Shopping for aftermarket clutch release bearing
 

Welp.. After having my original bearing go out at around 27K miles, I can hear the bearing making some telltale noises of imminent failure now at 75Kish miles.

I'm aware of an updated OEM part from subaru, but I wanted to see if anyone has experience with aftermarket bearings that may be more durable.

I found various different brands being offered on Partsgeek, including this one made by SACHS.

Anyone have experience with them or any of the other brands?

Interested in info as well. Does this bearing come with its own fork? Seems like the retention clips are different than OEM

Not sure about aftermarket ones, never looked into it.
$55 from Subaru was all the convincing I needed.

If you want to never worry about TOB again, some dude here made a hydraulic TOB, but is pricy but not too pricy. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showt...=Hydraulic+TOB

Where was the price on that? I never found it

following

Odd? I remember reading when the thread was posted. If I recall it was like $200? Ultramarron might know. Give him a buzz.

@Ultramaroon buzz buzz

Thread with a nod on the NTN and SKF. Though solely based off brand reputation and not first hand experience with the parts: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=117205

I cannot imagine the factory sourcing "low quality" bearings to replace the original one. But who knows?

i re-read, found it buried. $600. but i don't like the elitist facebook mentality. that was what set me off last time i read.

Wow was it that much?
I guess... dude needs to make a profit, but dam. Oh wells.

i know a few machinists, and that's reasonable for the work and prep involved. i just don't like his attitude.

Based off some of the people's comments in threads relating to this issue. They seem to believe that one of the causes of premature failure, besides 'riding the clutch', is the bearing lubricant. Though, I cannot imagine the manufacture using a different lube on this particular part vs bearings designed to fit in all other applications that do not have this same problem.

I'll likely try out the Sachs throw out bearing base off the fact that its a different part to the ones used by the OE and the brand name. I'll also see if I can manage to inject some additional "high quality" high heat bearing lube to the part. Also, I just realized that when the clutch was serviced the first time round they did not replace the "output shaft" front cover, as they should have, contributing to the pre-mature wear of the second bearing.

I guess I just got to do it myself if I want it to be sure it's done right. I dont know much about grease or lubes designed for this app. Any suggestions on what lube to use and where to purchase?

Yep. Well to their defense or lack of, they just used what they had in stock which was the old revision part. That's my guess anyway.

As for working on it your self, it's pretty straightforward. I did it with basic hand tools. Only thing I did buy was a harbor freight tranny jack.
As for the lube, either look any auto part store or buy what Subaru recommends which is Nichimoly N-130 item number K0879Y0501

If you don't have tall jack stands I recommend Harbor Freight SUV jack stands. Those can raise your car pretty high safely.
Also a buddy sure helps. At lest to hand you sockets or beer.
And buy new tranny fluid. Drain it before so you won't make a mess.

Oh Ultramarroon has a tip to strap down the engine so it won't rock back and forth when you take the tranny out, had I known that trick it would have made my tranny removal so much easier and quicker.

Appreciate the input. I keep seeing the UREA grease that Honda uses for the throwout bearings being mentioned after doing some search for information on lubrication for this. Seems a lot of guys out there use this stuff on non-Honda cars and recommend it.

https://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Honda.../dp/B00BFDFYKW

As far as the release bearing not being the updated version, I'm certain it is not. The clutch and the bearing were replaced before this updated part was available. I'm not sure if I trust the OE part even if it is an updated version to address the problem.. Sachs or OE... hmm

Now its just a matter of ordering parts and seeing when I'll have time to work on the thing.


Edit: Just saw this post on where they got the idea that the grease was the main culprit and different. Thanks to @VerusEric with the comparo of an older bearing with the new part number. Just for that, I'm throwing the forged fork and billet pivot to the shopping list.