Dedicated shops are usually the best. They deal only with corvettes and will be money well spent. Go cheep and walk home.
best torque tube rebuild kit, opinions on bearing manufacturers, and running ceramic bearings
I guess the title tells it all. This is preventive maintenance for an 03 convertible. I want to get it prepared for touring, and want to avoid repair issues away from home. as much as possible with such an old car. thanks ahead of time for any contributions that might help with forming my repair decisions.
When I had a McCloud RST clutch and flywheel installed, I was shown the rubber connectors, I always forget their name, and was told they looked like they had about 40,000 miles left , which happened so quickly, I wish now that I had just gone ahead and replaced them .
So now I am going to get a kit and rebuild the torque tube assembly. any advice would be welcome , like any problems with reusing the hardware or anything I should get new that is not generally in the kits. I will be paying the labor to install the rebuilt torque tube, so don't know if it is worth it to replace the pilot bearing, which ordinarily seems like a good idea, given the cost and the forty thousand mile wear. I also would like advice about installing a clutch bleeder extension hose, and read tick was a good brand, and that leaks can be an issue with some brands.
Any thoughts or suggestions about replacing anything else while the drive train is out?
I assume the sensors are all original under there, and I would think having the reverse gear solenoid replaced would give me some piece of mind. Previously the service manger resisted changing out the exhaust sensors, citing the possibility of new parts having defects, which I accepted, knowing how any repair brought back for corrections really killed profits. I had already been in a service bay longer than expected, plus I was very new to the car, barely knew what a torque tube was at the time, so I followed his lead. It took me a long time to find this resource, and didn't want to be less than a welcomed customer in the future. The only other dedicated Corvette shop in my area is a newer car performance focused shop, and charges accordingly.
When I had a McCloud RST clutch and flywheel installed, I was shown the rubber connectors, I always forget their name, and was told they looked like they had about 40,000 miles left , which happened so quickly, I wish now that I had just gone ahead and replaced them .
So now I am going to get a kit and rebuild the torque tube assembly. any advice would be welcome , like any problems with reusing the hardware or anything I should get new that is not generally in the kits. I will be paying the labor to install the rebuilt torque tube, so don't know if it is worth it to replace the pilot bearing, which ordinarily seems like a good idea, given the cost and the forty thousand mile wear. I also would like advice about installing a clutch bleeder extension hose, and read tick was a good brand, and that leaks can be an issue with some brands.
Any thoughts or suggestions about replacing anything else while the drive train is out?
I assume the sensors are all original under there, and I would think having the reverse gear solenoid replaced would give me some piece of mind. Previously the service manger resisted changing out the exhaust sensors, citing the possibility of new parts having defects, which I accepted, knowing how any repair brought back for corrections really killed profits. I had already been in a service bay longer than expected, plus I was very new to the car, barely knew what a torque tube was at the time, so I followed his lead. It took me a long time to find this resource, and didn't want to be less than a welcomed customer in the future. The only other dedicated Corvette shop in my area is a newer car performance focused shop, and charges accordingly.
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
For the torque tube and from Chevrolet directly you should source 3 bearings. 2 will be the same part number. These bearings spin at full crankshaft RPM. The TT is an extension of the crankshaft when your foot leaves the clutch pedal. But they see no oil. Ever. And it is a big job tearing out the TT so whatever way you go you really want to have confidence in it. Because dry and loose bearings sound terrible inside a hollow aluminum tube.
There are 3 o-ring seals that go in the housing of the torque tube at each bearing race to prevent it from spinning in the loos-ish fit.
There are 3 or 4 snap rings that go on the front and rear yokes where the bearings slide on and in the rear bearing housing. Maybe 5 or 6 including those. If you are careful and don't over stretch them you can re-use the snap rings and I have several times without problems. But we are supposed to change them all even the big one in the rear as per GM service recommendations.
There is a 'slinger' which is just a washer that presses on the nose of the front yoke and just in front of the front bearing and it keeps the clutch dust and other contamination from getting to that bearing from the bellhousing. This is a cheap part and it is hard to re-use
And there is a lock nut on the rear yoke that needs to be changed when you put the 2 bearings in the rear of the TT.
The best results you will get with the driveshaft couplers will be with factory parts again sourced from Chevrolet as they will be German made couplers just like what is on all the euro cars. The cheap aftermarket couplers live a short life.
The semi solid and solid couplers, even with the carbon fiber shaft make noise and transmit NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) to the rest of the vehicle. There used to be a good solution for this from Prothane in their '6 shooter' driveshaft couplers. They were semi solid aluminum couplers with urathane busings at each bolt. These were nice but are very hard to come by anymore. And as they wore they still made the NVH.
There is absolute brilliance in the factory produced parts. Done right you never know the torque tube is in the car.
The clutch hydraulic system has been broken down into just 2 precharged parts each with it's own quick connect fitting. These are the slave and the master. There should be no need to bleed past assembly. When it is apart these items should be changed and then they should be expected to last the life of the clutch. From where I stand the remote bleeder is a device to introduce air into the system. Because how could it remove what is not there? And that is how this hydraulic system was designed and intended to be serviced by the manufacturer.
The pilot bearing should be changed with the clutch or if it is making noise. But the clutch has to be broken down to access the pilot bearing. So if it is quiet and you just put a clutch in it there should be no need to worry about that.
There are 3 o-ring seals that go in the housing of the torque tube at each bearing race to prevent it from spinning in the loos-ish fit.
There are 3 or 4 snap rings that go on the front and rear yokes where the bearings slide on and in the rear bearing housing. Maybe 5 or 6 including those. If you are careful and don't over stretch them you can re-use the snap rings and I have several times without problems. But we are supposed to change them all even the big one in the rear as per GM service recommendations.
There is a 'slinger' which is just a washer that presses on the nose of the front yoke and just in front of the front bearing and it keeps the clutch dust and other contamination from getting to that bearing from the bellhousing. This is a cheap part and it is hard to re-use
And there is a lock nut on the rear yoke that needs to be changed when you put the 2 bearings in the rear of the TT.
The best results you will get with the driveshaft couplers will be with factory parts again sourced from Chevrolet as they will be German made couplers just like what is on all the euro cars. The cheap aftermarket couplers live a short life.
The semi solid and solid couplers, even with the carbon fiber shaft make noise and transmit NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) to the rest of the vehicle. There used to be a good solution for this from Prothane in their '6 shooter' driveshaft couplers. They were semi solid aluminum couplers with urathane busings at each bolt. These were nice but are very hard to come by anymore. And as they wore they still made the NVH.
There is absolute brilliance in the factory produced parts. Done right you never know the torque tube is in the car.
The clutch hydraulic system has been broken down into just 2 precharged parts each with it's own quick connect fitting. These are the slave and the master. There should be no need to bleed past assembly. When it is apart these items should be changed and then they should be expected to last the life of the clutch. From where I stand the remote bleeder is a device to introduce air into the system. Because how could it remove what is not there? And that is how this hydraulic system was designed and intended to be serviced by the manufacturer.
The pilot bearing should be changed with the clutch or if it is making noise. But the clutch has to be broken down to access the pilot bearing. So if it is quiet and you just put a clutch in it there should be no need to worry about that.
It does seem the only way to go, given the sometimes unusual engineering and commitment to cutting edge technology. It took me some time and investigating local garages with some minor fettering work on my newly purchased used car before a lady making a right turn replied to my question of where she takes her car for service, "J and D" Corvettes, the only place that didn't try to rip me off for oil changes" I was asking everyone, even leaving notes on windshields of the parked Corvettes over at the local aerospace company, where a lot of engineers are employed. Since then I have learned that professionals call associated shops and ask around that way , to see who is good. I learned long ago, and the hard way, about old cars, that it is not the price of the work that is critical, but who is doing the work that matters.Dedicated shops are usually the best. They deal only with Corvettes and will be money well spent. Go cheep and walk home.
I agree, do to some of the engineering choices, and traditional incorporation of new technologies , a person not familiar with the old car might struggle to be productive . To put it politely .Dedicated shops are usually the best. They deal only with corvettes and will be money well spent. Go cheep and walk home.
I spent some time and effort trying to find a dedicated Corvette garage, which is a scarce resource in my area. If you have a German car, those garages are seemingly like Starbucks, all over the place. I tried some likely places around my area with some dinky fettering work , before a dropped the cash for a clutch replacement , and it didn't go well. At all.
I finally found J and D Corvettes from a reply given to my question from a lady making a right turn, saying it was the only place that didn't try to rip her off for an oil change. At the time I was asking everyone, and have since learned professionals call around to associated businesses for some names of who is good.
Thanks for the informed contribution. I held off with this reply, trying to gather as many replies as possible, but it seems I was fishing in a dry stream, since people routinely replay to posts from years ago around here, so no surprise things are pretty slow.For the torque tube and from Chevrolet directly you should source 3 bearings. 2 will be the same part number. These bearings spin at full crankshaft RPM. The TT is an extension of the crankshaft when your foot leaves the clutch pedal. But they see no oil. Ever. And it is a big job tearing out the TT so whatever way you go you really want to have confidence in it. Because dry and loose bearings sound terrible inside a hollow aluminum tube.
There are 3 o-ring seals that go in the housing of the torque tube at each bearing race to prevent it from spinning in the loos-ish fit.
There are 3 or 4 snap rings that go on the front and rear yokes where the bearings slide on and in the rear bearing housing. Maybe 5 or 6 including those. If you are careful and don't over stretch them you can re-use the snap rings and I have several times without problems. But we are supposed to change them all even the big one in the rear as per GM service recommendations.
There is a 'slinger' which is just a washer that presses on the nose of the front yoke and just in front of the front bearing and it keeps the clutch dust and other contamination from getting to that bearing from the bellhousing. This is a cheap part and it is hard to re-use
And there is a lock nut on the rear yoke that needs to be changed when you put the 2 bearings in the rear of the TT.
The best results you will get with the driveshaft couplers will be with factory parts again sourced from Chevrolet as they will be German made couplers just like what is on all the euro cars. The cheap aftermarket couplers live a short life.
The semi solid and solid couplers, even with the carbon fiber shaft make noise and transmit NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) to the rest of the vehicle. There used to be a good solution for this from Prothane in their '6 shooter' driveshaft couplers. They were semi solid aluminum couplers with urathane busings at each bolt. These were nice but are very hard to come by anymore. And as they wore they still made the NVH.
There is absolute brilliance in the factory produced parts. Done right you never know the torque tube is in the car.
The clutch hydraulic system has been broken down into just 2 precharged parts each with it's own quick connect fitting. These are the slave and the master. There should be no need to bleed past assembly. When it is apart these items should be changed and then they should be expected to last the life of the clutch. From where I stand the remote bleeder is a device to introduce air into the system. Because how could it remove what is not there? And that is how this hydraulic system was designed and intended to be serviced by the manufacturer.
The pilot bearing should be changed with the clutch or if it is making noise. But the clutch has to be broken down to access the pilot bearing. So if it is quiet and you just put a clutch in it there should be no need to worry about that.
I think I might not follow your advice about the remote clutch bleeder line, but do thank you for giving me some thinking to carefully consider. The clutch fluid gets contaminated quickly in a C5 and given the cost of labor to get to those parts, and the incorporation of a check valve in the bleed line on the Tick product, much like with aftermarket brake bleeders, I probably will go that way.
The service manager where I had the clutch work done also didn't like remote bleed lines, but back then the parts weren't as good. The info about the pilot bearing will be put to use, unless it is relatively inexpensive to replace the pilot bearing . Wish me luck. The shop I work with is fair, but is no charity institution , and tends to be a little sharp in the business dealings. But they have been in business for many years, as a dedicated Corvette service garage, in an industry where garages come and go like pizza joints.
The other information was particularly helpful, since I will be approaching this on what was sometimes laughingly called, "earn while you learn", back in my sailor days when we struggled to renew some old worn out gear constructed many decades ago, while in the middle of the ocean. Thankfully, I am not in that position, but I do plan on rebuilding my original torque tube and swapping it out for the used one that was installed . Which, of course, requires perfect results on the first try. Had I known more about the car at the time of the clutch work, I would have gone for a rebuild instead of a hard to find good used piece, for about the same price.
I strongly agree about GM parts. I got that message , that parts aren't necessarily parts, the hard way, on a learning curve with another old car, but primarily back at a Corvette day held at the Petersen Museum where the advice from the panel of experts was, " If cost is not an objection, always go with GM parts". I take that as words for my car to live by.
However, I have read, that other bearings for the torque tube are better than the GM parts, but internet advice about Corvettes is often no better than gossip from old busybodies with nothing much constructive to do. Once a bearing gets spun in, they all work pretty well, and will certainly last long the the rubber connectors , where a replacement would trigger another rebuild anyway, if one is paying for the labor, like me.
I do however object to the GM cooling fins in the brake rotors only being correctly directional on one side, so will be changing those for something non Chinese , if they can't be turned at the local machine shop. They are very rusted, and a safety item , so my first thought was to just replace them, having seen the typical beatdown rotor turning machine in every brake shop I have ever been to. typically they use a pointed cutting tool, which results in a continuous spiral groove , much like a vinyl record, when correctly the cutting tool should be rounded to finish with a smooth overlapping cut. Then I was reminded that the local automotive machine shop turns rotors, so will check them out.
thanks again for taking the time for a little advice.
1 - 6 of 6 Posts
Corvette Forum : DigitalCorvettes.com Corvette Forums
A forum community dedicated to Corvette C Series owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
