T18 rebuild question

I started disassembly of my T18 last night and got a liitle ahead of my self on tearing it down. I pulled the main-shaft group out and began to remove everything from the main shaft. I removed the second syncronizer assembly and pulled the clutch hub and all of the springs and ball's went flying. Found all of the parts, but when I started reading the manual (should have read first) it says to mark the low/second gear and clutch hub so that they can go back together the same way they came out. It states in the tremec manual that unsatisfactory performance may result from failure to re-assemble in the original oreintation. I also see that you can buy the low/second gear without the clutch hub and use your own clutch with the new gear. Is this going to be a problem or should I just re-assemble it. Thanks in advance.

John

 

Well it looks like only the Tremec service manual says to mark the hub and clutch before removal. FSM and chilton manuals don't mention anything about marking them. I think I will put it back together and run it.

 

I didnt do that the T-18 I have nor did we did that on the T18 in my buddies later CJ5.

He drove his to moab and back from St louis MO and never had a issue and that was right after we rebuilt it. And that was like 6000 miles ago for him.

Mine has about 2000 on the rebuild and the only issue I have is the throwout bearing has given up the ghost.

 

Just an FYI...to get the little ball bearings back in is a bear...I used a very large hose clamp to hold the bearings and springs in place while I pushed the gear back over them while simultaneously pushing the clamp off its position. Otherwise you need 3 very strong fingers, along with an extra hand.

 

And a prehesile tail. I cussed those bearings for 3 days until I got lucky.

 

The reason the fsm says to mark them for orientation is that a synchronizer hub and sleeve can develop wear patterns over time. If this is disturbed it "can" cause binding of the hub to sleeve causing shifting problems. Most of the time it's not an issue. Just make sure before you reassemble the whole transmission you can shift the sleeve back and forth without it binding up.

 

The clamp sounds like a good idea. Same principle as a piston ring compressor.

Somebody's instructions on the net warns you not to take the synchro hub apart at all (I've forgotten where I read that). Unless there's some problem with shifting, that may be the way to go. I only have experience with teh Borg-Warner 3-speeds, but I expect you are mostly desirous of refreshing the blocking rings, seals, and maybe the main bearings.

 

Thanks everyone for the input. I'll be sure to make sure everything shifts properly before I install it. I like the clamp idea as well, gonna give that a shot.

Thanks
John

 

even though they can be a pain in the backside to get back together, if you are doing a rebuild you need to take the synchronizer assemblies apart and clean them thoroughly. Foreign material frequently builds up in the pockets and holes and even in the splines and can break loose later and go through your bearings or even cause binding between the hub and sleeve. Just mark them before taking them apart so you know how they were indexed with each other. A scribe or electric engraver works good for this.
The poppet balls and springs can really go flying when the sleeve is disassembled on the 1-2 synchronizer assembly. I lay a towel over it during disassembly to help catch the balls and springs.
I also use a large hose clamp to compress the springs and hold the balls in place. Works well.