My options for a pilot bushing/bearing are as follows

Lakewood (looks like it has a lot of rubber)
Roller pilot bearing
Kevlar pilot bearing, does not wear out or need grease, doesn't cause scoring..

No one ever mentioned a kevlar piece but it is sounding good... no roller parts to blow up... Anyone know what the real deal is?

 

actually did a little reading up and found that diesel engines that run at extremely high temperates with enormous torque use the kevlar bushings because they actually work better and fail less. no wonder they get $50 for the piece. Rip off price but the market is cornered by ZOOM, Dont know any other company that makes them cheaper...Just the same as mcleod has their $350 slave cylinder. I bought one for 330 shipped. cornered.


looks like ZOOM will get my money for this... Can't find another manufacturer at all and summit has the best price unfortunately.... overpriced....

 

There are many opinions on wheter the bushing or bearing is better. I have used both but seem to prefer the bushing since it is less likely to sieze and explode. Theother factor is it is damn near impossible to get the bearing out compared to the bushing. I had to hack and gring to get my last bearing out.

In terms of performance neither is better than the other,

 

I am not worried at all about the removal. I have done this job perfect. Mcleod street twin with the billet steel flywheel. mcleod slave and new master. All new pedals with overlays, switches and wiring done with solder and shrink wrap, Somone gave me a great deal on a beefed up t-56 with all the stronger pieces and a new input shaft. I used locktite on everything, cleaned up all the old hoses, removed the air and egr systems, new 58mm throttle body, pcm tuning wires, plugs, on and on and on. I have a spohn torque arm to install once the trans gets put in there. Can't wait! I dont want to slack on a small part like a bushing. I will pay for the $50 bushing. I thought I had it all set and realised the bushing was missing DURH and after researching have found that the kevlar bushing is used for much higher torque applications so it is the obvious high horsepower choice. F the roller bearing. it is metal on metal and from my experience that sucks. I will have to wait even more and pay retarded prices from summit but the bushing must be had.

 

I am considering doing my own t-56 swap install guide if anyone is interested... mine will have the actual part numbers, problems that somone might run into and every part NOT just the parts mentioned in every single swap guide out there. they also dont mention the individual switches and pigtails because most people want all the sensors and switches working..

 

Orderd my Kevlar bushing from Summit today. I read all last night about kevlar vs. roller and it is uncomparable. The kevlar bushing outlasts and outperforms a roller setup in this case by far! It would be the difference between having a regular timing set or a jesel belt drive or having a torque arm vs a spohn torque arm lol ... The kevlar bushing is what people use when they dont have the means of replacing a gauled input shaft or when somone wants to avoid gauling the shaft at all at that! My input shaft was replaced and balanced but is already showing slight gauling or at least heat wear on the outermost part and I can defiantely tell how over time that could get worse in any high performance application. I know with kevlar on it, it won't chew the metal up or progress to anything more then what it is right now. That peace of mind is all I need to justify spending an extra $20. Think of it as a mild suspension added to the tip of your input shaft. Better then having somthing that transfers the jarring motions of shifting to a solid bearing. It just makes more sense.



Guys do yourselves a favor and get the kevlar bushing when you do your clutch.

 

I don't see why everyone is so down on the roller bearings. Theres about 10 of those inside your T56 and no one ever complains of them grenading. I know GM recently changed the part number to a roller bearing because they thought they were better. I've done three clutch changes on my car and every time the bronze bushing has been wallowed out and provided no support at all. I think I'm going with the roller bearing next time.

 

Do what you want. My buddy who sold me his transmission spent three thousand dollars rebuilding it and it had that problem. he had the whole input shaft replaced and put the entire new setup in the car with a ram or similar performance clutch and roller bearing. Only raced it a little bit and didn't beat on it that much. Pulled the transmission after less then 5k miles and there is already gauling and heat scoring on the input shaft tip. The proof is in the pudding. I know when somthing is that obvious what to do.

Do you understand what kevlar is? Kevlar is a pretty awesome material. very very tough and anything that prevents metal to metal contact on a part like this one where there is the possibility of load bearing friction and heat issues. Kevlar will act a lot better under these conditions then two pieces of steel heating up almost red hot and grinding on eachother. Think about it..

Heres somthing to think about. what about a roller kevlar bushing haha

 

If you're doing a new write up, you should know this. The splicing of the 2 wires to make the hatch release work, actually tells the computer the car is in park all the time, and therefore doesn't command the EGR vavle to open at any point. For most people this is ok, but if you e-test you fail. I unspliced the wires and passed my e-test. My laptop also confirmed that the EGR opened afterward. I haven't fully investigated how to properly ground the hatch release relay per factory, but jumpered it to the relay for now.

 

That is somthing I wouldn't know because I have a convertible.... but I have a trunk release button in my glove compartment... Does that mean I wont be able to open the trunk unless I splice those two hatch release wires together?? I removed my EGR and AIR systems so having the EGR circuit come on won't be an issue. EGR doesn't exsist in the pcm any more... How does this work for me? I am a convertible guy...

 

That is a good question, maybe someone will chime in. I don't have my service manuals here to look, but I would have to assume it's the same. It would perform the same function.

 

never even thought about it much but you are probably right. I should have no problem just looping the two wires in the connector then... correct?

 

The 2 wires I am referring to are in the connector attached to the auto shifter. I believe you need some of the other wires to tie them back into for backup lights etc. I had to cut them to splice mine all together.

 

I knoooww. there are two wires for the clutch position switch CHECK there are two wires for the reverse light switch from the auto that are located in the same connector, cut them, then you run them through the grommet and down to the passenger side of the t-56 where you will find the reverse light sensor. CHECK (polarity not relevent for both of them!) keeps it simple! then the other two wires are the hatch wires. I am not sure how this circuit works but I think I just tie them together. anyone know for sure?

 

just received my synthetic fluid and kevlar pilot bushing today. The kevlar bushing looks and feels like a tiny piece of beige plastic but I guess it is kevlar so it is a lot tougher then plastic. I remember having kevlar hand pads for rollerblading and I took some hard falls, they never even scuffed up that much and I still have the same gloves to this day... kevlar is kool.