Ecos

I don't know a thing about torque tubes, but I've worked with machines most of my life, and I'm very familiar with bearings and I would not use ones already making noise! What that means is they are already damaged and in the process of dying. Depending on the bearing it may be a slow death or it might die anytime. I've had some bad bearings last months, others died in a day....but they all die.

I would definitely replace them. There has to be someone mechanically inclined around there that is willing to do it. If you can't do it yourself, check into small reputable mechanic shops. If you explain the situation and bring them the TT and bearings I'm sure you can find one that will do it. I would be leery about a shop that is not willing to replace them and will put damaged bearings in a car.

Yummybud924

I definately can't do it that's why I'm paying a shop to do this job, I don't have the time at all right now. I'm either in school or work so I got no time at all.


I asked the shop which is a porsche specialist if they'd replace the bearings and they said no.

the shop also won't wait for me to source the bearings and find someone to do it as my car is on a hoist there taking up space and they want to get it fixed by this week.



I would think the bearings in the tq tube should last longer than say bad wheel bearing because the torque tube bearings aren't really holding any weight, the wheel bearings hav the weight of the car on them.

Maybe I'm wrong but I got now other choice right now.

my only other choice would have been to cancel the repair and tow the car back to my place because I can't leave my car at the shop and wait to get the bearings and have someone replace it.

Micah

IMHO, based on your other post (https://rennlist.com/forums/924-931-944-951-968-forum/465972-should-i-replace-the-clutch-fork.html) about the potential cost for this repair... provided they haven't already torn into it, I would cancel the entire thing and have the car towed back. I'm guessing that you have another means of transportation as you mentioned not having time due to work and school (so I'm guessing you drive there with another vehicle...).

Based on the apprehension you're showing here, and the general "setup" of this whole situation, it might just be a better idea to eat the $75 tow charge and avoid picking up a $3k-$4k bill that you can't afford. This may be one of those cases where it's better to spend money simply to avoid getting further in over your head. If you don't need the car on a daily basis, this will allow you to wait until you are in a better position all-around to go back after the repair, and avoid some of these mistakes.

If I missed something and this is your only car, then you need to seriously consider getting rid of it now, before you get hit with this repair. Likewise, I wouldn't get another Porsche unless/until your financial situation can support this kind of outlay. There is no guarantee that if you spend $3k tomorrow on this car, you won't have another $1k repair next week.

Micah

Dan87951

WOW can't believe what I'm reading...

If the shop can't take the car off the lift and wait until you source a good tube I recommend FINDING A NEW SHOP now!! Honestly if you put in a bad tube in, you run the risk of vibration which could damage a slue of other expensive things. You have to remember this thing spins at RPM. Good luck!

VOoDOoGTX

wow. i would go down there and throw a serious **** fit.

Van

I agree with Dan... I'd ditch this shop for the following reasons:

-inflexibility to serve customer
-disregard for customer's safety and/or future expense
-unwilling to do the job right
-rushing to finish a half-assed job
-lack of knowledge
-lack of expertise

And, if they don't have the room to roll your car off to the side for a few days to get it off the lift, add: "unsuitable facility" to the list!

My best recommendation is to cut your losses and tell that shop, "Sorry, you're not exactly the place I'm looking for. Please have my car moved to xxxx (name of competent shop) and let me know how many hours you've spent so I can pay you."

If you tell them to just finish this up, then we, the rennlist community, will have to hear you bitch for the next several years about how little things are wrong and how this shop did a poor job, etc. For our sake, find yourself a better shop.

tifosiman

That's some finite analysis there, I tells ya.

harrisonrick

In the responses so far, Kurt's idea of swapping the drive shafts from the new into the old torque tube seem right...if it can be done without damaging anything.

If it was me, I'd tow that car outta there pronto...they havn't done anything yet i assume as far as removing the old TT. Asshats.

Van

This is 90% of the job of changing the torque tube bearings...

Why go through the work but NOT change the bearings?!?

It's a standard metric shielded bearing that cost like $5 each.

harrisonrick

you're right Van...there's a good write up on Clarks site explaining how to change those bearings...looks fairly straightforward....I sourced bearings from a local shop...try Ideal Supply yummy...they are Canada wide...just get the bearing numbers from Clark's site. IIRC $30 each...pretty cheap for piece of mind.

MAGK944

I have done two of these TT's and the hardest part is dropping the tube. The bearing removal and installation is a slow job but very easy, just measure everything first like others have said.

If you fit that tube without changing the bearings & sleeves, you will have to do the whole job again soon. TT shaft vibration resonates throughout the chassis and feels like the car is falling apart.

If I were you I would get the bearings and sleeves and fit them yourself, about 3 hours work tops, and then get the shop to fit the rebuilt TT.

Yummybud924

yeah I forgot to mention I dont' have another car right now and i'm bussing to school and work at the moment.

The shop said they have already started tearing into it yesterday so it's kind of too late now. They said they'd have the clutch out by afternoon today.

They said they won't rebuild the tube so I can't do anything right now. I can't go pickup the tube and order bearings and do it myself.

rebuilding the tube guaranteed will take me much longer than 3 hours. It took me 2 freakin weeks to pull my transmisson which was suppose to be a 1-2 hour job..... because unforseen things happened like the coupler was stuck and i had to cut it off.


I'll ask the shop today if they'd take the shaft out of the new torque tube and put it in the old one. I"m guessing they won't.



I might just cross my fingers and hope it doesn't vibrate and or make crazy loud noises. If it makes some noise but is still okay to drive I'll just drive it until I have the time to find a good used one and do it myself like in the summertime.

MAGK944

In that case my advise is leave the shaft alone unless you are going to change the bearings.

Removing and installing just the shaft might cause other problems:

1. The shaft has "aligned itself" to the position of the bearings in the tube. The bearings in the other tube will probably not be in exactly the same position and this might cause problems.

2. It is very hard to remove the shaft and not disturb the bearings, they will move, especially as the shop hasn't had any experience doing this.

3. Driving the shaft out requires some force and again I would not trust them to do this.

All based on what you have said about the shop, GL

Yummybud924

good point...... I was recommended to go to this shop by a board member and he seemed to have had good experience wtih them (Scan automotive).

however I usually take my car to Weissach which is another porsche repair shop and they are a bit mor expensive per hour but they may have done a better job (ie, be able to rebuild the tube).

chrenan

I agree with what others have said here. For a good independent Porsche shop swapping TT bearings is not a big deal. My local shop, Eurasia, echoes the sentiments here, that the bearings are really cheap and the most labour intensive part is actually dropping the tube.