Thread: LT95 Transfer Thrust Muncher

I haven't seen one like that before. It look like someone has milled it themselves probably to increase the oil flow around the rear thrust on low gear. Assemble the gears etc on the shaft and have a look where the groove is in relation to the rear thrusts. Might be worth giving it a go if you intend staying with the steel thrusts.

Originally Posted by Bearman

I haven't seen one like that before.

Yes, that shaft is a bit weird. It looks like it was manufactured that way - it seems to have a hardened surface. But when positioned in the box the slot lines up nicely with the Internal Spacer washer - which can easily fall into the slot. So not sure how this ever worked. It's possible that the Internal Spacer washer wore itself into the shaft - but it's an amazingly neat job if it did and can't have ended well - another mystery...

BTW, this shaft was not used in the current failure. For reference, here's what it looks like in-situ...

Originally Posted by captainslow

Yes, that shaft is a bit weird. It looks like it was manufactured that way - it seems to have a hardened surface. But when positioned in the box the slot lines up nicely with the Internal Spacer washer - which can easily fall into the slot. So not sure how this ever worked. It's possible that the Internal Spacer washer wore itself into the shaft - but it's an amazingly neat job if it did and can't have ended well - another mystery...

BTW, this shaft was not used in the current failure. For reference, here's what it looks like in-situ...

When you think about it, the internal spacer can't fall into the slot because it is captured by the outer thrust washer that it fits into, so what it's doing is allowing a bigger space for oil to accumulate. Not a bad idea really.

Well, had a short note back from Britpart...

"Thank you for your email, we have checked our stock to a genuine LR one and both are steel"

I'm a bit surprised, every thrust washer I've seen is bronze. Can anyone confirm (or otherwise) if their statement is correct?

Cheers
Peter

Likewise, I have mainly seen bronze, but on a couple of occasions have seen bronze ones with white metal covering like big end shells. I have never seen full steel ones like you have.

An update on the LT95 thrust washers:-

Britpart have confirmed that their thrust washers are actually zinc plated bronze. This is good and what I would have expected.

I was pretty certain that the thrust washers I was supplied came in Britpart packaging, but I could be mistaken so I will chase up the suppliers (Craddocks in the UK) to see if I can confirm who is supplying their fully steel thrust washers.

In the mean time I've done some superficial gear contact tests (see below). The drive gear and high range gear seem to be meshing right in the middle where you would expect. So I think this rules out any misalignment issues.

I'll be rebuilding the transfer case with bronze thrust washers (and a new low range gear) and I'll keep a close eye on it for a while until I can get some confidence back...





Cheers
Pete

G'day Pete,

Glad you have made progress.

The gear marking compound show nice contact between the gears so another possible cause eliminated. Maybe for "piece of mind" what about checking the low range gear set as well when you get new thrusts?.
Interesting that aftermarket has a cheaper thrust made from steel that clearly hasn't been tested in real life!!! and will fail with the wrong oil. (Recon your not the only one that's had this problem.)

For a number of years now I always measure and inspect critical parts for correct size and tolerance for my Series 2a. When there is a difference between after market and the original part I buy a genuine part to compare and measure. When genuine and original are the same I buy genuine if it available.!!!!

Excellent thread and pic's for future reference!!!.

Chris

Well, thanks to Brian I now have a replacement low range gear, pear washers and BRONZE thrust washers installed into the transfer case and should hopefully have Sandy back on the road by the weekend. With the box still in the car it's a tricky job on your back with bits falling in your face, but certainly doable.



Still no luck getting any response from the supplier about the source of the steel thrust washers - in fact I've had no response at all to several emails which is a bit disappointing so I'll follow up with a phone call.

Chris, I took your advice and finished off the gear contact checks by testing the Low Range gear and it looks pretty good. Certainly worth checking. Here's the results for completeness...





Cheers
Pete