Ratchet Top Teardown

[Tattooo]

I'm glad you found the problem..........

Now it's time to start buying new parts all over again................ Because most of that stuff is useless now....

[JBinNC]

Now you need to find the answer to the question of why did that c'shaft bearing fail? Those things are dead reliable and have a very long service life. The installation is suspect in my mind. What say you?

Here's a tip:

Those bearings come packed with an oil that can harden and prevent the rollers from rolling. I spend a good bit of time on some of them, out of the package, to be sure the rollers move. Penetrating oil seems to work best to free them, followed by some assembly lube of course.

Jim

[Jakerz]

Now you need to find the answer to the question of why did that c'shaft bearing fail? Those things are dead reliable and have a very long service life. The installation is suspect in my mind. What say you?

Here's a tip:

Those bearings come packed with an oil that can harden and prevent the rollers from rolling. I spend a good bit of time on some of them, out of the package, to be sure the rollers move. Penetrating oil seems to work best to free them, followed by some assembly lube of course.

Jim

Yup, I ordered two new bearings just a few months ago when I rebuilt my 4 speed and one of them was pretty hard to turn, I cleaned it out with some brake cleaner and used some assembly lube and got it nice a free. Also when you replace them, make sure you only press on the side of the bearing with the writing on it.

Jake

[47str8leg]

Where are you guys ordering these bearings from Eastern ? Tedds ?

[tomsoftail]

AbbandonZK, how much motor are you running? A friend has a STD shovelhead that he recently built. It has about 90 hp and 90+ torque lbs. His clutch was upgraded to a Rivera but the tranny was running fine so he decided to leave it be. Not any more like yours!

Do you think you were too powerful motor wise?
What do you thinkthe limit is as far as power goes for a rotary top?

[confab]

This kind of damage isn't limited to gooked up bearings out of the box.

Heavy grease to hold the CS needles can do it too.

We use transgel, but any kind of lightweight gel is better than giant glops of unmeltable grease.

In a pinch? Vaseline works too.

[JBinNC]

AbbandonZK, how much motor are you running? A friend has a STD shovelhead that he recently built. It has about 90 hp and 90+ torque lbs. His clutch was upgraded to a Rivera but the tranny was running fine so he decided to leave it be. Not any more like yours!

Do you think you were too powerful motor wise?
What do you thinkthe limit is as far as power goes for a rotary top?

A well built four speed will handle 150 hp. and a sticky drag strip, no problem.

Jim

[Dragstews]

Weak link of the Cow-Pie trannys is fourth gear Torrington case bearing ..

[Davestune]

just seen this thread, you get 3rd gear whine, it comes from 3rd gear and having a bushing, andrews makhe a 3rd gear with out bushing and eliminates that. one of my knuckles is a whiner LOL.
from the picture your gears look fine. I would completely rebuild the counter shaft group with new shaft and well you need new bearings LOL.
also spec it out and get spacing correct and inspect thrust bushing inside the case.
I would pull the main drive seal also and replace , pres soak cork washer also. was your final drive gear mic'd or was it plug fitted with bearings , hows the end play?
is it set to specs? i like my on the lower side like .06
while your in there check your shifter forks and make sure there set up centered.
If I rebuilt that tranny it woulda been glyptal and that shifter shaft is prolly fine but all these small little things add up to a smooth transmission. I have seen some real fuckery.....................

[Davestune]

one of my trannys

[farmall]

Holy Horse Biscuits .. Batman ... !!

A word about the kick starter clutch gear ... They have a diff. O.D. for the witch hat throw out bearing ...

Baker lists their kit for all years. Is the stock part OD for clearance and does the wrong one exclude using the witch hat?

[AbbandonZK]

I'm only running 74 ci. I'm using a ratchet top case modified to use the Torrington bearing. The damage total has gone up to $400. I'm just waiting on a new main drive gear to replace the "new" one I just bought. I went back into my old notes and I found I wasn't able to get the .080 -.090 clearance on both sides of the counter-shaft fork as the total space available didn't add up to .160 or .180. However it was centered between the gear faces. I was tempted to reuse the special O-ring spacer I had gotten. But facing the back of the spacer to remove .005 off the back of the spacer in the late to remove the lip didn't seem smart.

Thank you for the responses everyone.

[TriNortchopz]

Seems like the appropriate place for a Harley 4-speed rebuild video: