South Bend HD Clutch anygood?

[EricViviano]

Also check out Valair and Phoenix friction for some comparison shopping. They have some good product too.

 

[GCroyle]

It was an SKF bearing. I am sure it said made in USA. The most important thing was that it did not say made in china or unbranded meaning made in china. I ordered it from Rock Auto where several options were available. It was the most expensive choice, but in my opinion, having a quality part in that location is way more important than a better price. That is a ton of work for a simple bearing change later when it makes noise or even fails. You could really tell the difference when placed side by side with SB's bearing. No bearing rocking and the bore was tighter by several thousandths. You get what you pay for. I hope SB gets it and stops shipping inferior parts in a good clutch kit. Especially when the kit is 900 bucks. Here is a link to the better SKF bearing.
https://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog...ansmission-manual,clutch+release+bearing,1968

Guys,

I took a look at the pics on the RA link above. The Sachs and SKF pictures show an old school thrust bearing design, you can see that the contact race is held on via a crimped housing. The SKF image also clearly shows the Aetna part number. The Aetna bearing was nicely discussed in a few now older threads IIRC including one where a member modified the collar for a remote grease line, well done if you are the owner and grease master. The other images show the more current art design angular contact and self aligning. The Aetna is old thrust bearing and a sorta self aligning. Pretty sure it might have been the original bearing on the 1st gen but that's lost to history and the self aligning versions replaced it.

As far as greasing the splines, the Dodge FSM shows:

"(10) Apply light coat of Mopar high temperature
bearing grease to splines of transmission input shaft"

The big key point, light coat and grease, please don't use any antisieze on the splines.

Also great time to inspect the fork, it has wear points where it touches the bearing collar and be carefull if you're looking at an aftermarket replacment fork. I just examined a new never installed aftermarket fork and the dimple for the push rod could NOT retain the push rod and keep it pocketed like the OE fork does. I cannot confirm if that's a problem I just tagged it DO NOT INSTALL and kept it in the shop box at my former employer. Retired.

Gary

Gary

 

[JeepBuilder]

Thank you Gary for that input. I know we all want to do the best we can for our trucks. Every bit of info is helpful.