Bridge Engineering Services Ltd · Technical Resource Centre

Oilite Bush Identification Tool

Identify plain and flanged sintered bronze bushes in metric or imperial sizes. Enter the dimensions you can measure — decimals or fractions such as 1 1/4 are accepted.

Metric & imperialPlain & flangedFraction inputNearest-match ranking

Start with what you know

Measure the bush or the application

A loose Oilite bush is normally manufactured slightly different from its nominal shaft and housing size. This finder scores both nominal and loose-part measurements and deliberately shows several close candidates.

Bush form

Measurement units

Imperial boxes accept 0.625, 5/8, 1-1/4 or 1 1/4.

What are you measuring?

Inside diameter / bore (ID) Outside diameter (OD) Overall bush length (L) Flange outside diameter (FOD) Flange thickness (T)

Measurement condition

Known material / lubrication grade (optional)

Why measured sizes differ

Nominal size vs loose bush size

Oil-impregnated sintered bushes are normally supplied with controlled oversize on the outside diameter, and the bore is sized so that it reaches the intended running clearance after press fitting.

For example, published Oilite M-Series specifications show a nominal 4 × 8 mm sleeve at approximately 4.00–4.02 mm ID and 8.02–8.04 mm OD before fitting. The finder allows for this behaviour.

Installation

Do not select only by loose ID

Confirm the intended shaft and housing sizes. Metric UK-standard Oilite ranges commonly use H7 housing and f7 shaft guidance, but the exact product specification takes priority.

Press in squarely with controlled force and a suitable mandrel.
Protect the porous bearing surface from dirt and damage.
If machining is unavoidable, follow the Oilite manufacturer’s machining guidance and use sharp tools.
Abrasive honing and grinding of the bearing surface are not recommended by Oilite.

Application screening

PV / load-speed checker

Quick radial-bearing check using standard Oilite M-Series published limits. It does not replace a full application review.

Shaft / nominal boremm Bearing lengthmm Radial loadN Speedrpm

Enter bore, length, radial load and rpm.

Standard M-Series reference limits

Maximum pressure: 13.78 N/mm²
Maximum sliding speed: 6.1 m/s
Maximum PV: 1.75 N/mm²·m/s
Published temperature range: -37 to +149°C

Different Oilite grades and thrust applications have different limits.

Reference library

Browse bush size candidates

Catalogue references are identified separately from broader dimensional families.

Reference	Form	System	ID	OD	Length	Flange OD	Flange T	Status

Still not certain?

Send Bridge Engineering the bush

Send a photograph and the ID, OD, length and flange dimensions. We can check the closest standard option, alternatives and sourcing.

Send part details Call 0161 304 7800