Transmission Roller Bearings- condition?

D

Duke

Senior Member
Hi,
How do you assess the condition of the roller bearings when you are inspecting them. I know that pitting and galled bearings are junk. I have read lots of complaints about the new bearings that are available and I have lots of used originals to pick from. I plan on replacing the main shaft with a NOS replacement.
Thanks
 
The original Hyatt bearings had the spiral wound type rollers and are likely marked with a Ford trademark. If the rollers aren't cracked and still rotate then they are likely usable. The old Bower bearings had rollers that were necked down so that the ends would fit into holes in the retaining rings on each end. These bearings are good to go as long as they roller is still relatively smooth and they still rotate in the holes provided. The ends of the rollers should be the same size all the way around and not so small as to fail due to wear. The Asian repops are rebranded as Hyatt bearings and they have dimples in the support rings that fit into depressions in the rollers. They are not spiral wound bearings. The rollers are crap and can't take much of any side load. I'd rather have an old worn Hyatt spiral wound or a Bower type than a new Hyatt type made by coolies in the CCP.

This is a good link that has photos of both types, These bearings were virtually unchanged from the model A days clear up into the 50s.
https://www.fordbarn.com/forum/showthread.php?t=277033
 
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I looked over the model a thread and they talk about replacing the spacer in the cluster gear with more bearings. Is this a good idea in a V8 transmission?
Thank you for the help!
 
Duke said:
I looked over the model a thread and they talk about replacing the spacer in the cluster gear with more bearings. Is this a good idea in a V8 transmission?
Thank you for the help!
Click to expand...

I did cut down the spacer to allow the use of two "long" bearings on the shaft versus one long and one short when I rebuilt my transmission.

I'm curious if anyone has done what you are asking? Seems like it would make sense and work just fine or better than stock.
 
DON'T buy "KOBE" brand wound journal roller bearings,
Or NEW Berliss USA brand wound journal roller bearings ,
As BOTH are made in china,
I managed to procure/order&supply 12pcs each in ORIGINAL BERLISS&POLLARD (UK) brand from a bearing supplier in Singapore or in the USA.NOT even BOWER made there version of the O.E.M./original wound journal roller bearings with spiral grooves ,
This was solely a HYATT only made type,
Bower used to manufactuer wound journal roller bearings in Mexico as did RBC (Roller Bearing Company) BUT in Bowers case they switched to China&the case hardening is far&way too soft now they DON'T manufactuer wound journal roller bearings at all ,
If the vendors say that there NEW stock is USA made they're lying BUYER BEWARE!.
 
In the shoe box era, Ford changed over to loose rollers with washers for the countershaft and the main shaft to input pilot bearing sets. It's too bad that they haven't tried to go this route with the older transmissions that still were designed to work with the caged rollers. The loose rollers work very well but they have to be precision ground to size in order to minimize clearances. They can also be a bit tricky to install. I grease them up with petrolatum to keep them in place and installed everything in a vertical position.
 
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