Iron Cobra Replacement Bearings

genderwt

Junior Member
I've got a set of IC's and the left slave sticks horribly. I maybe get 1/5 of the overall movement that the main pedal does and after much lubricating and cleaning the problem still exists. The only option I see left is to change the bearings, but I'm not sure what kind to get. Does anybody know of good replacement bearing for pedals? Thanks in advance.

-Wade
 
I took apart an IC single to convert it from a rolling glide to a power glide,there is a metal ring with a channel in it that the bearings sit in,you may be able to order them from a Tama dealer,I went to GC to research my conversion and we could not get specific info on the tama site they had access to,I called Tamas 800 # and the person on the phone could not help either,they had no access to the parts to physically look at them,but you probably could order the bearing part from a tama dealer,the other thing you could do is pull the bearing sections out and take them to a place that sells them and see if you could match them up.Welcome to the forum by the way.
 
I've got a set of IC's and the left slave sticks horribly. I maybe get 1/5 of the overall movement that the main pedal does and after much lubricating and cleaning the problem still exists. The only option I see left is to change the bearings, but I'm not sure what kind to get. Does anybody know of good replacement bearing for pedals? Thanks in advance.

-Wade



Don't think for a minute TAMA has IC bearings made to their specs, that's not even the case, they use standard bearings, which are available at any bearing shop. Skate bearings will probably fit. Go ceramic, or NINJA like PEARL.

I've bought replacements from a bearing shop (CAMCO pedal) and they were only $5 ea. Tip: Don't get the sealed ones, too slow.

Contacting TAMA or going through a drum shop is insanity, the wait will be ridiculous and you'll be overcharged for an outsourced product repackaged by TAMA that's been shipped across the largest ocean on the planet, waste... by local.
 
If the bearing in the slave is the same as a IC single then a standard skateboard bearing will work. I changed out the bearings in my IC, (there was some play and rattle) with a good skate bearing - bingo! Skate bearings are cheap and the mid level (abec-3 or abec-5) are better then the ones I pulled from my IC. Get the sealed ones. The seal doesn't touch the ball bearing and it will keep the dust (and spilled beer) out. And any tiny bit of contact it might have from poor installation is not going to be felt. You'd really have to mangle the bearing to cause the shield to slow down the balls. Unfortunately skate bearings are only sealed on one side, so put the shield on the outside. Ceramics are a waste of money on a pedal. The real savings when using ceramics is the weight savings, the performance is sooo slight the extra speed is in yer mind - don't believe the hype. (btw Skateboarding is one of my vices, at 46 I guess I'm a lifer.)
 
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Bearings are sealed mainly to keep grease in, also dirt out. Dirt isn't a big problem with kick pedals, grease is though and its painfully slow in conjunction with bass pedals. If a bearing is 'sealed' its going to be sealed in grease. Most skate bearings are 'shielded' not sealed.

You can easily spin sealed and non sealed bearings with your fingers and you'll see how slow the sealed ones with grease are by comparison.

Bass pedal bearing never see the load and rotation that skate bearings do. Bass pedals go their whole life and the shaft will never see a full rotation.

I throughly clean all the new bearings I install, then coat with a TEFLON lube, that's it.

As far as being able to tell the difference between a grade 10 ball and grade 16 ball, it is noticeable in smoothness and speed. PEARL has already demonstrated highly polished balls mean less friction on a bass drum pedal, which may or may not be a benefit to you.
 
Bearings are sealed mainly to keep grease in, also dirt out. Dirt isn't a big problem with kick pedals, grease is though and its painfully slow in conjunction with bass pedals. If a bearing is 'sealed' its going to be sealed in grease. Most skate bearings are 'shielded' not sealed.

You can easily spin sealed and non sealed bearings with your fingers and you'll see how slow the sealed ones with grease are by comparison.

Bass pedal bearing never see the load and rotation that skate bearings do. Bass pedals go their whole life and the shaft will never see a full rotation.

I throughly clean all the new bearings I install, then coat with a TEFLON lube, that's it.

As far as being able to tell the difference between a grade 10 ball and grade 16 ball, it is noticeable in smoothness and speed. PEARL has already demonstrated highly polished balls mean less friction on a bass drum pedal, which may or may not be a benefit to you.

I've been building and racing bikes for 25 yrs and skateboarding for 35 yrs. bearings are a big part of that. That tiny bit of lag you see when you spin a cartridge bearing in you fingers simply can't be felt once you put a bit of weight on it.
So unless you've packed that bearing w/ some super sticky marine grease or your leg & foot weighs a few grams then you can't feel.

And those Pearl bearings are nothing more than mid-level skate bearings.


edit. I seemed to get hung up on that "light oil" vs "grease" in a bearing race. I hear that a lot in skating and biking...

Les Ismore, You're right for the most part.
 
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This isn't a bike or a skateboard, both of those see your body weight usually in excess of 50 kg when in motion.

Bass pedals run most of their life on beater/cam/shaft weight (ounces), any foot weight/force is momentary and sometimes only a few ounces on its own (depending on how hard you play the song). There's some very light feathering which does not even approach body weight in a lot of bass pedal playing.

Return strokes which make up at least half of all the action a bass pedal sees are all pedal weight (ounces), there's no body weight on return strokes.

Grease on a bike/skate bearings will not be very noticeable to some I agree, on a bass pedal bearings... noticeable.

Sealed bearings have more drag, the higher the polish on a bearing ball with minimal lube equals less drag, not a factor with 50+ Kg, but noticeable with the comparably light weight/forces involved with a bass pedal.
 
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This isn't a bike or a skateboard, both of those see your body weight usually in excess of 50 kg when in motion.

Bass pedals run most of their life on beater/cam/shaft weight (ounces), any foot weight/force is momentary and sometimes only a few ounces on its own (depending on how hard you play the song). There's some very light feathering which does not even approach body weight in a lot of bass pedal playing.

Return strokes which make up at least half of all the action a bass pedal sees are all pedal weight (ounces), there's no body weight on return strokes.

Grease on a bike/skate bearings will not be very noticeable to some I agree, on a bass pedal bearings... noticeable.

Sealed bearings have more drag, the higher the polish on a bearing ball with minimal lube equals less drag, not a factor with 50+ Kg, but noticeable with the comparably light weight/forces involved with a bass pedal.

yeah I get that.

But yer not going to feel the difference under the weight of your foot and leg or the swinging weight of the beater being pulled back by a spring...if you can notice the lag then, yes, you need a better bearing system.
 
Having that same problem with my ICs. In addition my bearings have gotten loose so the slave pedals sways in sideways. It's not that bad but it is noticeable.

I think those bearings in Iron Cobas are worse than they let you know, seriously.
 
Bearings do wear. I just replaced the bearings in my AXIS X double, side to side wear in the connecting strap (AKA direct link), we're talkin' in the 1000's of inches... but noticeable.

Pedal bearings are cheap (on the open market) and its easy to change them out, I consider it normal maintenance. IC users have all those skate bearing options, nice! AXIS uses 1/4" bearings.
 
I,ve worked in the bearing industry for nearly 30yrs &agree 90% of what,s already been written in regards to selection of bearings &the technical side.BUT there,s bad&good quality bearings! in relation to roller blade&skateboard bearings the manufactuers (this also includes drum manufactuers) choose&use the CHEAPEAST &"standard" (standard as in bearing industry standard) bearings cheapest also in cost &quality.99.9% of pedal /roller blade&skate bearings are of chinese manufactuer.The sheilded bearings have a much faster speed rating then fully sealed.BUT the load rating is the same for both sheilded &fully rubber sealed.INMHO for what,s it worth is to choose fully rubber sealed bearings sealed BOTH sides these will be not only quieter but better in terms of lubrication &also load carrying capacity.I,d also go for/recommend either euro or uk brands i.e. FAG/RHP/SKF or ANY of the American manufactured bearing brands.The part number you need to ask for in the bearing shops is:608 2rs
hope this helps!
Ta mates
Ado.
 
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I have a couple questions,I have a first generation pwr glide cobra, and another I bought new in 1999(black powder coat)Rolling glide,I converted the roller to a power glide.The old one is faster than the new one,and when I converted it I had to pull the bearings,it looked like a closed metal casing.Could it be that Tama went even cheaper on the newer cobras bearings?And if I replace the bearings on either with U.S.A. made bearings what will be the difference performance/longevity wise? What bearings should I get and what would the most important specs I should be looking at?I looked online and there are a lot of bearing shops in atlanta,would I be better off going to one of those?
 
I,ve worked in the bearing industry for nearly 30yrs &agree 90% of what,s already been written in regards to selection of bearings &the technical side.BUT there,s bad&good quality bearings! in relation to roller blade&skateboard bearings the manufactuers (this also includes drum manufactuers) choose&use the CHEAPEAST &"standard" (standard as in bearing industry standard) bearings cheapest also in cost &quality.99.9% of pedal /roller blade&skate bearings are of chinese manufactuer.The sheilded bearings have a much faster speed rating then fully sealed.BUT the load rating is the same for both sheilded &fully rubber sealed.INMHO for what,s it worth is to choose fully rubber sealed bearings sealed BOTH sides these will be not only quieter but better in terms of lubrication &also load carrying capacity.I,d also go for/recommend either euro or uk brands i.e. FAG/RHP/SKF or ANY of the American manufactured bearing brands.The part number you need to ask for in the bearing shops is:608 2rs
hope this helps!
Ta mates
Ado.

Thank you very much for this info! I'm going to order new bearings to my Cobras!
 
I bought 6 bearings for 30e from my local store and when I started to change those bearings I noticed that in newer IC's (2009 -->) two of the bearings are integrated somehow so I couldn't remove them. I also found the problem what I have had with them for a while - screws. They were too tight so the problem wasn't in bearings. After all I returned my bearings and got refund. Happy ending!
 
This post is dead, but I signed up just to write on this post.
Well.... Not to contradict the guy who worked for so many years with bearings, but...
Even though I don't have that much expertise on bearings, I have a few things to say that are totally my own opinion.
I never studied or worked with bearings. But I changed hundreds of them on my roller skates and later on Rollerblades. They do represent a difference in performance. But the higher performance bearings, for me, are pretty much the same.
Never tried the new ceramic ones, but... One day I will.
The way I see it, bearings are made to stand much higher speeds on industrial machines than we can reach on skates or roller skates. So, I would think they can stand very well when used on them.
Also, when we look at the speed those bearings work on drum pedals, and the normal use on them, as long as they're oiled and greased well, they are never used to a limit. Not by any human drummer. Maybe the Terminator or Robocop would reach the limit... But they don't exist.
So, I don't think that high performance bearings would be that much of a difference.
Also, I do agree with tightening the bearings too much will affect the performance. If they're too right, it will choke them, and they won't spin properly. That happens on roller skates too.
So, as long as they're installed correctly and kept greased, I would think that we don't need high performance or ceramic bearings on drum pedals. But again, that's just my opinion, and my point of view.
Maybe those better bearings spin a little more freely. And maybe that can be felt to a point. But not to affect the performance or speed of a drummer's feet.
But again, that's only my opinion and my view on this, after over 30 years of drumming and roller skating.
 
I'd say if you're replacing the bearings, go all-out and get the best you can afford. Sure, the performance improvement might be minimal or just psychological, but since you're doing it anyway, might as well go all-out for the best option.
 
As it was the slave pedal that was stiff in the OP, the most probable cause will be the driveshaft. The joints on the shaft usually wear out a lot faster than the bearings...
 
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