Solid-lubricated ball bearing life is limited by several failure modes that normally do not present a significant risk to liquid-lubricated bearings. While conventional subsurface fatigue failure is normally considered to be the primary limiting factor of life in liquid-lubricated ball bearing, other failure modes must be evaluated in assessing the life of solid-lubricated bearings. A quasi-empirical method for assessing life and reliability of solid-lubricated bearings was developed that considers: (1) fatigue, (2) raceway wear, (3) ball separator wear, and (4) lubricant transfer rate control from sacrificial self-lubricating ball separators.