Drilling through a transmission rear output bearing

[tubalubb]

Considering replacing my tranny bearings. Have limited tool access and the bearing pullers at O'Reilley's and the nightmare stories of pulling it have me considering the cutting route. Trouble is, I only have a drill, not a grinder. Was wondering if a drill will do the trick and if so what size/type bit would you use? I have a 78 four speed and a Bosch 5.5 amp drill. All suggestions appreciated.

 

[zebrabeefj40]

Save yourself the hassle and take the trans apart as far as you can. Then go visit a transmission shop to get the bearings pulled. The correct tool takes minutes to remove the bearings. You won't be able to drill the bearings with a hand drill. The carbide tools required to drill hardened steel will not tolerate the side loads and general wiggling that comes with a hand drill. And they will cost more than a trans shop should charge to pull 4 bearings.

Nick

 

[Pin_Head]

You could try it. The shaft speed on a drill is not as high as on a die grinder, but a carbide burr is only a few bucks. A diamond cut off wheel in a Dremel might do it.

Most tranny shops are not going to have the puller SST to work on a H42.

 

[fjfodee]

It's been about 7 yrs since I did mine, but I do remember having trouble with pullers. Even tried to make one like the SST and couldn't get it to work. A friend of mine came by one day, took a brass hammer or punch, and tapped heavily on either the input or output side (been a while, can't remember exactly). I don't know how it worked, but it did with minimal effort.

I was changing the output shaft to the one that came with my toybox setup. Had to disassemble the entire trans.

 

[tubalubb]

Thanks.

I don't know really what to do, I hate getting all the way in here and not making it like new. On the other hand, I'm sort of stuck waiting on stuff and thus finding new things to do.

I'm really ready to get this on the road but until I get my various parts, I'm stuck in limbo.

 

[zebrabeefj40]

Most tranny shops are not going to have the puller SST to work on a H42.

I used a puller that worked with an SM420/SM465. Those are close enough to an H42 that the puller worked fine. One might have to hunt for the right shop but I'm sure there is a local shop that has the right stuff.

Nick

 

[tubalubb]

I think after much search and many miles that I found the right shop today!

 

[Vae Victus]

TubaLubb, did you get that bearing off? I was search for other solutions, and ended up back on your thread. I'm still waiting to find a better solution.

Last one I heard that sounded reasonable was to weld some 2" pipe to the bearing, weld lip on the pipe, and use a hammer to tap it out by hitting the lip on the pipe.

Thought I might be able to make a big slide hammer this way as well. Would need a long heavy bar to fit in a long piece of welded on pipe. Weld a heavy steel slug on the end of the bar, and close the end off with a welded on piece of steel with a hole in it. Sounds like a lot of work though.


Or I guess I'll try PinHead's method of beating the shaft back and forth. Hey, if it works....

Couple of pictures I've found on here of custom built pullers for H42 or H55 transmission bearing output shaft bearings.




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Seaching on....

 

[tubalubb]

Hi Vae
I had the trans guy do it. He said it gave him a little trouble and he has some tools at his disposal. I'm having a challenge with my transmission bolts. Trying to make sure I get the right ones where they go. I posted s thread, can you help with that?
I gave up on the syncro hub. Too much $, used not really a wise option. Going to have that guy put the gears and shafts and bearings in for time sake and so I can get done. I'll take a photo of whichever tool he used when I go over there with the bolts.
I'm surprised how difficult it is to work on these transmissions. At some point cheap used ones won't be an option and there will have to be a way to repair them.

 

[Vae Victus]

Hi Vae
I had the trans guy do it. He said it gave him a little trouble and he has some tools at his disposal. I'm having a challenge with my transmission bolts. Trying to make sure I get the right ones where they go. I posted s thread, can you help with that?
I gave up on the syncro hub. Too much $, used not really a wise option. Going to have that guy put the gears and shafts and bearings in for time sake and so I can get done. I'll take a photo of whichever tool he used when I go over there with the bolts.
I'm surprised how difficult it is to work on these transmissions. At some point cheap used ones won't be an option and there will have to be a way to repair them.

I'll look for your thread about the bolts.