Trans Bearings

Mulletwagon

Mulletwagon

Well-known member
Getting ready to change out the front and rear bearings. Is it better to go sealed or unsealed ? I lean toward unsealed.
 
Sealed one sided. Keep the slingers in place they act also as spacers. Why have one(2) places for possible leaks. Sealed side out. Don't need to dilute the grease in the U-joint or add it to the clutch. While you are at it might want to use the gear shafts with the o rings and shift rail kit. And make sure the vent in the tower is open.
 
redmodelt said:
Sealed one sided. Keep the slingers in place they act also as spacers. Why have one(2) places for possible leaks. Sealed side out. Don't need to dilute the grease in the U-joint or add it to the clutch. While you are at it might want to use the gear shafts with the o rings and shift rail kit. And make sure the vent in the tower is open.
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Seen sealed and unsealed bearings but not sealed on one side. Are they readily available ? Are they US made ? Source ?
 
macdonge said:
Sealed, one side.
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Liking the leak resistance of sealed bearings. Any serious longevity problems with using the double sealed bearings ? Suspect oil will eventually find its way past the seals. Understand u-joint will require more frequent servicing. Also like the O-ring shafts - very cool.
 
1crosscut said:
Don't just replace the front and rear bearings. Replace all of the bearings while you have it apart.
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I agree , replace all of the transmission bearings . When bearings begin to fail , the rollers can and will stack . When the rollers from the failed bearings stack it throws the gear teeth out of alignment and transmission failure will follow .
 
rocket1 said:
Just pull off the seal on one side,I've done it.
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Yup, the seal will pop out quite easily.

Then trans oil will lube the bearing. As mentioned the u-joint will like 'goopier' [ technical term] grease/oil in the shell. We've used separate grease guns over the decades, one with grease mixed with heavy oil for such purposes and one with heavy oil for steering boxes with a grease fitting where the fill plug usually resides.
 
By the time you get the ****** out and apart, the additional cost and work to replace all the bearings and get new shafts with O rings is all pretty minimal, and worth the effort and cost. Taking one side seal off the front and rear bearings is easy.
 
Any trouble getting the o-rings to go into place. I pulled a ****** apart that already had o-rings but they were badly cut and had a good part of the material missing, I tried to get o-rings into the grooves but gave up and used shafts with no o-ring, They do weep a bit, but I've seen worse.
 
I have found that the rear bearing with just one seal doesn't seal well even with the slinger in place. I am using a double sealed bearing and the level now stays up after extended touring.
 
daveymc29 said:
Any trouble getting the o-rings to go into place. I pulled a ****** apart that already had o-rings but they were badly cut and had a good part of the material missing, I tried to get o-rings into the grooves but gave up and used shafts with no o-ring, They do weep a bit, but I've seen worse.
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I too would like to know what the "trick" is to get the o-rings in place without them being damaged while installing them.

I've had excellent success keeping the original style shafts from leaking by putting a thin coating of black silicone around the ends of the shafts after they are in place and before the keeper plate is installed. Then after installing the keeper plate re-applying the silicone around the ends of the exposed shafts, keeper plate and bolt head.
Be sure that things are squeaky clean before putting on the silicone and use a bit of teflon tape on the bolt threads.
Has worked like a champ for me. The first one I did this way was 8 years ago and it hasn't leaked a drop yet.
 
1crosscut said:
I too would like to know what the "trick" is to get the o-rings in place without them being damaged while installing them.

I've had excellent success keeping the original style shafts from leaking by putting a thin coating of black silicone around the ends of the shafts after they are in place and before the keeper plate is installed. Then after installing the keeper plate re-applying the silicone around the ends of the exposed shafts, keeper plate and bolt head.
Be sure that things are squeaky clean before putting on the silicone and use a bit of teflon tape on the bolt threads.
Has worked like a champ for me. The first one I did this way was 8 years ago and it hasn't leaked a drop yet.
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I wrecked one of the o-rings when I rebuilt my transmission and then it dawned on me to chamfer the edges of the holes in the transmission case slightly. Used a small stone on the dremel and the second one went in flawlessly. Luckily I had some correct size o-rings to replace the destroyed one.
 
A person has to check those shafts pretty close. Some of the ones made for the V8 transmissions are undersize a bit so the bearing surfaces are not up to specs. I do like 1crosscut and apply some silicon sealant to the ends of the shafts be fore I push them in. It works as good as an O-ring since there is no pressure involved.
 
"I wrecked one of the o-rings when I rebuilt my transmission and then it dawned on me to chamfer the edges of the holes in the transmission case slightly. Used a small stone on the dremel and the second one went in flawlessly. Luckily I had some correct size o-rings to replace the destroyed one"


That is how we do it too, along with lubing the shaft too. It could be shown in one of Les books to do it that way.



I am thinking that bearing that is sealed/shielded on both sides would be prelubed. If you leave the shield on the inside, how would lube get to it?
 
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