My torque tube is dying, I thought it was the clutch release bearing but it is a bearing in the torque tube that is grumbling. I am looking for a replacement but I expect that this will only last for so long so I am looking for a more permanent fix. I work in a major dealer parts department and our sister company does Volvo, they have chased this to the ends of the Volvo network, there are no torque tubes left to be had so I guess keeping these cars on the road means a solution to the failed bearings at some point.
I have contacted engineering firms and a propshaft specialist but nobody has done one of these before and I don't want to be a guinea pig for their solutions so I am going to have a bash at trying this myself.

First things first, will a later tube fit my 83 b19a? The part number was superseded in 85 but the diagram seems the same. Can anyone confirm if there is more than one variation of the tube? I plan on getting a good one for now and pulling the bearings out of the old one to find some way of replacing them.

Has anyone successfully pulled these out? Has anyone repaired them before? Any pictures, measurements or experience would be a great help. I plan on buying a 3m threaded bar and fabricating some kind of tool. The bearings should be fairly standard once pressed out of the carriers. Perhaps I can have new carriers fabricated if this is required.

All help and advice gratefully received.

First, I haven't had a good look at these first hand, but understand the following,

The change in part number has something to do with number of bearings inside. Some I believe have 3 bearings and some have 2. It may be the case that the later ones have 2 - someone else will confirm.

EDIT: Confirmed here http://www.volvo300mania.com/forum-uk/v ... =5&t=14568 they went all cheap and down to two. Everything else should be equal.

The outside of the bearing case had a kind of rubbery ribs to provide some vibration damping.

The nearest thing to it to compare with would be something like a Porker 924/8 that has a similar rubbery outer bearings but I've no idea what size they are on eitend

I don't think the bearings are any specified distance apparent, just roughly evenly spaced. Should be straight forward enough to make a puller and start from one end and working in reverse to get them back in.

Good luck.

macplaxton wrote:I don't think the bearings are any specified distance apparent, just roughly evenly spaced. Should be straight forward enough to make a puller and start from one end and working in reverse to get them back in.

I have the dimensions the bearings in my 3 bearing tubes are along to tube in written in the log book, they were certainly the same.

You *cannot* drift the bearings down the tube, as soon as one reaches another they bind. My current plan (though not done yet) will be a tool that has a length of threaded rod, with a large piece of 1/4" steel as a stop against the TT flange. At the other end, either double nut or welded nut to rod so it can't come off and a strip of 1/4" steel, length same as internal diameter with a oval hole to pass the threaded rod through. Theory being you tickle that through the hole in the bearing, as it would lie flat enough with the oval hole, then it would square up when through the hole to draw out the bearing with as much surface area as possible.

Whilst trying to find a pic to explain (someone must have done similar before) I found this...
http://www.clarks-garage.com/shop-manual/trans-05.htm
All good to know

Hi mate.
I have a Torque tube
Cheers Mark.

Why do you think a replacement will only last so long? They are fairly reliable and do big miles usually, mine has done 200K miles. Age and low mileage maybe more of a problem. A replacement should be good for the life of the car, any torque tube should fit.

@Macplatxton. first link didn't work but the second is exactly what I was looking for, those look exactly like the setup on a porker, almost identical and I know how to do this now.

@chris c
When you say 'drift' do you mean with a hammer or just pushing? I imagine the rubber would damp the force considerably, also the carrier was probably not moving flush to the tube. I am planning similar to your pulling method, I am going to make a shuttle the same size as the tube then using a 3m bar I will pull all three out of the end. Plenty lubrication should make it easy enough.

I have a press at work so it is just a case of finding a tube as a test bed then I can get the measurements of the removed bearings.

@mchudd
How much do you want for it? Condition doesn't matter really as I will use it for a tester. Please PM me your price.

@ride on
I'm a perfectionist for one but really the reason I want a solution is that I don't ever want to have to manhandle that bloody gearbox back up around the axle.

Number 47 wrote:@Macplatxton. first link didn't work but the second is exactly what I was looking for,

Fixed it now. I was a fat-fingered twat and made a balls up of pasting the link to the other thread. There is only one link. In mitigation I'm posting on a tablet at the mo as the desktop is down.

Number 47 wrote:@chris c
When you say 'drift' do you mean with a hammer or just pushing? I imagine the rubber would damp the force considerably, also the carrier was probably not moving flush to the tube. I am planning similar to your pulling method, I am going to make a shuttle the same size as the tube then using a 3m bar I will pull all three out of the end. Plenty lubrication should make it easy enough.

Hammer and a length of 2x2", I agree it must have been being damped. Let us know how pulling out all three goes, I didn't think it would be worth it until seeing that Porsche link but it'd be a heck of a lot less faff to turn up a shuttle than dropping through a straightening up thing! Non of the presses I have access to would fit a TT in line size wise, so I was going to wind them in with the same tool to the correct place.

Good luck!

Same for me chris, pull them in one by one with the same tool. Just need the press to take out the bearing liner, then the bearing from and to the carrier. Will post a pictorial when I have all the pieces in place.