Throwout Bearing Falls Apart Immediately

[BigRedWeather]

I hate to say bad things about a good company, but I also hate for people to buy bad products unknowingly. Attached is a picture of the Throwout Bearing I got from South Bend. It came with the stock clutch they sent me. When I pulled the transmission after 1000 miles I saw the problem. If I put the TOB Bearing into the fingers of the PP (Pressure plate) there was just a whisker of play. So, when the TOB is pushed into the PP, the hole in the fingers is even smaller, pinching the lip that sticks out ahead of the TOB. Or, the slightest vibration in the shaft,

see http://www.oilburners.net/forums/showthread.php?t=34690

would cause the lip to be pinched off.

South Bend sent me an entirely new clutch kit at their cost and after 4000 miles I had to pull the trans again. The TOB looked just the same. For more information, see the link above.

In the picture the TOB on the left has at least 105,000 miles on it, the one on the right has 1000. Look closely on the right of the right TOB and you will see a think rubber ring and a think metal ring. Those were spinning on my trans input shaft both times when I pulled it out. South Bend called Luk in on a conference call that very day that Luk said everything was performing as expected! Why put this lip on the TOB if it is going to be pinched off?


BigRedWeather

PS Sorry for the double post. Didn't realize I couldn't come back and add the link. I hope the picture attaches this time.

 

[geonc]

Interesting....at least SB is standing tall...as they have in the past.
Any new news?

 

[BigRedWeather]

Geonc,

No new news.

One tid bit is that when I drive now, through the RPMs where I used to feel strong vibrations, I now feel very very slight vibration. I think this is just where the spindle that goes into the Pilot Bearing needs to be held still, and the Kevlar wasn't doing the job. That caused the front transmission bearing to be damaged.

I was pleased that SB gave me a new clutch kit, but they didn't give me the $200 in labor reimbursement they said they would. I had to pull and replace the transmission three times, two more times than I would have if I had been given a real pilot bearing in the first place. Perhaps this application just needs a sturdier bearing than say a compact car.



BigRedWeather

 

[BigRedWeather]

Still No New News... I just saw this post and thought I would add another comment. The foot pressure I need to apply on the clutch is about 1/3 of what it used to be. My completely rebuilt transmission is doing fine. In cold weather I have to wait a second or two in neutral before shifting up to the next gear. When it is warm, I double clutch when going into 2nd and 3rd. It appears my needle bearing is performing nicely. I'll post again if it goes south.

 

[geonc]

Good to hear BRW!

and re:

I was pleased that SB gave me a new clutch kit, but they didn't give me the $200 in labor reimbursement they said they would. I had to pull and replace the transmission three times, two more times than I would have if I had been given a real pilot bearing in the first place.

I feel where you are, and have come to the realization that...in the end, how much confidence can one have in a company that while appearing to stand tall on IMVHO knowingly inferior products by sending a replacement, only to have it fail AGAIN!!!!!

I'm sure you, myself and others who had to repeat the r+r process on a cold outdoor slab of dirt, entirely out of pocket---missing work/having the truck down etc...repeatedly for the same issue-----become painfully aware of the differences between product support and customer support

Makes you wonder how they dealt with the failures that were installed by a "commercial shop"

 

[indian347]

Straight pipes

Sorry i had to reply here but i was thinking of doing that to my 6.0. Thanks much Jim

 

[BigRedWeather]

Good to hear BRW!

and re:


I feel where you are, and have come to the realization that...in the end, how much confidence can one have in a company that while appearing to stand tall on IMVHO knowingly inferior products by sending a replacement, only to have it fail AGAIN!!!!!

So you got a clutch kit that went bad, and they sent you a replacement that went bad in the same way?

Did they give you a Kevlar bearing that let the shaft vibrate, or did your Throw-Out Bearing fall apart like mine did? Just curious. If enough of us had this problem, we might be able to steer some people way from them.



BigRedWeather

 

[geonc]

So you got a clutch kit that went bad, and they sent you a replacement that went bad in the same way?

Did they give you a Kevlar bearing that let the shaft vibrate, or did your Throw-Out Bearing fall apart like mine did? Just curious. If enough of us had this problem, we might be able to steer some people way from them.

BigRedWeather

BRW, A bit of both and I have given up trying to determine order of failure
Here is the story....
clicky for first failure

And the most recent clicky here

In both cases the kevlar failed-----I followed the requests from Peter to the letter regarding the first episode and no real issues were found on either the running condition of my eng or the installation.....

Please read the replies "carefully" in the second failure thread from Peter and I will let you form your own conclusion.............

And note the lack of replies from SBC after my last post.............


As I said before, what good is "customer service" if "product support" is based on knowingly inferior inventory

Don't know about you but, I don't like the idea of having to install a zipper on my transmission