Hey everyone. I just pulled the 5-speed out of my 94 pickup because of an intermittent grinding noise that sounded like it was coming from the clutch. It ended up being the retaining clip for the clutch fork/throw out bearing that had broken off and was rattling around in there. I was relieved at first, but then looked at the input shaft. It’s grooved where the pilot bearing inner race sits.




The non-scored part of the shaft measures 0.471” and the diameter of the groove is 0.454”. The new pilot bearing is loose on the shaft, but I don’t know if .017” of slop is going to make for a time-bomb or not.

I’m hoping you will all say it’s not a problem and just reinstall it. Other than splitting the case and replacing the input shaft, my other option is to put another W56 in I have from a 1990 parts rig. I don’t know much about it. The input shaft has a little more side-to-side play in it than the one from my 94. Thanks for your help!

Eric

 

in general, it shouldn't be a huge problem since you don't want the input shaft connected to the flywheel by anything other than the clutch disc but clearance is potential freeplay in the shaft and may be more than allowable bearing runout.
what's the i.d. of the pilot bearing?

 

Whoa, I wouldnt be running that. I'd swap the other tranny in since u have it.

You definitely don't want the pilot bearing lose on there... It looks like its worn down enough that even liquid sleeve retainer or something similar wouldnt make up for it.

 

The ID of the pilot bearing measures 0.470" with my calipers. I realize this shows the ID as actually being smaller than the shaft, but I think it's just the cheap calipers I used.

 

I'm gonna say that the clearance is a bit much between the bearing and the shaft. It is a bearing, and not a bushing, so it needs to be snug on the input shaft.

 

Thanks abecedarian. Alright, so swap it is. Do you (or anyone else) know if it's as easy as unplugging the cable speedo in the 1990 t-case and bolting in the electric unit from the 1994, or am I going to need to reuse the t-case from the 1994?