The Timken Company (Canton, Ohio) announced it will be supplying DaimlerChrysler's Chrysler Group (Auburn Hills, Michigan) with more bearings in 2002 for the hot-selling Chrysler PT Cruiser. Over 12,000 PT Cruisers were sold in November 2001, up 6% over November last year and all the more surprising because the PT does not qualify for 0% financing.

Most significantly, the 2002 PT Cruiser will be using Timken's UNIPAC ™ front hub assemblies with tapered roller bearings.

The PT Cruiser currently uses NSK hub assemblies with angular contact ball bearings.

The Timken announcement coincides with a Chrysler announcement, confirming the 2002 PT Cruiser option list will now include the long-awaited GT Cruiser - equipped with lowered suspension, wide tires and wheels, a beefed-up transmission, and most importantly, a turbocharged version of its 2.4 DOHC 4-cylinder engine, now putting out 225 horsepower and 240 pound-feet of torque.

The GT Cruiser (pictured above) concept is not new, and PT Cruiser customers have been asking for more power since the vehicle was introduced. For that additional horsepower, Chrysler engineers reportedly had a difficult time with the decision to supercharge or turbocharge the engine.

The standard PT Cruiser comes in three models with base prices ranging from $16,000 to $20,000. The engine in all PT Cruisers is a 150 horsepower, 2.4 litre DOHC inline 4-cylinder, mated to either a 5-speed manual or 4-speed automatic transmission. Antilock brakes are a $595 option; those PT Cruisers have hub assemblies with integrated electronic ABS sensors.

The GT Cruiser package will not only include the more powerful engine, but also a significant upgrade in the tire and wheel package. The GT Cruiser will reportedly ride on 17" wheels with 215/45/17 tires. Other PT Cruisers ride on either 195/65/15 or 205/55/16 tire and wheel packages.

With the more powerful and heavier engine, 3,120 pound curb weight, and wide tire and wheel packages, Chrysler reportedly found the service life of the current ball bearing front hub assemblies was unacceptable.

For the new front hub assembly, Chrysler called in four bearing manufacturers and asked for designs which would have quadruple the service life of the current unit. Three presented larger ball bearing units, while Timken's not only used tapered roller bearings but also had the same dimensions as the current unit.

Chrysler's switch from ball bearing to tapered roller bearing hub units in the same vehicle is not unprecedented. A number of years ago, General Motors found ball bearing hub units in its larger front-drive cars were not holding up. A new tapered roller bearing hub assembly was developed with the same envelope dimensions and installed as a running change.

Chrysler has also gone the other way. The company's first front-drive chassis, the K-car vehicles, were originally equipped with Timken double-row tapered roller bearings in the front wheel applications. Chrysler later changed to double-row ball bearings as a cost-saving measure.