rinkrat99

Hi all

I have been having difficulties with getting bearings to fir in the differentials. I have the composite stock outdrive p/n 3908 and I tried the 3916 and the 6909 bearing kits and they are too wide for the diff to operate. What is evryone else using in place of the bushings?

Thanks

=MisFitz= NuKe

there are special bearings made for the plastic diff. they are very narrow, like the bushings. I will try to find you the part number.

mike_Webb

I was told not to use the Bearings with the Plastic Diff outdrives. You will melt the diff outdrives!!!

That is the reason for the bushings.

Advil

iTrader: (19)

Racenut123

YGPM

Art

Bubblestc3

I use the stock bushings for the diffs, but now they do have the Factory Team berrings that will fit into the bushings place. The steel outdrives require the berrings, but the plastic ones need the thiner berrings, or the bushings to operate smothley, and have the correct tightness.

rinkrat99

Associated got back to me that there is no Bearing available for the molded outdrives. They do have 2 bearing sets for the steel outdrives.

Here is their answer

With the composite diffs you will only be able to use bushings. Our steel diffs have bearings inside them. Their part number is #3918.

If you were to put bearings in your compositie diff, you would not notice any difference in performance at all. Absolutely none.

CASE CLOSED

Boomer

I don't think he's talking about the bearings INSIDE the outdrives, he's talking about the bushings/bearings inside the diff cases that the outdrives go through.

trackdesigner71

iTrader: (6)

Im not an expert on this sort of thing so Im just gonna suggest you either ask AE directly, or talk to the guys at your LHS and see if they can help

mike_Webb

rinkrat is correct. The bearings build up a lot of heat and will melt the plastic of the outdrives on the Diff. If there was a performance gain by going to bearings in the plastic outdrives I would think that AE would have a bearing for them..but they dont.

Bubblestc3

After spending some time looking around on ae's website, I found the part number, and yes, it is for the light weight diff outdrives.

Grizzbob

iTrader: (2)

That's funny, because I've been using the bearings that ARE meant for the composite outdrives(they even say so on the package, & yes I do mean the ones inside the diff) for several months, & I've had ZERO problems with overheating my diffs, they seem to run just fine, whether I use a stock, 19 turn or a full mod. I'm not saying that anyone's lying or anything, but the bearings do work just fine, as long as you make sure the diffs are set correctly. but as for the question on if they work better than the bushings, I can't answer that, because I've never used the bushings(had the steel outdrives & aluminum ones for a LONG time, & only earlier this year made the switch to the composites, & I couldn't find the bushings on the shelf here, so I bought the bearings instead).....

rinkrat99

Hey GrizzBob

This is the most bizzare story. The text of my last message was taken directly from the Associated Tech Support email.

The LHS was kind enough to order both bearing kits which we thought would fit. They ordered the 6909 and the Factory Team 3916 and neither fit the composite outdrives p/n 3908. Both bearing kits were the same in every dimension.

If there ever was a bearing kit which you and BubblesTC3 say there is, it is not available any longer. We tried the diff rebuild kits, different outdrives, everything and nothing worked except for the bushings. The bearings are made for the steel outdrives and these do fit nicely between the hubs. Maybe the bearing kits work with aftermarket outdrives.

BubblesTC3 - Can you post the p/n you found and I bet it is either the 3916 for $11 or the 6909 for $6 per pr.

mike_Webb

I had the same thing happen to me. Down at Snowbirds last year I kept having a Bone pop out of my Diff. So I went and bought the IRS Aluminum Outdrives and put the bushings in for the plastic outdrives and it did not work. I went down and talked to Mike Dumas and he gave me the Bearings I needed for the Diff. I asked if I could get bearings for the rear diff and he told me not to use the bearings in the rear diff cause it will melt the outdrive and the bearings were thicker then the bushings.

Give it a try though and take pictures if they do melt so we can all see ...it is your diff and money afterall

Chrisgt2

iTrader: (12)

There are no bearings for the plastic outdrives.......only the steel and aluminum diffs use bearings. I dont know the reason for this but I do know that it is a fact. Case closed

Bubblestc3

As I recall, 3916(accually what it says on the web site) is , or should be, some replacement berrings for part number 3913(light weight diff assembly). So those should be the ones. As for part 6909, that is a diff berring(possibally for a different car, or the steel outdrive diffs) but there are many ae cars with relitivally the same dimentions for diff berrings, but are not for the TC3

I will try the 3916 berrings this weekend, and post the results. I did see the berrings that are for the plastic outdrives, but I do not know the part number.