Transmission Rebuild Kit Recommendations

I am planning on opening my T-14 transmission up soon to do a refresh while I have the motor out. I want to run a Novak master rebuild kit but it says they are on indefinite back order on their website. I am going to call this week that figure out what that means but I was wondering what some other good recommendations for a rebuilt kit were. Also any other components that are recommended to be replaced while I have it open that won’t come in a rebuild kit?

thanks in advance

 

When i went to rebuild my t14 a few years ago novak said a lot of t14 parts are just not available anymore. It took me a couple months to find the parts i needed on ebay. I ended up going with a sm465, it was alot of work but its a much better transmission than a t14

 

If you actually want a kit, I suggest you call Herm Transmission kits | Herm The Overdrive Guy

Supposedly he has looked into the available parts and picked out the best of what's available. You should call - also supposedly, he responds better to calls than email.

If you want to put a kit together yourself, you need the two main bearings, a small parts kit, a seal kit, and the blocking rings. That's what's in a kit. The bearings are 941658 and 992289, F & R. The front one is available from a couple of name suppliers on RockAuto. I think the rest is only available from Crown. I would get the parts and then only replace what looks bad. Buy a micrometer and measure what you have, then compare to the new parts. Reuse what is not worn.

The Crown bearing will be Chinese. Reject it if you feel any roughness. Really, it's only the front bearing that sees any wear typically. I'd inspect the rear bearing I had and reuse it if it seems ok.

The rest of the parts - you need to inspect and accept/reject based on what you find. If you need gears, I suspect there's nothing available but used. Does it pop out of gear now, or just grind? If it does not grind and is not noisy, I would leave well enough alone and not "refresh." Otherwise, my preference would be front main bearing, blocking rings and seals, nothing more. If you find broken gears or such, ask Herm.

 

It seems to run well. I can hear some gear noise when I’m cruising at lower speeds around the neighborhood. Not sure if it is anything of concern or just typical gear noise since it shifts well. I really just wanted to refresh it while it was easily accessible since I’m not sure if anything has been done to it and it was very low on gear oil when I got it.

 

I get my trans and tcase overhaul kits from Novak typically. They come with Quest Japanese bearings and good seals/gaskets.

 

I bought my t18 rebuild stuff from Richard at r&p4wd. Google for his phone number. The company has a different name now, Google says it’s closed but Richard is still in business. With that you get high quality parts. He has many small parts and syncros and used parts to fill in the gaps.

 

I just rebuilt my T-14 about 8 months ago. Not a bad job but it has a few minor curveballs that you will need to think through. A press is very handy for reassembly but absolutely not required. I bought my kit off Rock Auto. It was inexpensive and had quality bearings made in the US and Japan. No Chinese junk. But I did have to go through crown to get some small things including one of the snaprings, thrust washers and 1 or 2 other things. Overall much cheaper than the other kits including Herm's and as good quality. Novak told me the same thing about being backordered when I called over a year ago.

 

I ordered a rebuild kit from Novak for my T-15 and also the Dana 20 about 6 months ago I can say there customer service is outstanding. I have not began the rebuild yet but the kits looked like good quality, Cannot say if everything fits as it should. You might call them, they might have some of the parts available.
The biggest concern was the new bearings had no part number on them, the only stamp on them was ''Chino'' humm never heard of them. I guess chino is just another word for china.
With this said there maybe many parts for the t-15 available that will interchange with the T-14 from various suppliers, just need to do some research. You might be able to piece together what parts you need part at a time. E-bay is good place to look too. I found a NOS counter shaft for my t15 there that I could not find anywhere else.

 

My friend Ol Fogie from Jasper wants to help; however, nothing from a T-14 interchanges with a T-15. Completely different. The T-15 case is both longer and larger overall than the T-14, the gears are all different and larger, the bearings are different... I went to the parts book thinking maybe the rear main was the same, and it's not. None of the major parts are the same. The T-15 does share some parts with the T-18, but that's a different issue.

If you are really hurting for specific parts for your T-14 or T-15, I suggest you rely on specialists that know these transmissions inside and out, like Herm or Richard at R&P. The guys at Novak are helpful and willing, but I suspect their expertise is more focused on their adapter products. You can also get the '74-80 Jeep Corp parts book and look up the part numbers for the specific parts and use that to search for the parts you need. eBay can be a great source if you know what you need and can identify it positively. I'd also note that there have been recent instances of bearing manufacturers claiming their offerings match specific PNs, and they aren't right. Regardless, IMO the factory PNs are still your best way to positively identify the parts you need.

 

Fourth for the NOVAK kits - I had my T-15 and D-20 rebuilt last year. Can't complain.

 

I rebuilt mine a few months back, Novak was on back order at that time. I sourced all the parts of the internet because I wasn't in a hurry and wanted to save money, some parts took longer to get than others. If you are looking to do this quickly, as suggested, get with Herm.