Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

My car started giving me issues yesterday so I parked it for the night. I pulled the trans this morning and found a little surprise...



I knew I had a one year warranty for my clutch kit so I went searching for the invoice. I purchased it online on June 26th, 2011... Just my luck. I contacted the seller wondering if they're be so kind as to send me a new bearing even though the warranty is probably expired, but it's very unlikely. I haven't found a retailer online that has a throw out bearing listed for a reasonable price. Any suggestions as to where I can get a new one for cheap? Gotta love cheap MIC junk.

Rodinator1234

I don't think there is a "cheap one" that's worth buying. I'm in the same boat, I bought a Ram Powergrip clutch kit in March. In 3 months and less than 2k miles the throw out bearing is junk just pulled the tranny last night. It's not broke like yours is it's in the actual bearing, it's pulling out of the housing, so the slave travel is not all actually acting on the fingers of the pressure plate, due to the slop in the bearing, causing the clutch to drag. I have a thread going in the manual transmission section. This is the one I decided on. http://www.ecklerscorvette.com/corve...1994-1996.html

Apparently even the GM/Ac Delco throw out bearing is made in China. You could do a search on gmpartsdirect part #10085246 they list a round top Delco for $127.00 but the square top Corvette bearing is supposed to be stronger on the top, to prevent failures like what happened to yours.

tbag_skywalker

Centerforce TOB for $87

Centerforce makes some quality products, just not sure how compatible they are with other pressure plates.

tbag_skywalker

^Just realized that link is for a 3.8 V6 f-body. Apparently they don't sell an individual LT1 throwout bearing.

Rodinator1234

If you have time read through this, from back in 09
https://ls1tech.com/forums/lt1-lt4-m...earing-do.html

nascarnate326

iTrader: (1)

If you have an advanced auto parts near you I would get a clutch kit from them. I have one and its made it 13k hard miles. I had bent my RAM TB just like yours did. I think the Advance Auto kits are under Competition Clutch or something like that. If you buy it through their website and use a coupon code you can save 50 bucks.

Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

It seems like all of these throw out bearings come from the same factory in China. I'm going to try haggling with the retailer I bought it from a year ago and see if they'll give me a discount on another. It's only been about 8k miles since I installed their clutch kit. I've heard that the fork can cause issues with the TOB but I'm not sure how. Someone chime in.

New issue:

My pilot bushing was toast. I found nothing but metal shavings, no grease, and an enlarged year old bushing that was worn in about 3/4 of the way. I'm going to use wrd's method of leaving the bushing 1/4" out when installing the new one but I hope there's not a bigger underlying issue. I'm suspecting that my input shaft + bearing might be damaged but I haven't really inspected it yet. Any idea what to look for? I remember reading that excessive axial in/out play is an indicator. My trans was always a bit noisy at idle (faint rattling sound) and the clutch had been a bit more chattery than what I remember from last year.

Catmaigne

iTrader: (6)

This has not been a good day for me. I find it ironic that my car broke 15 minutes after I got my motorcycle project up and running for the first time. Maybe the Camaro is jealous.

On an unrelated note, I went to Pep Boys right before closing to get a new rear main seal and the idiots behind the counter gave me the wrong part. I didn't realize it until I opened the taped SKF box in the parking lot right as they were locking the doors.

wrd1972

iTrader: (12)

The same thing happened to me years ago:


First of all, try to locate a square top Corvette TOB because the pull flange is thicker. Next throw some tack welds on top of the flange like in this pick and some under the flange and dress them so they dont interfere with the fork and the unit will be much more solid. I did this years ago and this Autozone TOB and it is still going very strong. I also have a lifetime warranty on it so in the case it does fail, I am only out the time.


You will not find a quality TOB anywhere anymore because they are all cheap Chinese junk made of crappy metal including the ones that come in all clutch kit regardless of manufacturer.

Just get a new one (preferrably square top), tack it like I show above, roll the dice and hope for the best. The one from Ecklers is the one I would go with.

fex77k

iTrader: (2)

They really have brought some junk in, from the low quality starters and alternators, to terrible water pumps and clutches. Many "house" brands are vague on who and where it is actually made.

BlackBird87

iTrader: (6)

I had the same thing happen to me a few months after i put in a new clutch. I talked to someone at zoom about it and they sent me a replacement and this thing was heavy duty. it was alot thicker and wasnt pressed together like at the rest of them. I tried to get a part number from the rep but he couldnt give me one cuz he said they dont actually sell them and couldnt give me any more info. Somebody makes these but i havent been able to find out who

ahritchie

iTrader: (1)

Agreed...you really have to do a lot of digging to find out where some seemingly "American" companies import Chinese garbage and pass it off as "the best materials available" (Directly from Professional Products website) Their $250 SFI harmonic damper disintegrated completely in short order on my 383.