Luk throw-out bearing vs Timken

[RaymondT]

I bought a LUK clutch kit which gets decent reviews. But they come with this cheesy throw-out bearing with a plastic sleeve (yeah, Delron - whatever). I get the argument that they don't rust and they should be "good enough".

Where I do have a problem is that they are made way too oversize. My input sleeve is new and yet, you can rock them side-to-side with an alarming amount of slop. So, I sprung for a new Timkin T/O bearing;

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BZ6XV4/?tag=wranglerorg-20

Fits like a glove! You can't feel any rocking whatsoever. The above part fits all TJ's 2.5, 2.4, and 4.0 with the AX15.

 

[Chris]

Just out of curiosity, do you know what brand of throwout bearing they use from the factory?

 

[Northwood]

Just out of curiosity, do you know what brand of throwout bearing they use from the factory?

I can tell you it looked absolutely identical to the national throw out bearing I put in the first time I did my clutch.

 

[TJ4Jim]

A lot of the so called discount LUK clutch kits from places like Parts Geek seem to come with the composite sleeve release bearing but I have purchased several kits from Clutch City Online and although the price is about $25 higher I always received an all metal release bearing, so I suspect all Luks kits are not the same.

http://www.clutchcityonline.com/jeep_wrangler.htm

 

[RaymondT]

The LUK kits on amazon.com are sourced directly from LUK, not a 3rd party although different packaging options are probably the norm.

I just found another alarming detractor on the "plastic" T/O bearing - the plastic insert is crimped firmly in place. It does not move! But look at how far it is off-centre. The picture isn't the best (iphone). I carefully aligned the lens to be dead center (bottom of sleeve centered wrt the top of the sleeve). Then I edited it so show how off-center the sleeve is. Note the length of the arrows. Lovely piece of shit this is...

 

[Ahow74]

Here's a side by side comparison of my Luk vs timken TO bearing. Had to look up the part number thinking there was no way there was that much of a difference between the two.


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