A self-aligning ball bearing has two rows of balls with common spherical raceways in the outer ring. This feature endows them with the self aligning properties and permits them to work properly even with a slight misalignment of shaft relative to the housing. They are particularly suitable for application where misalignment can arise from errors in mounting or shaft deflection.This gives the bearings their self-aligning property, permitting angular misalignment of the shaft relative to the housing. They are therefore particularly suitable for applications where misalignment can arise from errors in mounting or from shaft deflection. MRC non-sealed self-aligning ball bearings have the lowest friction of any bearing type.

Self-aligning ball bearings have two rows of balls, a common sphered raceway in the outer ring and two deep uninterrupted raceway grooves in the inner ring. They are available open or sealed. The bearings are insensitive to angular misalignment of the shaft relative to the housing , which can be caused, for example, by shaft deflection.Self-aligning Ball Bearings are particularly suitable for applications where misalignment occurs from errors in mounting or from shaft deflection. This bearing should only be used in light axial load applications due to the small axial capacity.