# anyone mess with corvettes?



## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

I used to have a C5. 
You might want to ask the question at CorvetteForum -- a lot of knowledgeable people there.

AC Delco is not going to manufacture their own bearings. You might be able to buy an AC Delco bearing from GM, and the bag might have a Delco part number on it, but when you open the bag, the inscription on the bearing race will be the name of one of the big bearing manufacturers. That sounds like a pretty standard bearing.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

Yup, the OEMs will just use OTS bearings. You can get kits with the TT bearings, e.g. C5 C6 Corvette Torque Tube Bearing Kit with Slinger Ring – Texas Drivetrain Performance


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

huesmann said:


> Yup, the OEMs will just use OTS bearings. You can get kits with the TT bearings, e.g. C5 C6 Corvette Torque Tube Bearing Kit with Slinger Ring – Texas Drivetrain Performance


I'll take SKF over NSK any day of the week. Still remember getting NSK bearings with grinder burn marks (and that was 35 years ago).

But note the asterisk at the bottom that the 99 with automatic would take a different part number kit.


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## huesmann (Aug 18, 2011)

Probably something to do with different mountings at the trans and such.


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

I'm pretty sure GM doesn't service these torque tubes, they just replace them as a unit... at least that's what they do for C7s. But I have heard of guys DIYing bearing replacements. Mine is too young mileage wise to have this issue for a long time... I hope.


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## JustinRaney (Jun 1, 2018)

Great yes i got help at one of the corvette forums. The bearings on there were nsk 6007du 6008du and 6010du. I just bought the car a few months ago with 90k. I put maybe 1000 miles on it and the rubber couplers inside were trash. I replaced them with solid aluminum couplers as the rubber turns brittle and cracks. I went with a mix of timken 6010-2rs, skf 6008-2rs and a nsk 6007ddu as the front input shaft bearing.The haynes manual doesnt show that part to rebuild. Someone had recommended any skf timken or nsk would work why i went with what i did.


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## JustinRaney (Jun 1, 2018)

SPS-1 said:


> I'll take SKF over NSK any day of the week. Still remember getting NSK bearings with grinder burn marks (and that was 35 years ago).
> 
> But note the asterisk at the bottom that the 99 with automatic would take a different part number kit.


May i ask what you mean with grinder burn marks? 
yes txdrivetrain had the set but i found the same bearings for 50-60$ on amazon corvette central has them for 79$ as a kit but for the 97-99 is a 93 day wait.


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## JustinRaney (Jun 1, 2018)

Anyone know what kind of bearing grease would be best and if its worth removing the rubber seal and repacking the bearings with grease or just leaving them as is? With the c-clips out you can fit a small flathead to remove the seal. I was able to replace the front bearing no problem but the rear has a bushing isolator which is discontinued so it makes it hard to replace the bearings if you did have this issue. I had the old front bearing to play with and the seal will pop right off. Any idea if its worth regreasing or attempting to regrease the bearings or will it damage the seal? Do these usually have alot of bearing grease new or has this lost most of its grease. The grease does look to be burnt around the seal. Just curious as to how much grease is in there new. What kind of grease would nsk use from the factory? They're rated to 350f but the tube is in the driveline between the engine and transmission and has the exhaust that runs below it.


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## SPS-1 (Oct 21, 2008)

On a sealed bearing, the factory would have put in the correct amount of the correct viscosity lubricant. Why would you figure you can get better information from a DIY internet forum ?


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## raylo32 (Nov 25, 2006)

That kind of job I wouldn't mess around. Just put in new bearings. Torque tubes and their failures are always a hot topic on Corvette Forum including the need to get the end play adjusted perfectly to avoid damaging the engine crank bearings and killing the motor. What you are working on is one of the 2 or 3 primary reasons I got a GMEPP plan for 7 years on my C7, even though in the past I have DIYed just about everything on my cars. The cost I paid was less than half of one such repair.


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## JustinRaney (Jun 1, 2018)

I've got it about set-up the problem is the isolator bushing needs to be removed to access the bolt and separate the rear bearing carrier on the 99 auto but the part is discontinued if it gets damaged and the part used is expensive. I tried with a pilot bearing puller. Both shops that messed with corvettes said they were busy currently. I switched to solid ebay couplers which were the exact same dimensions as factory rubbers but 100 grams lighter at 273grams vs the factory rubbers I had 360-380 grams depending how much rubber was left. The rubber coupler on the Input shaft tore apart snapping one bolt lost one coupler sleeve in the tube and knocked off both weights. I just got a replacement driveshaft shaft but there weren't any noises from the bearings. One shop mentioned about 8-10 years on the bearings same with rubber couplers. I've repacked idler/tensioner pullies with no problems but yes this isn't something I'd be comfortable with in relation to where it's located. Nothing like a new set of bearings that's for sure. I may just end up using it as is. There is more drag with the new bearing compared to the original input shaft bearing shown above which seemed fine just changing it while I was in there.

I've never had a new bearing similar to this open which is why I was curious as too how much grease they put in from the factory.


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## JustinRaney (Jun 1, 2018)

Ok nsk responded but are out till monday. He stated they generally use ns7 (general purpose grease) or EEM (Polyrex EM grease) on the 6000 series but i checked and the box does state NS7S on it. Simple question was if the bearing looked low on grease as there isnt much in there or if they came like that?


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