borg warner R 11

F

fast fredy

Senior Member
hi guys , I'm fairly accomplished working on and dissmanteling r 10 overdrives but I happened to come accross an r 11 witch I've heard about but never seen . I know the main difference is that they have 4 planetary gears instead of 3 . But as far as dissassenbly it doesnt have the little window on top to get at the large snap ring I'm sure it must have something similar inside I have not tried anything yet .I was so suprised to see it was an r11 .. I know it seemed heavier than the r 10 which is plenty heavy It came out of a 1960 ford with factory 390 I guess thats why the heavier ****** Any information on these r 11 would be appreciated thanks Fred
 
Try Van Pelt Sales. They’re experts. Mac’s on the HAMB fairly frequently.

Usually behind a the BW T-85. Damn near bullet proof. I think they were standard behind the 406’s also, but by then most ordered the 4 speed.

Worth some decent money if you’re not going to use it.
 
All Borg Warner whole OD transmissions were made with the 1-1/2” round expansion plug for access to the rear bearing snap ring (this includes their T-85 and their T-86 models). To remove this plug you can use a sharp chisel to punch a small hole in the plug (towards the rear of the plug) and then pop it out with a screwdriver. We include a new expansion plug in our seal kits.

The freewheel cam assembly is tricky to remove. There’s a slender snap ring on the backside of the freewheel hub….and an identical one under the planetary gear. Be careful removing the freewheel assembly (after removing the rear snap ring). It can be stuck on the main shaft splines. You can damage the outer shell if you try to remove it with a jaw puller. You can also displace the 2 wire springs holding the inner hub to the outer shell….getting the whole unit reassembled can drive you to drink.

There are other challenges with this transmission, mostly with reassembly. The whole unit is a heavy beast so maneuvering it on the bench can aggravate that back issue that we often have to deal with. I don’t seek these models out to rebuild…..
 
thanks Miker and Mac for the info .. I think this r 11 has a finer output shaft than the r 10 and yes i saw that plug but wanted to be sure thanks again
 
The Lincoln cars started using the T85 R11 in the 337 engine years but kept a similar type into the Lincoln & heavier Ford Y-block years and of course heavy duty applications clear up to 1971 for pickups and FE block applications. The T85N from 1965 through 71 with the nodular iron case was the last one of the line for Ford if I remember correctly. Only the early R11 types had the plate with two bolts on top of the tail housing. I'm not sure when they started using the soft plug. Borg Warner built these transmissions for a number of manufacturers. A lot of manufacturers that would eventually be folded into AMC purchased the Borg Warner transmissions with heavier cars getting the R11 ODs. Chrysler and GM used them too but it was mostly on the heavy cars that were offered with a standard transmission. The automatic transmissions and eventually the 4-speeds were more favored.
 
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A question for Mac VP . on this r11 is there anything specificly differant in the re and re procedure of the tailstock , if I dont have to get into the guts , just want to possibly change the tailstock / yoke seal . is the shift rail procedure the same as r10 thanks Fred
 
The removal of the tail housing is very similar to the process used on the R-10 type housings. The lockout shaft must be pulled out on all BW overdrive units but there are some subtle differences. Generally, if the entire transmission was made by BW (ie T-86 and T-85) the lockout shaft can be pulled completely out after knocking out the slender tapered pin that secures it.

The housing is released by removing the bolts that hold it to the overdrive adapter casting and gearbox. Leave the single bolt (or stud and nut) that holds the adapter to the gearbox. The exception to this would be the later T-85’s from the late 60’s and 1970’s which used four bolts to pass through the overdrive adapter into the gearbox….you have to remove all four bolts and try to leave the adapter inplace next to the main gearbox. Otherwise, it will have a single bolt to hold the Od adapter in place….do not remove this bolt.

Remove the round expansion plug on the top of the tail housing ( see my note above in my previous post). Spread the internal lock ring with the appropriate lock ring pliers and use a heavy dead blow hammer (soft head) to tap on the output shaft. This will move the snap ring away from the groove in the rear ball bearing enough to then let you pull the rear housing off. If you can keep the output shaft in place, you can slide the housing off. It’s pretty easy to then replace the rear bushing and rear oil seal.
 
If it's out of the vehicle then there should be no problem in removing the tail housing. It's when it's in a vehicle that is can be a problem. A lot depends on the year, model, and how the frame is set up when doing that. The X-flames don't allow much rearward movement, plus that doesn't leave a lot of access.

The output has the sprag drum on it. It's not hard to put the shaft back on to the sprag clutch but the rollers have to be held with something like a rubber band and it's best done vertically. Pulling the housing without pulling the shaft is a bit more difficult since the bearing being in there usually requires the shaft and drum assembly to be tapped out on the bench otherwise a person has to keep the shaft from coming off the sprag clutch while trying to tap the housing off of the shaft bearing. I've never done it that way so I don't know how difficult it would be.
 
another question for Mac .or anyone else. I got the tailstock off no problem . but I assumed the rear tailstock seal was the same as r10 and you know what happens when you assume something the r10 seals are 2 and 3/8 diameter and the r 11 are 2 and 1/2 Mac would you have a number for the r11 seal .. The seal I have is skf cr seal #15005 which is too small thanks again Fred
 
You mean the tail-shaft extension rear seal?

Is it a BW T-85?

If no one comes on, there will be an ID NO. stamped on the seal. Just GIGGLE that and you should find one.
 
On the Ford "Lincoln" cars, the original part number was 8L-7657-A for the 49 & 50 Lincoln types. They changed the-A to the -B & -C over time but aftermarket seals numbers are CR-16817 or SKF-16817. The R11 transmissions were used by Chrysler, Packard, and others on their heavy cars & likely a pickup or two so it depends on what car the part was used in since the front drive shaft knuckle may be different on those.
 
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