Router life, getting better bearings,

Hey all,

I have been using a 3.25Hp Porter Cable 5-speed router on my CNC
table, and I am finding that the bearings are wearing only after
about 100 hours of use. I've just worn the bearings on my second
router (purchased while the first one was being rebuilt, complements
of Porter Cable). I see the wear by the amount of axial end-play --
.010" is too much for me and too much according to Porter Cable.

I thought I read a post that someone had their PC router rebuilt with
better bearings? Have any of you done this? How much does this
improve the life between rebuilds?

Does anybody have suggestions for a better single-phase current
router suggestion? The repair shop I went to stated that Porter
Cable is pretty much the best for single phase, but I wanted to check
with your experiences.

Another question re: Speed control on routers. I'm finding my PC
3.25Hp can really start to hunt for the correct speed when under a
pretty heavy load. This is at either 10K or 13K rpm. I'm trying to
keep the speed down for proper feeds & speeds. Ideally I'd like to
have some more speed flexibility than 10K-21K rpm so I can use some
larger bits, such as 1/2". (By the way, I mostly cut very high
density foam, not metal.) Any suggestions?

Thanks in advance! Great forum!

Brent