Cliff notes: I bought a used W56B, tore it down to reseal the center plate, was wiggling the shafts and am wondering if there's too much play in the center bearings.

I made two videos... anyone care to check them out and offer advice? I know they won't wiggle as much with the front and rear covers on. Do I need to tear it all down and replace these bearings?

Thanks!

 

I can’t imagine going this far and not putting new bearings in, especially the countershaft bearings.

 

Getting this far wasn't a huge deal... just pulling some bolts apart. Going to require a lot more time and money, both for parts and tools, to get much further. So I'm just wanting to be sure its warranted.

 

Your inspection method is flawed. If you support both ends of the shaft and move the intermediate plate vertically you can measure the clearance of the center bearing with a dial guage. Not that there is a spec' for this but you can compare it with a "new" bearing that way.

 

You have gone this far. I would install new bearings. They can be tough to press the old ones off. New ones go one pretty easy. There is some play in the bearings, even the new ones will have some play. Only way to really know is run it and listen for noise.

 

I fear it near impossible to tell bearing wear the way you’ve shown here, unless they’re completely gone.

You seem to know some of the history of that w56.
Do you know and can take the word of the previous owner?
That’s where I’d be trying to get more info from.
Was it drained of fluid before you got it?
Was there significant amounts of metal flakes/sheen in the gear oil?
Was it hard to shift into any specific gear?
Did it pop out of any gear?
Did it howl or whine or make any noise in any gear?

If you can get/have honest answers to those questions and they’re all NO, I’d feel pretty comfortable sealing back up and running some mid grade gear oil in it for a while. Mt90 is expensive to just drain back out if need be.

Really, at this point it’s my opinion that it’s a crap shoot without having answers to those questions. Seal it back up install it and figure them out for yourself.

And honestly getting back to the point of tear down you’re at is, as you said, not that complicated. Pulling the trans can be a bear, but gets faster the more ya do it...

Or bite the bullet and rebuild it now.

Rebuild kits can be had for rather cheap with quality bearings. The press can be had for cheap as well. It’s the puller and the press/tool you’re gonna need for 5th gear that gets expensive. Dial indicators and calipers for runout and snap rings are kinda pricey. Not all snap rings are available from Toyota anymore. You’re gonna need to keep from damaging those when ya remove em.

Pick up up an fsm. I can post pics later too. I believe there’s a measurement that can be taken of the output shaft play when the case is back together. That of course would only speak for the output shaft bearing. Super easy to replace without a complete tear down. But if it’s bad I’d say they’re all on there way.

Theres a good video series on youtube now of a professional rebuilding a w55/58. Same basic principles and the dude has tricks for dealing with 5th gear and tips on determining synchronizer condition.

 

I used a basic puller set. But yes, on 5th gear I did get creative. I used some long bolts to extend the jaws so I could grab the gear. Weird, but worked. I’m not quite sure how to ascertain whether a bearing is still acceptable with it still pressed into the gear assembly.
if the gaskets were leaking I’d assume the bearings aren’t THAT new. Or the prior rebuilder didn’t do a very good job. But if you don’t mind pulling a trans/transfer assembly later than I guess it’s worth the gamble.

 

Beginning to think I should just do the right thing and rebuild it.
You are correct. I'm going to build a more stable jig to hold the entire thing and then will see if I can get a better check of the vertical play in the bearing.
I've been reading several threads on here and there's one in particular that lists the tools that he used, so I am pricing everything out now. If I can get tools + parts quite a bit cheaper than buying a rebuilt unit from MarlinCrawler, I'll probably do it myself for the experience.
The guy I got the tranny from was an acquaintance, not a friend. The 4Runner he was parting out he knew the history of because he'd owned it a while and then sold it, and then bought it back to part out after it got wrecked. He said when he was driving it to his house it was shifting fine, no popouts. And from looking at the condition of the gears (no obvious abnormal wear that I saw), I believe it wasn't popping out. The G54 in my truck right now pops out of 1 and 3, and I'm expecting that the teeth on those gears are going to be chewed to hell.

The donor 4Runner had about 300k miles on it. He told me he wasn't sure it was the original tranny, and that it might have more mileage. It was definitely correct for that year 4Runner and didn't look like it'd ever been removed from the runner, so it's probably the original. I pulled it out myself, and while I didn't have a chance to sift the oil when I drained it, it wasn't a glitter bomb by any means. When I split the TC off the back recently, it dumped a bunch of oil out from the cavity between them. I did sift that, and did find some little bits of metal, so something between the two has given up some wear. I haven't cracked open the TC yet to investigate the insides.

I found this thread: https://www.yotatech.com/forums/f116...w-pics-301447/
And it's pretty detailed, about as close to step-by-step as possible. I haven't searched youtube yet, but I will now that you mentioned it.

Between that thread and youtube, I'm now leaning towards completely rebuilding it, if I can acquire the tools and parts for a reasonable cost. MarlinCrawler's rebuild kit seems to be permanently sold out. Google searching "W56 rebuild kit" yields tons of hits at various price points, but I haven't sifted through them all yet to determine what's worth it, and what's junk.

What rebuild kit did you go with when you did yours?

 

I got the kit off Amazon. Naichi and Koyo bearings. I think the only bearing you may need to source from the dealer is the rear output bearing, 33350-22010-77.

 

Thats a lot of miles to risk not rebuilding it. FYI the teeth on the gears do not engage/ disengage. The syncronizer and teeth on the gear selector portion of the gear will though. I would install new syncros and touch up the selector teeth on the gears.

 

Thanks for the info

Yeah... last night I watched a youtube video where the guy disassembled the W58 including his trick for getting 5th off in the press. I haven't watched the reassembly video yet, but I'm feeling pretty confident between that, this forum, and the FSM, so I'm going to go ahead and rebuild it. Pricing out parts and tools now. I figure to do it myself will cost maybe half of a Marlin rebuilt unit, and I get the experience and tools in the process. Having a 12 ton press around will be handy for plenty of other tasks, like suspension components.