The Top DSM Community on the Web

For 1990-1999 Mitsubishi Eclipse, Eagle Talon, Plymouth Laser, and Galant VR-4 Owners. Log in to remove most ads.

Please Support Kiggly Racing
Please Support STM Tuned

OEM or ACT throw out bearing?

This site may earn a commission from merchant
affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Dieselboy

20+ Year Contributor
2,359
1
Nov 6, 2002
Seattle Area, Washington
K, this one stumped me. Ive been told in another thread to ditch the ACT 2600 throw out bearing for a new OEM one when I have the clutch installed. I know the ACT one has a metal sleeve, while the OEM one has a plastic sleeve. Whats the difference drivablity wise and why should this be a must I swap this when the 2600 already comes with one? Thanks
 
its not an ACT part, i cant remember the manufacturer...

why does it matter? that bearing will hold out longer than your transmission will if your using ACT clutches (laugh). i wouldnt worry about it.
 
NSK is the manufacturer. Im not gonna worry about it. If its not a good idea to use it, ACT wouldnt of included it. Ive heard no one give me a good reason NOT to use the bearing, so I will. I cant afford another $40 anyways :D
 
I also was told not to use the ACT one. I have one and i would rather not pay for ahother OEM one. SO just use the ACT one?
 
I have the ACT one installed right now on my car. I personally think all this talk about the ACT one binding on the output shaft is bull ####. If you grease it properly and install it properly, (which is simple to do), you should not have any problem's at all. Just my 2 cent's on this subject.

Ed
 
It does seem like a rather dumb concern :confused: Im just gonna stick with the ACT one. I dont have all the money to blow right now on lil' shiet.
 
If the NSK unit is to be used, how would you or with what would you grease the bearing with. I am planning on running the NSK unit for its metal construction as I have had countless problems with factory plastic units wearing out on several different vehicles. Would a small amount of bearing grease be enough?
 
Here's what I was able to quickly turn up while looking around for solid information on why people prefer one over the other (surprisingly, I was unable to find much in the way of recommendations on vendor websites, other than the two below; a lot of vendors seem to carry the OEM bearing, and DSMotorsport even explained the difference between the two, but most don't give an explaination of why they'd choose one over the other):
Extreme Motorsports says:
This is the plastic sleeved bearing for those worried about shaft wear on their bell housings or prefer the plastic-sleeved bearing to the metal-sleeved bearing. For turbo models only.
Automotosports says:
We recommend Mitsubishi factory throw out bearings for use with all ACT clutches as they are a higher quality unit than those included in the ACT clutch kits.
3/S Discussion:
Matt Jannusch: Yeah, the bearing comes greased on the inside (the sealed part), but no lube on the outer surfaces (the surface that interfaces with the tranny shaft) so the inner metal ring and shaft should be lubed with lithium grease. If that shaft is worn, you might be able to polish it and replace the TO bearing and be okay. The same symptom appears on DSM trannies on occasion, particularly with aftermarket throwout bearings which don't have a plastic inner sleeve to reduce friction.
Team NABR discussion:
Terry Livermore: Not sure who makes it for Mitsu, but as far as I know the reason people like them is they have a plastic coated surface that glides on the input shaft when the clutch is disengated and engaged. This surface doesn't require any additional lubrication and seems to last forever without having a sticking or hangup problem. My original was still good at 150,000 miles on my 91 AWD that I bought new.
[...]
Dan Hammans:The only aftermarket one I have seen is the NSK. It has a metal sleeve which can score the output shaft on the transmission if there is a problem.

(There's a couple of other threads on there, attributing noises to all-metal TOBs. I won't link to all of them, search is your friend.)
Nothing incredibly substantive, a lot of leaning towards OEM because of friction issues. My gut tells me that the all-metal version is the more durable of the two, especially when you start building higher torque levels, but the "self-lubricating" (ie. degenerative) properties of the OEM bearing are something to think about. 150,000 miles with track use on a stock bearing is a good testament.

Tevenor, can you elaborate a bit more on your preference for the metal version (problem with the OEM that prompted a switch, etc)?

Anyone have something more concrete they can lend to the discussion besides "I heard about a problem once but didn't get any details"? (Yes, I'm planning a clutch replacement soon. Can you tell?)
 
Originally posted by logic
Tevenor, can you elaborate a bit more on your preference for the metal version (problem with the OEM that prompted a switch, etc)?

There seems to be some confusion. The OEM Mitsu is a plastic lined TOB made by NSK. There are/were other TOB that had more than just a 'lining'. I have seen those disintegrate and turn to crap. Don't use those. The bearing in the OEM is very good. There is nothing wrong using a non-lined TOB if everything else is in good operation order, such as the clutch release fork and the pivot ball. If there is something wrong, you will find out for sure. :)

All in all, I stick to the OEM. Nothing wrong with it and it takes a good amount of abuse.
 
Ah, I understand what you were talking about now; when you said the plastic one I figured you meant the OEM with the plastic sleeve. Sorry for the confusion, and thanks for the information. :)
 
Just my 2 cents here. I used the metal sleeved TOB supplied with the ACT2100 and it did bind up on the shaft a few times. Nothing permanent, I just pushed the clutch in again and it came back normally. On that car the shaft was worn already, 130k miles, so it wasn't entirely the bearings fault. Changing to the OEM plastic sleeved TOB eliminated the binding.
 
Support Vendors who Support the DSM Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Innovation Products Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications MyMitsubishiStore.com RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Latest posts

Build Thread Updates

Vendor Updates

Latest Classifieds

Back
Top