Ideal applications for cylindrical roller bearings are very large industrial machines such as presses, forges, conveyors, gear boxes and rolling mills. On vehicles, they are ideal axle bearings for dump trucks, cement mixers, bulldozers, load haulers, and lifts.
Cylindrical roller bearings use rollers for rolling elements, and therefore has a high load capacity. The rollers are guided by ribs on either the inner or outer ring, therefore these bearings are also suitable for high speed applications. The inner and outer rings can be separated to facilitate assembly, and both can be fit with shaft or housing tightly. If there is no ribs, either the inner or the outer ring can move freely in the axial direction. Cylindrical roller bearings are therefore ideal to be used as so-called "free side bearings" that absorb shaft expansion.