Many high speed mechanical systems incorporate gearing for speed reduction. This study investigates the stability of mulit-rotor geared systems supported on oil film bearings taking into consideration the coupling between torsional and lateral dynamics. The emphasis of the study is on the analysis of the interaction between the combined torsional and whirl insta- bilities. The feasility of inducing a lateral and the torsional instability to neutralize an anticipated unstable condition is investigated. The possibility of suppressing the instabilities by controlling the parameters of the oil film bearings is also considered.