26 Spline Input questions...

[Quicktime_GT]

I'm in process of swapping to a 26 Spline input..

The first issue, is that my D&D input did not come with a bearing. I have found the part number "M88048-10R" Can anyone verify this?

Next I suppose I can walk you guys through what i've done.. some input would be great.. I just want to make sure I'm doing this right!


To start with, I have a pretty nice magnetic base and mount that I borrowed from work... It's a NOGA unit, one knob in the arms tightens all three joints. One knob tightens the end pivot point, and another knob is a "fine adjustment" that allows you to slowly move the head after everything is tight. I'm using an SPi contact indicator. Both seem to be great products... Much nicer than another setup I was going to try to use... .

I have read that end play should be .000 - .002. (inches correct?) This would convert to .00 - .05mm. I assume this is shaft direction (" end and out") ? How much side-to-side or up-and-down play should there be? I expected to see none, but to be honest I can pull upwards on the shaft and see a considerable amount of play when measured with the stock 10 spline. (.50-.80mm) 0.019 - 0.03" ... This seems bad but I never had any issues... ?


With the front cover bolts removed, the old input shaft easily came out.. At this point I was careful to remove the shaft so that I could take note of how the (blocking ring?) was sitting on the shaft. Turns out you really can't screw that up as it has notches that mate up. (the teeth point toward the front)

Looking at the stock throwout bearing sleeve, I can see where the bearing rode on the shaft, but when cleaning it off there doesn't seem to be any damage or heavy marks. I plan to re-use the stock sleeve:

And... Thats about as far as I got... It's apart, I just don' have a bearing on the new shaft to continue... Any advice on pressing on the new bearing? I really don't want to screw up my new input shaft. I had planned to buy the bearing from napa, take the shaft + bearing to work and using a larger press I would place the input shaft with shaft facing upward ( likely supported by the gear on each side with the "race" hanging through) .. then using a pipe similar in size to the bearing slowly press it on to the shaft... Input / advice?

Stock 10 spline input endplay:

I hadn't taken the race out of the front cover, but I assume the shims go here behind the race?


The clutch going in it... hopefully it'l work out okay!

 

[Bdubbs]

I'm NO expert with this at all, but with the tranny already out, why the heck would you consider even re-using the stock TOB retainer sleeve? I'm in a similar situation right now, as either my TOB or sleeve is cause some loud's noises. I would also consider doing the LDC cooling mod if you don't have a similar one done already.

 

[Quicktime_GT]

I was able to finish things up this evening with the input shaft..

I was able to get a bearing at NAPA .. an 88048 SKF for around ~$15. I took the shaft back to work and the bearing pressed on pretty easily.

Using a vertical dial indicator I took measurements around the bearing race to ensure it was fairly square with the input shaft.. There was .007mm of variance.. thats .0002ish inches so I knew I was okay

I cleaned everything up as well as I could and put the trans together.. without changing from the stock shim.

Without silicone and with the bolts snug, I gave the input a few pecks with a wooden hammer, rotated it several times then pushed it as far toward the rear of the trans as I could.. I then set the contact indicator to 0 while allowing it to be under a load so it would read negatively and positively from zero. My Dad was around so I asked him to push on the output shaft... He basically used the handle of a hammer to press against the output moving the input outwards.. I would take note of where the dial went, then push the input inward and take note of how far it would go into the negative side...

I measured .0018", .0019, .0018, and .0019" of end play. With Spec being .000 - .002 I figured I'd pull it apart double check everything, give it one last cleaning then add a bead of RTV and bolt it up!

After bolting up the trans with the silicone, and bolts tightened to at-el-do it ft. lb I took end play measurements again..

.0014, .0014, .0011, .0017 ... an average of .0014 " total end play with the factory shim.. I doubted my self, but after doing some searching it seems that with the D&D shaft being made by Tremec it's pretty common for them to measure in spec with the stock shim..


So... it is what it is... I'm gonna go with it! If it makes weird noises or acts funny we'll know I should have took it somewhere lol

I'm NO expert with this at all, but with the tranny already out, why the heck would you consider even re-using the stock TOB retainer sleeve? I'm in a similar situation right now, as either my TOB or sleeve is cause some loud's noises. I would also consider doing the LDC cooling mod if you don't have a similar one done already.

Thanks for the input... I would buy an aftermarket sleeve if the current one looked rough.. I did not have a throwout bearing failure, so there should not have been any damage to the stock sleeve.

I understand it would be be protection for the input shaft against future thowout bearing failure.. but I don't intend to drive the car if I suspect a throwout bearing issue..

 

[Tractionless1]

You went through all that measurement with the end play but didn't replace the anemic TOB sleeve? I don't understand why owners don't replace pieces known to fail when their hand is on it, especially veterans like you. Kinda weird thinking on your end replacing the 10 spline BEFORE you broke it but keeping the stock TOB sleeve even though its an even bigger failure point than the input shafts. In the end you may wind up not driving the car due to a known throwout bearing failure because of the sleeve you chose not to replace, which will be very unfortunate IMO. :nonono:

I sure hope we caught you before you've put the trans. back in and you'll change your mind.

Who knows maybe I just over build through collecting info. on other owners failures. Bearing caps, TOB, TOB sleeve, clutch, input shaft, Diff., etc. all replaced before failure.