Dug, how does the tail housing on the torque tube disassemble? Ihave a schematic, but I'm not sure how exactly to press it out, I assume I'll just press on the splined side and both bearings should pop out the other side... I assume you just press the new guys in around the shaft again?

 

Do you plan on balancing the prop shaft afterward? Adding in cost of that (I have no idea what it'd cost) and any diffculty/cost replacing the bearings and so forth may make the prop shaft assembly not feel so pricey.

 

well the prop shaft housing is symmetrical, and I'm only replacing the bearings, so outside of an initial grease inconsistancy in the bearings, it should remain balanced.

 

One of the local suppliers carries Nachi bearings in the correct specs, 49.80 for all 3... looks like that is where I will be going with this, I'll do a how-to shortly.

 

Alright, I'm going to replace all the bearings now, any particular requests for how I do this how-to torque tube rebuild?

 

Just lots of pics.

 

I've got a spare bad torque tube in the garage. I've disassembled it. I trashed my couplers and replaced the entire assembly. I've been thinking about rebuilding it as a spare. I would replace the bearings and all. Depends on what the parts would cost for everything. Got part numbers on those other comparable bearings?

I've been following your progress on the drivetrain deal, sucks what happened. Just happened to a good friend recently.

Steve

 

If you cannot get the bearings out usually some heat on the aluminum will get it out. Try to keep the heat off the bearing itself so it does not expand. By heating the aluminum carrier it should expand enough to let go of the bearing. You just need to have a plan on how to pull it out or knock it out before you heat it. It may just fall out.

 

How difficult was it to replace those bearings? Moreover, how difficult was it to remove the old ones?! Also, I thought I'd heard of people replacing the rubber joints on the driveshaft ends before, wouldn't that prove that the torque tube IS serviceable?

 

I will be using a 15,000lb press to do this (the right way) but I will still heat/cool the parts so I dont do unnessary damage to the races in the bearings.

im just now heading out to start.

 

Alright gentlemen...

http://jadefalcon.shackspace.com/Pics/howto_tt/
(preliminary picture dump of what I did tonight)

It's fun and not so fun being the first guy to how-to a torque tube rebuild, so I'll let you know what I learned tonight.

It's pretty simple. The snap rings are a bastard, like they always are, no matter how good a set of snap ring pliers you have. The bearings are actually pressed into the aluminum housing easily, I used a torch to heat the carrier up and they pressed out like soft butter. Heres the bad part:

There is another bearing in the carrier not mentioned in previous posts, and theres a part thats going to be a bitch to replace... here is the part list you will need to rebuild a corvette transaxle (minus any couplers):

(1) 6007 2RSJEM 35mm (schem ref #24)
(1) 6008 2RSJEM 40mm (schem ref #37)
(1) 6010 2RSJEM 50mm (schem ref #31)
(1) 35mm Slinger Collar (schem ref #22) -click-

It's important to note that the part numbers above are SKF part numbers, I myself used Nachi bearings for less than half the cost of SKF bearings. I will supply the Nachi part numbers when I do the final on the torque tube rebuild.

Now, all of these I can get my hands on, except for the slinger collar.. thats a GM part they dont sell, as far as GM is concerned, the entire driveshaft inside the torque tube a single part... so now I have to find where in the hell to get one.

 

I'll see what I can do today.

 

EXCELLENT write up!!

Bill C

 

Thanks bill, I havent even started to write the how to, right now I'm still acquiring the correct parts, I should have the write up down this weekend.

I ended up getting that last Nachi 6010 DU bearing for 23 bucks, list is 35... I'm goign to talk to him and see if he is willing to give corvette forum members a discount on all the bearings as a set.

 

This will be a great how to since this breakage will become more common as our cars age. My buddy has gone through 2 of these. Thanks for taking the time!!

 

No problem! it needs to be done. Other guy's how-to's really helped me, so I'm more than happy to do one.

I bought the 6010 today and I'll finish the tube tomorrow. I can't get the slinger at all, called everywhere, looks like im going to have to learn how to gingerly remove one with a blowtorch and a 15,000 lb press

 

I wish I had the information on what bearings were in the tube. As I stated last week, I work more on the constuction equipment applications, but if anyone wants to know the wheel bearings in the CAT 797 Giant Mine Truck I can help you. That being said last week I filled everyone in on the meanings attached to the suffix for the bearings in the torque tube, well this week I'm back in the office and I can add a little extra info to the information from last week.

The suffix "JEM" stands for a pressed steal cage, C3 (looser than nomal)radial internal clearance, elec motor quite running features and it's filled and sealed for life with an Exxon/Mobile Polyrex EM high temp grease.

You stated before that the bearings made noise before you removed them, without hearing the bearing I couldn't tell you anything for sure. But I'll just say two things: one, make sure it's bearing noise you heard. Two, when the bearing is pressed on the shaft it will alter the bearing's internal clearance therefore it's possible that it made noise installed but that the noise went away when you took the bearing out. Our bearings are produced with just a few micron's of clearance so it's easy for a small change to have a big effect. C3 internal clearance for that bearing before it's installed is 15 - 30 microns, the average human hair is 50 microns. I'm not saying for sure the bearing is junk but for the cost of the bearing I would just replace it, but that's me.

Good Luck

 

Arrr, now I wish I had read the rest of the post before my post. Nachi is a bit of a scary company if you want to get bearings and not worry about them again. Yes I'm biased because of who I work for but I know what goes into making bearings. If you don't want to buy SKF that's fine but see if you can get NSK, they make a very good ball bearing. Remember and I mean this, "You get what you pay for", this line holds true for bearings. There are lots of bearings that will fit in a hole but what's inside the bearings can vary greatly. The JEM suffix is used for high temp, high speed and quiet running. Make sure the bearings you get have grease installed that can handle the temp in the torque tube. The SKF supplied grease can handle 302 Degrees F.

My two cents.

 

Yup, I have the third tube going in this week. I am not replacing any bearings though, just upgrading the couplers. I am not going to bother balancing the shaft either. We are also going to be experimenting with a new coupler designed as well so sytay tuned. I am known as "the destroyer" around here so I will let you all know how they work.

 

Just some FYI, the Z06 torque tube (Part # 12564457) has different bearings, they are NSK 6007DU (x1 front) & NSK 6008DU (x2 rear). I'm currently having a local machine shop replace the bearings on mine, I hope that gets rid of the whining. some pics for reference: