Pilot bearing life expectancy? Getrag preventative maintnence ?'s

[Niki]

Do our trucks have a roller pilot bearing like the second gens or do they have a bronze bushing? In either case, what's the life expectancy on it? My truck just rolled over 170K, I'm almost positive it has the original clutch because it's getting towards the top and it never had a gooseneck on it. I don't want the pilot bearing getting loose and not supporting the Getrag input shaft and causing problems, but don't really want to take the truck apart for no reason either...

Which brings me to my next question, how often should getrag preload be checked? I swore I heard a little knocking or rattling when I had my head under the truck and the truck was idling in neutral after being on the highway, and I'm pretty sure it was coming from the trans, but I may be a little paranoid after seeing all of these getrag threads lately. I'm going to be taking my truck off the road in a few days to change the front drivers side u joint and grease the front hubs, and figure I might as well go over it.

 

[pepecat]

the Bronze bushing in our trucks was only meant to barely outlast the 100K warranty. The getrag I purchased came out of a stock 130,000K cream puff 2wd '92 and the bronze bushing was obliterated and the input shaft was damaged, which meant I needed to swap in a new input shaft. Anyway I drove the trans before purchasing it in the original truck and it was quiet as a whip, smooth, no chatter or pulsation sensation or anything... so I am willing to bet yours is in the same condition. The solution (if you plan to hang on to your truck) is to drop the transmission and inspect it, re shim/new bearings/new input if necessary, new clutch, have the flywheel resurfaced, have the flywheel bored out to accept a new ball bearing pressed in the middle and slap it all back together with 1qt overfilled synthetic, and drive it for another 500K

 

[1stgen4evr]

Life expectancy will be a function of how much the shaft turns in the bushing. Miles will not be totally relevant but certainly can be an indication. On my trucks that run long hours at highway speed, the bushing has lasted quite well. I always replace the bushing when I pull the transmission. I have had my Getrag out four times in 500k miles.



James

 

[Niki]

Life expectancy will be a function of how much the shaft turns in the bushing. Miles will not be totally relevant but certainly can be an indication. On my trucks that run long hours at highway speed, the bushing has lasted quite well. I always replace the bushing when I pull the transmission. I have had my Getrag out four times in 500k miles.



James

Good point, I guess driving 37 miles in Chicago rush hour traffic(1 1/2 hours) every day is probably finishing it off