Thrust bearing resonance changer

A tilting shoe type thrust bearing having a plurality of tiling shoes disposed in a circular array, each shoe having a load bearing portion, the improvement comprising a plurality of arcuate spring segments disposed to form an annular ring which provides axial support for said shoes, said annular ring having a plurality of surfaces cooperatively associated and aligned with said load bearing surfaces on the shoes, a plurality of spacers disposed adjacent said annular ring, said spacers being intermediately disposed with respect to said load bearing surfaces, and on the side opposite thereof thereby equally distributing the load over the array of shoes and reducing the stiffness of said bearing and thus reducing the frequency at which the bearing will resonate when subjected to periodic axial forces during operation.