“It really is tough,” said Guo Quan, the product manager, shaking his head in admiration when talking about the R&D process for long-life, high-performance tapered wheel hub bearings. As one of the key participants in the project, he and his colleagues had once spent countless sleepless nights together. Now that the new product has successfully entered mass production and made a strong mark in the market, looking back on those past experiences, it feels as though all the hardships have melted away into the joy of success. Led primarily by young engineers, this project team has taken flight on the wings of technology, boldly breaking through foreign monopolies and establishing Wanxiang Zhizao’s products on the global stage.

“Even if there are no conditions, we’ll create them and go ahead anyway.”

Long-life, high-performance tapered hub bearing units are primarily used in high-end commercial vehicles. Due to China's lack of third-generation tapered hub unit-related technologies and supporting expertise, these products have long been monopolized by foreign bearing manufacturers, leaving domestic companies unable to enter the high-end commercial vehicle supply chain. In 2019, Wanxiang Precision, a leading player in the automotive wheel hub bearing industry, seized the opportunity presented by the “9+N” customer initiative to promote the localization of bearings. The company promptly established a dedicated project task force to undertake the design and R&D of third-generation tapered hub units, tackle key process challenges, and optimize production-line layouts.

Everything is difficult at the outset. Conical products are not part of Jinggong’s core business, and developing them specifically for use as components supplied to OEMs represents a first-time endeavor. From design concepts and manufacturing processes all the way to equipment selection, everything had to be started from scratch. The project’s task force thus faced an extremely tough challenge. The first major hurdle was the bearing specifications: previously, the company had never developed bearings of such large size and weight, making precision in product machining particularly critical. With the workshop’s existing equipment unable to meet the desired technical specifications, it became necessary to acquire new grinding and machining machines. Before the new equipment arrived, team members put in tremendous effort and resorted to many unconventional methods. As they put it themselves at the time, “Even if there were no conditions, we’d create them and still get the job done.” When measuring bearing clearances, lacking specialized equipment, they adopted a computational approach, carefully pre-measuring dimensions and then assembling the parts one by one. Heat treatment also posed a significant challenge. In the original quenching process, secondary tempering would compromise the overall procedure. Drawing on the design principles of ball bearings, the team pioneered a novel approach—achieving double-groove quenching on the outer ring of conical bearings for the first time.

In the early stages of the project, much of the production work was carried out by Jinggong Jiangsu. To tackle technical challenges, team members stayed in Jiangsu for over a month, upgrading equipment, conducting on-site trials, and repeatedly verifying results. To meet tight deadlines, working late into the night became commonplace—by midnight, the work group’s chat app would still be buzzing incessantly with notifications. For them, delivering on time while ensuring top-quality standards was the paramount principle. Their efforts paid off: initially, the product quality wasn’t yet fully refined, and even several hours of testing couldn’t pass muster. After numerous rounds of revisions and optimizations by the entire team, the final product achieved a lifespan of hundreds of hours—more than ten times the original figure.

“From now on, Chinese manufacturers can produce their own third-generation tapered hub units!”

The long-life, high-performance tapered hub bearing unit is a precision bearing manufacturing technology crucial for use in major machinery and equipment, and it is one of the key components in automobiles. Currently, heavy-duty passenger vehicles and certain commercial vehicles on the market all adopt the second-generation-and-a-half tapered hub unit design. Our company has pioneered the development of this high-performance third-generation tapered bearing product. Compared with the conventional second-generation-and-a-half tapered hub unit, this new product features higher integration, better rigidity, longer service life, and more comprehensive performance. The project has resulted in one invention patent, five utility model patents, two pending invention patent applications, and one pending utility model patent application.

Thanks to the tireless efforts of our R&D team, the product design boasts numerous outstanding features: under the same assembly dimensions, its load-carrying capacity can be increased by 1.5 times; bearing rigidity has been significantly enhanced, virtually eliminating deformation under load and improving the vehicle’s NVH performance; the bearing’s impact resistance has been effectively improved, preventing overload-induced indentation and reducing the risk of failure; weight has been reduced by 15%, resulting in a substantial increase in payload capacity; bearing life has been extended, maintenance costs have been lowered, and disassembly and assembly have become more convenient. This innovative wheel hub bearing unit has had a positive impact on fuel consumption, emissions, performance, and operational lifespan.

The new product has undergone rigorous testing to enhance its durability, flange fatigue strength, high-speed performance, sealing performance, and rigidity. After comparing its technical specifications with both domestic and international standards, we found that its technological level significantly surpasses the current domestic industry standard and has reached a comparable level overseas. Following the successful completion of the final prototype testing, the project’s dedicated task force couldn’t hide their excitement. Joyfully exclaiming, “From now on, Chinese engineers can produce their own third-generation tapered hub units!”

Currently, after undergoing two rounds of full-vehicle road tests with “9+N” customers, the product has entered mass production and is now being used to supply high-end business vehicles. As the first domestic manufacturer to achieve OEM supply of third-generation tapered hub units, this breakthrough has shattered the foreign-invested companies’ monopoly in this market. At present, the project’s production capacity has reached 200,000 sets per year, with sales totaling 91.59 million yuan. This achievement has contributed significantly to the company’s high-quality development, both in terms of economic benefits and technological breakthroughs.

“Our journey is toward the stars and the sea.”

Achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and strength is an essential path toward high-quality development. The R&D of new products represents a landmark project. From scratch to full-scale production, from exploratory trials to confident advancement—this project’s success has created new growth drivers for the company and serves as a positive guide for tapping into new markets. Driven by both cutting-edge technology and high quality, the long-life, high-performance tapered wheel hub bearing unit has successfully achieved domestic production, earning high praise from our customers. Since then, the company has embarked on a milestone-setting new journey, attracting numerous high-end clients both domestically and internationally who are eager to discuss cooperation opportunities. Currently, the company is further developing larger-specification tapered roller bearing wheel hub units, continuing its forward momentum in this field of R&D.

Looking back on the R&D journey over the past few years, the members of the project team have much to reflect on. Only after navigating the muddy waters of the early stages can one finally reach smoother roads ahead. In the initial phase of the project, when human resources and equipment were still far from being fully established, everyone worked together with unwavering determination and never gave up. Product Manager Guo Quan remarked, “The company has always attached great importance to technological development and encouraged us to excel in ‘three innovations.’ As our business strategy undergoes transformation and upgrading, expanding the business into wheel hub units has become a key focus of our planning. Throughout the project’s advancement, the company’s strong support has been a solid backing for the success of our new product.”

The completion of product R&D isn’t the end—it’s a brand-new beginning. The project task force continues to strive for excellence and pursue continuous improvement. They stated that next, they’ll intensify everyone’s study of the development logic and theoretical foundations behind tapered hub units, while also implementing even more refined management in both manufacturing processes and measurement techniques. “To forge iron, one must first be strong oneself. Our journey lies beyond the stars and the vast sea. The task force will keep delving deeper into tapered products, aiming to further open up overseas markets and bring Wanxiang Intelligent Manufacturing’s reputation onto the global stage.”