Tapered roller bearings are separate bearings, and the inner and outer rings of the bearing have tapered raceways. This type of bearing is divided into different structural types such as single row, double row and four row tapered roller bearings according to the number of rows of rollers installed.For metric-design medium-angle and steep-angle tapered roller bearings, the respective contact angle symbol C or D is added after the bore number. For normal-angle tapered roller bearings, no contact angle symbol is used. Medium-angle tapered roller bearings are primarily used for the pinion shafts of differential gears of automobiles.

The U type tapered roller bearings are an exception within the conventional tapered roller bearings since this is a compact unit type that includes the grease and is pre-regulated without having to install an opposite bearing. Furthermore, they have a flange on the outer ring that is fastened axially in the application once the bearing is mounted.