Thrust bearings are designed for side or axial loads, and cannot handle much radial load at all. The rolling element in a thrust bearing can be a ball, needle or roller. Thrust bearings come in both metric and inch sizes. Dimensions to consider when searching are the bore, the outside diameter and the overall width.These bearings consist of a stamped or machined cage and rollers. The cage retaining the rollers is paired with thrust washers that act as raceways. Thrust bearings can be used without thrust washers when the faces of adjacent machine components can serve as raceways, allowing the machine to be even more compact.

Many motors and machines use combination bearings which resolve both axial and radial forces with one bearing. These can be tapered roller bearings such as those used on automotive wheels, cup type ball bearings working in unison such as those on small ball bearing wheels on wagons and carts.