> Have you checked the counter (lay) shaft? The bearings at either
>end of the cluster gear are what wear out on these trannys. That
>prevents the counter shaft from rotating, and could cause the entire
>tranny to lock up, or made grinding noises.
Actually, to "pick nits", the counter shaft never rotates in the gearbox.
There is a slot machined into it at the rear of the shaft that takes a
plate that is itself screwed to the gearbox housing. The plate locks the
counter shaft and the reverse gear shaft in place and keeps them stationary.
What fails here is not the bearings, but the shaft itself. The bearings
eventually wear a groove into the shaft surface on the side of the shaft
that carries the load (closest to the main shaft). The bearings themselves
don't fail until the shaft is so "bunged-up" that the surface causes too
much friction and drag on the bearings.
BTW, there is an alternative needle bearing set available from TRF (P/N
126862/S) that has smaller diameter (and therefore more) bearings. This
takes the place of the original bearings (P/N 150339) and the beveled washer
(P/N 154396). It is a fully sleeved bearing that could compensate for some
_slight_ wear on the gear cluster bearing surfaces. IMHO, the smaller and
more plentiful bearings should extend the life of the countershaft due to
the increased number of contact points. I will be installing this bearing
in my rebuilt gearbox, and would be interested in any comments from the list
about actual experience with them.
I have heard that the counter shaft is the weakest point in the TR6 gearbox.
My experience would support this, as the only obviously worn component that
I have found is the counter shaft .
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