Bearing designation

A bearing designation is the standardised code that fully describes a rolling bearing. It consists of an optional prefix, the basic designation and optional suffixes. The basic designation encodes bearing type, dimension series and bore: in 6205, the 6 denotes the type, 2 the dimension series and 05 a 25 mm bore. Suffixes add execution details such as seals and shields (2RS, ZZ), internal clearance (C3), cage material or tolerance class. Basic designations are largely comparable across manufacturers, but suffixes can be brand-specific — when identifying an old bearing, cross-check dimensions and suffixes to find the technically equivalent replacement.