Tapered roller bearings are separable into a cone assembly and a cup. The non-separable cone assembly consists of the inner ring, the rollers, and a cage that retains & evenly spaces the rollers. The cup is simply the outer ring. Internal clearance is established during mounting by the axial position of the cone relative to the cup, although preloaded installations without clearance are common.

Metric tapered roller bearings follow the designation system defined by ISO 355.The larger the half angles of these cones the larger the axial force that the bearing can sustain.

In many applications tapered roller bearings are used in back-to-back pairs so that axial forces can be supported equally in either direction.

Pairs of tapered roller bearings are used in car and vehicle wheel bearings where they must cope simultaneously with large vertical (radial) and horizontal (axial) forces. Tapered roller bearings are commonly used for moderate speed, heavy duty applications where durability is required.