HAMILTON, Ohio — Hamilton Caster has announced ZPI™ (Zero-Fix Precision Integrated) ball bearings for its industrial caster and wheel line, saying the in-house design extends bearing life and lowers push force versus traditional metric precision ball-bearing assemblies that use top-hat bushings.
Shop Hamilton on CasterHQ: Hamilton casters.
Hamilton ZPI™ red-seal bearing family (press photo). Courtesy Hamilton Caster; Hamilton has not reviewed or endorsed this article.
CasterHQ sells Hamilton casters and wheels. This article summarizes Hamilton’s public product announcement and trade coverage; performance percentages below are manufacturer claims, not independent laboratory verification.
According to Hamilton’s new-product page, ZPI bearings are designed so the wheel rolls more efficiently around a stationary inner ring after eliminating top-hat bushings that, Hamilton says, introduce friction, wear, and long-term degradation. The company states that the integrated design also simplifies assembly and improves lead time at its U.S. factory.
What Hamilton claims on performance
Hamilton’s announcement states that durability testing showed bearing-life improvements exceeding 40%, and that performance testing showed a 10–14% reduction in start-up and sustained rolling force. The same page’s summary line cites bearing-life improvements “up to 40%” and a “12% reduction in push forces.” Those figures are Hamilton’s. CasterHQ has not independently audited the test method, loads, speeds, or duty cycles behind them.
Material Handling Wholesaler republished substantially the same product description. Public timestamps on the trade piece and Hamilton’s page do not match (see Sources), so this draft does not assert a single reconciled launch calendar date beyond what each publisher printed.
Product scope Hamilton published
Hamilton says the ZPI series includes six variations covering axle sizes of ½", ¾", 1", and 1-1/4". The company describes a distinctive red seal for visual identification plus product markings intended to support traceability. Hamilton also states the bearings began shipping in the month of its announcement text and are offered across about 80% of its product line with no cost impact.
Those commercial-scope statements are from Hamilton. Buyers should confirm with their distributor or current Hamilton datasheet whether a specific catalog wheel or caster already ships with ZPI versus a prior bushing assembly.
What industrial buyers can usefully check
If you already specify Hamilton wheels or casters, the practical follow-ups are fitment and documentation—not accepting headline percentages as proof of field life:
- Confirm axle diameter and bearing type on the equipment drawing or current Hamilton print before ordering replacements.
- Ask whether the SKU shipping today includes the red-seal ZPI marking Hamilton describes.
- Treat life-extension and push-force reductions as attributed manufacturer test claims until a third-party report or your own duty-cycle trial says otherwise.
Related fitment reference (not a substitute for the Hamilton print): How to measure a caster for replacement.
Shop Hamilton at CasterHQ
Shop Hamilton on CasterHQ: Hamilton casters.
USA-built plate, stem, and heavy-duty options. Confirm ZPI availability and lead times on the product page or with our team.
Limits
This report relies on Hamilton’s ZPI new-product page and Material Handling Wholesaler’s product write-up. It does not claim independent proof of the stated life or push-force percentages, does not inventory which Hamilton SKUs already include ZPI, and does not adopt secondary marketing claims (such as relubrication elimination) that appear only on channel blogs without matching language on Hamilton’s primary page.
Sources
- Hamilton Caster, “Introducing the ZPI™ Integrated Precision Ball Bearings” (page dated May 6, 2026;
og:publish_time5/6/2026): hamiltoncaster.com new-products page - Material Handling Wholesaler, “Hamilton Caster introduces ZPI™ Integrated Precision Ball Bearing” (published February 26, 2026): mhwmag.com product notice
Note: The Hamilton page date (May 6, 2026) and the MHWmag publish date (February 26, 2026) conflict on the public record while carrying near-identical launch copy. This article flags the discrepancy and does not invent a reconciliation.