NSK's distributor recently announced that NSK has developed an integrated assembly bearing for both the tire cover and the vehicle body, known as the "Hub Assembly Bearing with High Reliability Oil Seal." It is understood that NSK plans to launch this product into the global market, targeting emerging countries primarily, aiming to achieve sales of 4 billion yen (approximately $51 million) by 2016.

Hub assembly bearings are installed in vehicles close to the ground, easily exposed to mud and water, yet as they are crucial for supporting the vehicle body, they must possess high reliability.

To date, NSK has been expanding its business of high-seal, water-resistant hub-mounted bearings in global markets led by emerging nations. However, due to harsh road conditions in cold regions like Russia, there is also a demand for increased mud resistance in the bearings. The hub-mounted bearings developed by NSK this time feature an added auxiliary lip on the oil seal, preventing the entry of mud that could hinder the movement of the main sealing lip. The water resistance is 1.5 times that of previous products.

Furthermore, the high-seal oil seal is of the same size as previous products, allowing for the application of the high-reliability seal without any modification to the wheel hub assembly bearing dimensions. Through computer analysis, the surface pressure distribution of the sealing lip has been optimized, enabling the suppression of overall seal sliding friction even with the addition of auxiliary lips. This measure achieves the same friction as the previous wheel hub assembly bearing.