It may be appropriate; to consider using bearings made of TEFLON® brand fibers to assist your lubricated system at startup if the loads in your system are high.

Bearings of TEFLON® brand fibers have a broad operating range from nearly absolute zero to approaching 300 degrees Celsius. Temperature does impact the co-efficient of friction for our fibers. The figure below shows the impact of load and temperature on friction on bearing made from our fibers. However to run at the extreme temperatures listed requires that all the materials in the system be able to withstand those extremes. To be certain that the bearing you are selecting will operate in the full temperature range you are interested in please consult directly with the bearing manufacturer.

Effect of Load and Temperature on Coefficient
of Friction of Bearings of TEFLON® Brand Fibers
(Thrust Washer Test, ½ ft/min [.0025 m/s])
  

The above figure does not address the impact of very low temperatures on PTFE. At -20 Celsius the coefficient of friction begins to slowly increase until the temperature fall to approximately -40 Celsius. At this point the coefficient of friction is approximately double the level it was at -20 Celsius but is stable and does not change with further drops of temperature.

Speed is also impacts the coefficient of friction. As shown in the chart below, the coefficient of friction increases with increasing speed. This relationship creates a practical upper operating limit for full rotation applications of approximately 25 ft/m or .13 M/s. This operating limit may be increased nearly 4 times is the bearing is operated in liquids like water which help to cool the bearing. However the introduction of water will increase bearing wear and may reduce bearing life by approximately ½ that of a bearing operated dry.

Coefficient of Friction vs. Speed and Load
of Bearings of TEFLON® Brand Fiber

Sleeve or journal bearingsof TEFLON® brand fiber made with either metal backing or thermosetting resin shells and bonded fabric liners can offer load-bearing capacity superior to bushings of oil-impregnated porous bronze or nylon as illustrated in the figure below. These test results also provide guidance concerning the PV Limit (P=Force per unit area, pounds per square inch, psi; V=Speed, feet per minute, fpm) for bearings where continuous operation absent lubrication is required. Higher service speeds are possible when full lubrication is provided, where heat can be removed from the bearing surface or where the system operates intermittently so that the bearing surface may cool between cycles.

Load-Speed Conditions for Bearings
of TEFLON® Brand Fibers

Spherical bearings are often used in mechanical linkages subject to high unit loads and operating at low speeds or intermittently. The results summarized below illustrate the high unit loads sustainable with self-lubricated bearings lined with TEFLON® brand fibers. The test procedure was stopped when the fully lubricated steel bearing failed. The test article lined with TEFLON® brand fibers remained serviceable.

Oscillation Test Comparison of Spherical
Bearings of TEFLON® Brand Fibers vs. All-Steel