American Powertrain Hydramax Bearing Quesion

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E Satterfield

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I purchased the complete A833 23 spline kit for my Duster. The specs call for 150 thos clearance between the face of the bearing and the clutch fingers. With the supplied floating stud spacer /retainer I am only able to achieve 050. There are not enough of the supplied shims provided in the kit to shim the bearing to the recommended spec if the mentioned spacer is not used. One option would be to mill down the aluminum spacer retainer. All I have is a bench grinder and there are no machine shops in my area. Customer service at American Powertrain is NON EXISTENT. I would say it Sucks but can’t even credit them with that since I was never able to speak with someone. I called 4 times today beginning at their opening time and was never able to speak with someone. My question is. Does anyone know where I might purchase more shims and a longer retainer stud? Hoping someone else here has ran into this problem. I don’t feel that I should have to pay out for more parts for an expensive inadequate kit. But at this point in the game. All I want to do is get the transmission mounted. Thanks
 
It's not a constant contact bearing?.Does the bearing retainer bolt to the face of the A833? Shouldn't be too difficult to get something behind the bearing to make up the space. But I am not familiar with that set up. I'm sure someone here has used them .
 
The blue spacer with stud is too thick to provide the desired gap. The shims pictured use a separate stud that replaces one of the original bearing retainer bolts on front of trans. My calculation is it will take about 9 of these shims to get the distance. But with that the provided stud will only accept up to the 5 shims that’s provided in the kit. I would rather use the single spacer instead of a stack of washers. As I said earlier the area I live in has one machine shop and turning a brake rotor is considered machine work to these clowns. All I have here is a bench or a 4” grinder. Thanks Eric.

2206EAEE-C357-4BEE-B077-017E817D2CA4.jpeg
 
If you pull that bearing off are you sure there isn't a shim stack under it?
 
Do you use a factory bearing retainer and slide that over it or is the 1 bolt mount it?
 
The specs call for 150 thos clearance between the face of the bearing and the clutch fingers. With the supplied floating stud spacer /retainer I am only able to achieve 050. There are not enough of the supplied shims provided in the kit
I'm a lil confused;
The spec is .150, but you only have .050
Which means the bearing has to move AWAY from the clutch fingers. Why would you need MORE spacers? Wouldn't MORE spacers create LESS room?

The spacers go right behind the TO bearing right?
 
Sorry I’m not the greatest writer. What I am meaning to say is. With the spacer all the way back against the stock bearing retainer I only have .050. With all the provided shims stacked without the spacer. I have about 3/8 clearance. So need a thinner spacer or more shins. Thanks
 
I found this old post that another member here had the same issue. My question is how
do you get these As$&@“es to answer the phone?


Quote below from the earlier post.


I got mine all set up, installed, and there is over a 1/4 inch between the fingers and bearing face. So I called AmericanPowertrain and told them the solid spacer is too big and the 5 shims was not enough. They are sending me more shims and a longer stud. Hoping this will get me the clearance they call for, .150-200.
 
I found this old post that another member here had the same issue. My question is how
do you get these As$&@“es to answer the phone?


Quote below from the earlier post.


I got mine all set up, installed, and there is over a 1/4 inch between the fingers and bearing face. So I called AmericanPowertrain and told them the solid spacer is too big and the 5 shims was not enough. They are sending me more shims and a longer stud. Hoping this will get me the clearance they call for, .150-200.

Call these folks. 1-833- 487- 3632. Eastside Motorsports. They sell the same kit and it's where I got mine also. I couldn't use the spacer as it was too thick. I called them to talk it through and they were extremely helpful.
 
Thanks everyone for the input. Finally got a hold of someone at American Powertrain. $85.00 later. Problem should be solved. Selling me a thinner retainer ( Ford Item. ). Something I should not of had to purchase. But whatever. Thanks Again.
 
Sorry I’m not the greatest writer.
What I am meaning to say is; with the spacer all the way back against the stock bearing retainer, I only have .050.
With all the provided shims stacked without the spacer, I have about 3/8 clearance.
So need a thinner spacer or more shims.
Thanks
Aha; I see your punctuation is confusing me. I think I fixed it. I get it now.

Ok but,
no matter how you assemble this,
the only things that actually matter are;

1) that you get adequate clutch departure, (minimum .080), and
2) that the TO bearing NOT be in contact with the fingers, and
3) that the hydraulics remain in their proper working range, and
4) that you get adequate service life, so you don't have to take the trans down every year, as the fingers come up, due to disc wear.
> the simple solution is to mill the spacer to fit;
> If you assemble it with .050 clearance, IMO, this might actually be ideal since the first three criteria are met. As a bonus, the freeplay at the pedal should feel about right. Only #4 is compromised, and depending on your driving style, and especially your take-off style; your service period could end up being a lil short the first time around.
> If you have a CenterForce clutch;
I felt that mine was too violent for street use (CF-II). I pulled the disc and installed a regular Factory 340 disc. Which I liked, but the PP would break the spring pockets out pretty regularly . So I shimmed the PP away from the flywheel about .030 to reduce the static clamp-load. This worked great; the discs were now lasting longer. As a bonus, this got me some slippage at low rpm, perfect for my driving style. By about 2800/3000 the flyweights get it all locked up.
This trick simultaneously lowered the diaphragm (equivalent to fingers) giving the TOB more room (clearance). Since I have the factory system, I had to re-adjust the Freeplay a lil. I like my clutch to work very high on the pedal, so I run a minimum free-play. It just means annual adjustments for me, no big deal.
So the point is this, you can do the same. By installing small shims between the PP and the flywheel, the finger height will be reduced, giving you more clearance. The ratio, I'm guessing is about 3 or 4 to 1, so if you need .100 clearance, the shims would need to be about .025 inch. You can check this by backing off all the bolts and installing feeler gauges right beside about 3 of them, and then tightening just those three. The trans can remain installed for this.
Now, be advised, this will reduce the static clamp-load of the unit. Depending on what clutch you have and your take-off style and how much tire you have, it is possible for the clutch to slip during this time. Eventually, as the disc wears, you will be able to remove the shims.
Happy HotRodding
 
I cut the head off a Grade 8 bolt to make a longer guide stud, and didn't use their blue anodized aluminum part. The stud goes into the front transmission bearing retainer. My kit was for an 18 spline Hemi 4 speed, and there were enough spacers to get the correct clearance.

Their kit works very well in my application.
 
I bought a lathe, so I don't have to rely on half *** clowns that can't sell a kit that works..
Also there are two different styles of throw out bearing face, depending on what type of pressure plate you have. Borg and Beck or diaphragm..
 
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