I have a 73 T18 that has a little wear on the input shaft and the bearing retainer. I have come to the conclusion that I am going to pretty much take it all apart to get the input shaft out if I am going to replace it. I dont want to fully rebuild this tranny. I think it is alright as is except I am not sure about the wear on the end of the input shaft and a lot of wear on the bottom of the bearing retainer. It has about .008"-.010" of wear where it goes in the pilot bearing. If its too much I will replace. If I have to replace it what else should I get while it is open. I figure minimum: front seal, bearing retainer gasket, input shaft, bearing retainer, speedo gear(maybe), top gasket, rear seal, and some kind of gasket on the rear. I also need a back up light plug in for it. The trans feels tight as far as play on the input shaft and the gears shift no problem. Although I have never driven anywhere with the tranny because the truck didnt run.
Main question is if .008-.010 is too much wear on input shaft?
Is there anything else that sounds necessary to change?

 

New pilot bearing.

 

Here are some Timken part numbers for the T18:

 

So you can get the entire rebuild kit, or use a kwik sleeve. I've had great success with the sleeve kit.

 

Thanks for chiming in on this. I came across talk of kwik sleeves. I think I would rather try to just sleeve the input shaft than start rebuilding the tranny right now. Do you have a part number for the sleeve kit that you tried before? Also, did you have to use a different pilot bearing or can the same size be used?

 

Sorry, the kit I used was for the front of the engine crank, at the timing cover. But it fit the seal very nice, so no more oil leaking at the front. The part number is listed on the first chart.

 

I don't think you have to take tranny apart to pull the input shaft. Just pull off the bearing retainer and remove both. There is usually some loose bearings in the back side of the input shaft, make sure not to loose them down inside the tranny.

 

Thanks Garykip. I didnt look at the first page close enough but I see the sleeves now. If I do eventually need an input shaft, I will try removing everything from the front first. For now Im thinking easy fix.