CEDAR GROVE, N.J. – King Engine Bearings this week celebrated its 50th anniversary while at AAPEX 2 in Las Vegas. To celebrate its 50th anniversary, AAPEX attendees were able to stop by King's AAPEX 2011 booth for a chance to enter the company's "Hit the Bull's Eye" promotion.

Through the promotion, the company is giving away 50 sets of King Engine Bearings, plus a grand prize of engine bearings and four tickets to watch the famous Grave Digger monster truck. The 1,450 HP Grave Digger runs exclusively on King Engine Bearings.

The "Hit the Bull's Eye" promotion ends on Jan. 31, 2012. Winners will be selected in a random drawing and notified by email. No purchase is necessary. Go to www.kingbearings.com/50thpromo for more details.

The name of the promotion stems from King's commitment to manufacture its automotive, aviation and high-performance engine bearings to “Bull’s Eye Tolerance,” a commitment to ultra-precise control of the critical wall thickness tolerance.

"We are excited to celebrate our 50th anniversary and the distinction of manufacturing our bearings to this unique 'Bull's Eye' standard," said Michael James, vice president of export sales and marketing, King Engine Bearings. "King recognized a long time ago that engine builders wanted and needed engine bearings with better tolerance control, greater reliability and superior longevity."

James says inconsistent shell-to-shell wall thickness has an adverse impact on an engine’s bearing-to-crank-journal clearances. Typically, this has resulted in engine builders having to compensate for these inconsistencies by pre-sorting and then select fitting differently graded shells – a very time consuming and costly process.

"At King, our Bull's Eye Tolerance commitment has removed the inconsistency factor. It’s a superior standard for people who demand superior results,” said James.

King utilizes statistical analysis, state-of-the-art manufacturing and in-line process control to hold rod and main bearing wall thickness tolerances to an exceptionally precise +0.0001". This far outperforms other manufacturers whose wall thickness at the crown can vary by up to +0.00025".

Through its Bull's Eye Tolerance standard, James says King is able to provide a level of product consistency that is unmatched by any competitor.

"Because of our bearing consistency, engine builders can more easily achieve their targeted rod and main clearances. This makes their shop more efficient and their engines more dependable," he explains. "King is proud to bring added-value to its customers through the Bull's Eye tolerance advantage."