A C3 bearing is not a drop-in for a CN one in every application.
• Precision class: a higher tolerance class is a different product even at the same size.

A safe equivalence check

1. Match the base designation and boundary dimensions.
2. Decode each maker’s suffixes into shared attributes: seal type, clearance, cage, design.
3. Mark a pairing confirmed only when the maker’s own catalogue supports every attribute; otherwise mark it probable and send it to a specialist.
4. Compare price only across confirmed pairs, and show where load ratings differ.

Shield, contact seal, clearance and interchange are defined in the bearing data glossary.

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