RHP7016TDULP4Super-Precision Angular Contact Ball Bearing, 80 x 125 x 22 mm, ABEC 7 / P4, Phenolic Cage, Universally Ground Duplex, Light Preload – 1 Pc (Half Pair)

Product Description

What this part is

An RHP 7016 T.DUL.P4 super-precision angular contact ball bearing, 80 mm bore x 125 mm outside diameter x 22 mm wide. It is built to ABEC 7 / ISO P4 accuracy with a phenolic cage, and its faces are universally ground so that it can be stacked with another bearing of the same designation to give a defined light preload. This is spindle-grade hardware, not a general-purpose bearing.

Quantity and configuration

Read this before ordering: the −1/2PR suffix means half of a pair, so what ships is ONE bearing — 1 Pc — not a matched set of two. That is not a shortfall; it is how universally ground bearings are catalogued and sold. Because the rings are universally ground, a single piece is genuinely useful on its own: it can be run as a single bearing, or matched with any other bearing of the same designation to build a back-to-back (DB), face-to-face (DF) or tandem (DT) set, and the ground offsets deliver the specified preload automatically without shims or spacers. Buy two if you need the pair.

Decoding the designation

7016 — single-row angular contact ball bearing, ISO 70 series, 80 mm bore. 80 x 125 x 22 mm.
T — phenolic (laminated fabric) cage. Light, self-lubricating and quiet at speed, which is why it is the standard super-precision spindle cage.
DU — duplex universally ground. The ring faces are ground so any two pieces of the same designation stack to a known preload in any orientation.
L — light preload. RHP’s scale runs L light, M medium, H heavy.
P4 — ISO tolerance class 4, equivalent to ABEC 7. RHP also writes this class EP7, which is why the title carries 7016TDUEP7.
−1/2PR — half a pair. One bearing.

Note that DU and SU are mutually exclusive: DU means universally ground for duplex mounting, SU means universally ground as a single. This bearing is the DU form.

What these specs mean in practice

Preload is the whole point of a duplex universally ground bearing, and it is a trade-off rather than an upgrade. Preload removes internal clearance, so the spindle gains axial and radial stiffness and the balls are prevented from skidding at high speed — that is what holds a cutting tool on size. It also generates friction heat continuously, whether the machine is cutting or idling. Light preload is the high-speed choice: less heat, less stiffness. Step up to M or H only if the spindle needs the rigidity and can shed the heat. Never mix preload classes in one stack.

Universal grinding is what makes a single piece worth buying. On a non-universally-ground bearing you have to order a factory-matched set and keep the pieces together for life. Here the offsets are ground to a standard, so any two same-designation pieces mate correctly — which also means a stray half found on a shelf can be reunited with another to make a complete working pair.

The phenolic cage is a speed and lubrication feature. It weighs a fraction of a brass cage, absorbs and slowly releases oil, and runs quietly, but it will not tolerate sustained high temperature or aggressive synthetic lubricants the way a steel or brass cage does. Keep it on the oil-mist, grease or oil-air lubrication it was designed for.

P4 / ABEC 7 is about running accuracy, not load. It tightens bore, outside diameter, width and runout tolerances so the spindle turns true. That accuracy is worth nothing if the housing and shaft seats are not ground to matching tolerance, so check the machine before fitting a P4 bearing to a worn spindle.

Published specifications

Bore d: 80 mm
Outside diameter D: 125 mm
Width B: 22 mm
Bearing type: single-row angular contact ball, ISO 70 series
Precision class: ISO P4 / ABEC 7 (RHP EP7)
Cage: phenolic (laminated fabric)
Grinding: universally ground for duplex mounting (DU)
Preload: light (L)
Closure: open
Sale unit: 1 Pc — half of a pair

Installation and setup notes

Handle super-precision bearings clean and cool: unwrap only at the machine, keep the preservative oil on until fitting unless you are flushing to a specified lubricant, and never spin a dry bearing with compressed air. Mount with a press or induction heater against the ring being fitted, never through the balls. For a duplex stack, check that both pieces carry the same designation and the same preload letter, and set them in the orientation the spindle drawing calls for — back-to-back for moment stiffness, face-to-face for a self-aligning tendency, tandem for one-direction thrust. Both housing and shaft seats need to be ground to a tolerance that matches the bearing, or the P4 accuracy is wasted.

Interchange guidance

RHP’s bearing business became part of NSK, so the current-brand equivalent is an NSK 7016 super-precision. MM9116WI-CR-DUL is carried on this listing as the Fafnir and Timken designation for the same 80 x 125 x 22 mm super-precision envelope with a phenolic outer-land-riding cage and duplex light preload — a genuine like-for-like interchange for this configuration. Other same-configuration equivalents: SKF 7016 CD/P4ADGA-family singles, FAG B7016-C-T-P4S-UL, NSK 7016 A5 or C TYDUL P4 depending on contact angle, NTN 7016 T1 G GN P4 with GD2GL universal duplex light grinding. When you cross-reference a super-precision angular contact bearing, always carry across the contact angle, the grinding code and the preload letter as well as the size — a 7016 that is dimensionally identical but ground for medium preload or a different contact angle is a related size, not an equivalent, and swapping it changes spindle stiffness and heat.