Dimitri_944

Hey guys, its been a while since i've posted but i have a question about my torque tube bearings. Im in the middle of my clutch job(4 days= about 16 hours) and I went to turn my torque tube shaft and it's kind of noisy but I don't know what a good one sounds like. It doesn't really feel to rough and doesn't have a lot of drag either. I have access to another TT but its gonna be a real pain getting it out and back in. So is there anything I should look for?
Thanks a million

John_AZ

Here is the entire process of clutch replacement and TT torque tube bearing replacement.

Read the part about the RMS rear main seal replacement carefully.

Excellent write up by corsepervita

Read "crazy clutch tutorial"

http://www.944online.com/cgi-bin/for...num=1294429473

GL
John

Dimitri_944

yea i've already read this and have all the parts on order off of pargon, I just don't know how to tell if the bearings are bad or not. I have some pre calculus homework to do so i cant reread the post but i don't recall there being a part about how to check bearing wear/life.

Thanks for the advice though it was greatly appreciated.

odurandina

replacing the lousy oem bearings with new, lousy oem bearings, unfortunately, are only a short-term fix... for my V8 engine swap i'm picking up an brand new driveshaft from Constantine with his huge *** bearings to last until even past when my future children pass away.

MAGK944

Nothing wrong with the oem bearings, they are proven to last over 20-years. Did mine on my 86 five years ago and the cost was less than $150. While Constantines are a work of art, unless you are putting down a lot more power there is no need for the substantial extra expense.

Dimitri_944

So don't replace them?

odurandina

i fully agree with you. my 968TT is doing fine at almost 160 k miles... but then go look at the 928 guys. they run V8s (and i'll be running a V8) and they replace a lot of driveshafts. i don't want to put an old 944 driveshaft in my car. there is a design flaw in the 928 units but i'm not sure if that defect is present in ours as well... in any case, i have to use a 944TT for my swap and it will be under increased loading so, just to be safe, i'm gonna run Constantine's shaft which will also function as a guinnie pig for all that power.

Dimitri_944

ummmm so if i let these bearings go will the just seize up one day and ill have to take it all out or am i okay for the life of this new clutch?

thirdgenbird

if they are making noise now they wont be good for the life of your clutch. they will eventually go completely out and sound horrible.

it is your risk. when i did my clutch i could tell my bearings were not the greatest. the next year i had to pull the tube and replace them. getting the tube out of the car was the easy part so i didnt have to redo much work.

odurandina

the bearings aren't the only problem. sure, they're too small.... but there is also this ;.... as you can see i won't want to be running an old shaft even after installing a nice set of Constantine's exotic bearings..... for the most part these shafts did their job.... but like many other things Porsche, it's time to move on....

look at the driveshaft nub in at the top of the photo.....

http://www.blackseard.com/site/index...id=9&Itemid=11



for an extra few hundred dollars, no worries. but the better equipment unfortunately doesn't come cheap.

just the bearings are like 650 dollars. something like that.

MAGK944

Dimitri_944, if you are doing the clutch it's probably as good a time as any to do the tt bearings. It's not a difficult job, just a pita and time consuming. Are you doing the rear main seal too? It's good to get that replaced also WYIT.

Dimitri_944

yea, rear main seal, pilot bearing, pressure plate, clutch, throw out bearing, speed sensor,and now maybe tt bearings haha

MAGK944

Should be good for another 10+ years. One other thing, replace the moulded foam above the tt also. It isolates the interior shifter hole from all the noise and is definitely worth doing with the tt out. GL

Black Sea RD

Just to add to this discussion, the OEM bearings, or more correctly the OE bearings, Porsche used are no longer available. They had a C5 clearance rating, very loose, and were sized 6006.

The default bearing most people currently use is a C3 clearance which is not as loose.

If you are going to do an old school rebuild, be sure to buy top teir bearings, SKF, ***, etc.

Cheers,

MAGK944

Constantine, are you sure about that? Ive done two of my cars and helped rebuild two others and found two cars had C3only, one had C5 only and one had a mix of both. These were all original builds so I presumed the factory had speced C3 to C5 for the torque tube.

C3 SKF is what was subsequently used in all the cars without any issues. Curious as to what you found in the ones you did.

btw, love what you've done with the upgraded tt.