[TowerTalk] Thrust Bearing Installation

[krgoodwin at comcast.net]

In my current (about to be replaced) installation I put all of the dead
weight on the thrust bearing thinking I was saving the rotator.  I had heard
in the intervening 20 year period that loading the thrust bearing was
incorrect even though the word thrust to me means along the gravity vector
not out-of-plane.  Nobody ever has detailed instructions with any purchased
thrust bearing (Rohn, DX Engineering) but thanks to this astute group, I
have been educated.  I also learned to become a mechanical engineer by never
having three bearings on a shaft/mast. What EE knows that?  I had always
wondered about the sleeves I see at the top of a tower wondering why a
thrust bearing hadn't been installed, especially when a bearing costs more.
My motto had been "When you don't know what you're doing, buy the most
expensive"  Ken K5RG