[KiwiSteve]

Hi. I have a Watson Transmission model 42. I have just had it totally rebuilt with all new bearings by a professional mechanic. But the tail shaft still has play it it. If I grab the brake drum for the hand brake I can wobble it. I am not happy about this. But the chap who did it up said this is ok? He is not new at this. Should I pull the rear flange off and put a shim in and put it back and see if this fixes it? I am thinking the flange maybe coming up and bottoming out on the end of the main shaft. Thoughts please

 

[edpruss]

Is the clearance fore and aft or up and down?

Ed

 

[KiwiSteve]

Hi Ed. It appears to be up and down. It was like that before I spent $3000 on it with all new bearings. The guy first thought the play was due to a spacer being left out from the last crowd that looked at it, but when he was assembly it he discovered that it was not and that it was fine. He has had a look at it after I fired the box in the frame. But he is happy with the movement. I am not thinking there shouldn't be any. But these types of boxes are very rare these days in New Zealand.
Cheers Steve

 

[edpruss]

If it is up and down, is the rear bearing retainer the correct tightness, it probably is ball, if roller, seems like it should be able to be adjusted?

Ed

 

[KiwiSteve]

Hi Ed. I went over yesterday to the people who did the work. Miles said the bearing is a ball bearing and a c type, so the is clearance in the bearing so it is not a tight fit. The bearing was tight in the housing and tight on the shaft. So it must be ok. I am starting to wonder if it is running how they always did
. And thinking it should run smooth like a modern box. I never used this Joey box system before.so maybe it is ok.?

 

[redhedbronco]

Ive had several Watsons and Brown Lipes aux. Ive never had much play in mine when rebuilt. Are you talking up and down movement with a dial indicator or can you actually feel it by hand? I installed the same exact bearings that came out of mine and dont know what "C" type refers to. Maybe loose is the built in backlash to prevent binding gears. My 2c

 

[KiwiSteve]

Thanks for email. C stands for clearance, and if it is a C3 or C4 this will give you more or less Clearance or play in the bearing. I can move the shaft by grabbing the e brake drum on the rear and move it up and down. I would rather it not be that type of bearing, but they put the same type as what come out. I was hoping for a simple fix like a shim but they are convinced that it is as it should be. But I am not

 

[bop]

One possibility (only a possibility, because I am not familiar with that exact box) is that if the handbrake drum is like the Toyota commercial series, is that there is nothing wrong with the bearing, but with the flange on the handbrake fitting- I had that exact same thing on my box (so much so that anything above 80kmh the vibration was enough to blur your vision), the actual flange on the brake fitting into the box had worn and even when tightened fully, the entire thing could be rocked on the output shaft of the box (in my case it did both up and down and a bit of fore and aft as well- you could actually see the movement...
Just something to check...

 

[KiwiSteve]

Yes that is the same as mine. We thought about getting it balanced? I do appreciate people who are coming up with ideas. Thanks

 

[Blackduck596]

The extra clearance in a C3 would be hard to feel by hand.
Good point above about spline fit and/or the retainer bottoming out on the splines and not the hub.
Cheers Steve (Aussie)

 

[KiwiSteve]

Yes I thought that about both things, but they assured me that it has not bottomed out and that there should be movement. But I am still not on board with that idea. As when I move it you can hear bearing knock.

 

[chic]

Steve, I have an entire Watson 40 series manual on pdf with exploded views and assembly/disassembly diagrams if you would like me to email it to you! You might be able to tell where something went wrong from these diagrams. PM me with email address and I will get them out to you! Chic

 

[KiwiSteve]

wow, that would be great thanks, my email is [email protected]
thanks so much

 

[Papa]

Yes I thought that about both things, but they assured me that it has not bottomed out and that there should be movement. But I am still not on board with that idea. As when I move it you can hear bearing knock.

Is it possible that you could change the bearing set up, from ball to roller to where you could put pre-load on the bearings? That would take any side/verticle play out of the shaft!
I would think shaft wobble would be a real SEAL destroyer
If you think about discarding/ selling that one, might want to look @ MR TRUCK TV — All ALLISON—
CUSTOM AUTOMATIC CONVERSIONS .com
Great interview, very knowledgeable!

 

[KiwiSteve]

Unsure. It has tapered Roller on the front and they are preloaded. They replaced all with like for like. The other thing is. That I have never driven a truck with this sort of set up before. And sometimes what we are trying to achieve is impossible and never was. So maybe it's running fine.?

 

[Papa]

Unsure. It has tapered Roller on the front and they are preloaded. They replaced all with like for like. The other thing is. That I have never driven a truck with this sort of set up before. And sometimes what we are trying to achieve is impossible and never was. So maybe it's running fine.?

I think I would be looking real hard at that Watson series 40 manual to see if a tapered roller bearing would be a viable replacement! Nothing worse than driving & a vibration coming from who knows where, is that the original, is it louder, is it a new one ? Oh MY , Oh My !!!

 

[Papa]

Even if it meant a modification! I had a motor home that had a transmission mounted -e-brake that was out of balance & vibrated ,it broke the case, had to take it to a drive line shop & have it balanced.

 

[KiwiSteve]

Yes when I recieve the information I will be having a look and seeing what I can see