Multi-Row Roller Bearings are primarily designed and used as roll-neck bearings in rolling mills. The four rows of rollers lends itself to carry large radial loads for the given bearing cross section. Contoured rollers with tight diametrical tolerances maximize the ability of this bearing to evenly distribute the load to all four rows. Most common types include the use of a machined brass finger cage or a machined mild steel finger cage. No suffix is required for the brass cage but the SM suffix is used for the steel. In larger sizes, the use of a steel pin type cage with hollow rollers is standard. Many outer race and inner race configurations and design types are available to meet installation or interchangeability requirements. Most bearings are supplied with C4 Internal Radial Clearance and P5 Accuracy to perform well in these roll neck applications.

A big advantage of multi-row  roller bearings is their very high radial load capacity. Due to the large number of rolling elements the impact force is well distributed. The friction is lower than at other multi row bearing types. Multi row cylindrical roller bearings cannot absorb axial forces. However, in service an axial displacement is possible.