Timken throwout bearings?

[buck91]

A few years back the general advice was to seek out OEM or Timken bearings for replacement clutch release (aka throw out) bearings. Is Timken still considered top notch? I have about 40k miles on the timken TOB in my Mustang but I will be doing a clutch job this spring due to fluid contamination and plan to proactively replace the pilot and TOB. Ford parts are readily available, but this timken unit seems to have held up well and they are currently half the price of Ford.

 

[SatinSilver]

I know they still quality wheel bearings per one of the experts on here I trust. Going to order them this week on Amazon. Great price as well. SKF is another option for wheel bearings that are also quality.

 

[Trav]

Timken makes a lot of their bearings offshore these days, i cant say if they are as good or worse than they were but i would probably go with the SKF N1714SA self aligning bearing.
SKF makes some of the best bearings on the market. The self aligning bearing is worth the few extra bucks IMO.

http://www.skf.com/us/products/bearings-...ings/index.html

 

[Yah-Tah-Hey]

We had SKF large ,split pillow block bearings on our coal conveyors and primary air fans and they were a quality product Can't say what is good and not so good today, but if I was replacing a throw out bearing, I would go OEM..

 

[KingCake]

Most Timkens are rebadged National which are rebadged Mexico/China.

SKF is really the only reliable quality bearing.

Many Ford bearings are SKF sourced.

So I would go OEM or SKF.

Mustangs don't have throw out bearings. They have release bearings which require a specific amount of preload tension. (About 5lbs) Don't listen to some moron that tells you it should be off the plate teeth. I can scan the Ford manual on this issue.

Proper setup of this preload tension is crucial to long bearing life.

 

[buck91]

I was of the understanding along those lines; specifically that the TOB (apparently release bearing) should be in contact with the pressure plate arms but just enough to make contact. If you do have a FoMoCo manual page outlining proper set up I would be curious to see how they spec it.

 

[KingCake]

Originally Posted By: buck91
I was of the understanding along those lines; specifically that the TOB (apparently release bearing) should be in contact with the pressure plate arms but just enough to make contact. If you do have a FoMoCo manual page outlining proper set up I would be curious to see how they spec it.


You sound like you know what you're doing! Sorry to be kinda know-it-all about it, i'm just used to forum people arguing with me about it haha.

Unfortunately Ford doesn't spec a preload tension, only that there must be some preload. Because the factory quadrant/adjuster is supposed to maintain tension as clutch wears.

If you have a firewall adjuster the best thing to do is pull back on the cable with about 5lbs of force then take up that slack with the firewall adjuster.