Seeking drive shaft center bearing alignment advice

[coupedegrace]

I've been doing some work under my car, and I noticed that the center bearing is bolted to its mounting tabs at an angle. In other words it doesn't appear to be aligned perpendicularly to the drive shaft.

I replaced a center bearing on my first coupe, but that was more than 20 years ago now. The main thing I remember is that you preloaded it a bit before tightening the bolts down.

The transmission mount is not attached at an angle. Both bolts appear to be tightened down at the rearmost point of travel on the transmission mounting rails. The mount itself is pushed over towards the passenger's side of the car at the limit of its side-to-side adjustment. The shift platform sits closer to the driver's side of the car.

My question is should I realign the center bearing mount? My main concern with doing that is if it might damage the part, either the rubber surround or the bearing itself. I expect if it caused any problems it would be with the rubber surround.

Appreciate the input,

Dan

 

[JMinPDX]

Dan,
Hard to tell, but it appears you have a 5 speed installed? My shifter (5 sp.) hits the surround when shifting into reverse. Very normal for 5 speed swaps. While it’s best to be straight, the rubber boot of the center bearing does allow for minor alignment issues. It all starts with the motor mounts and moves back from there. If the engine is straight the trans and driveshaft should be too. The fact that the bearing boot is still intact is a good sign. I wouldn’t straighten it. Keep an eye on it. If you start to hear bumping sounds on acceleration it’s time to replace it. Check your differential mount while you‘re under there. That’s the time to make sure all is straight front to back. My motor & trans mounts are 13 years old and they‘ve entered my mind as things to replace in the near future.

 

[bavbob]

Sadly, I would buy the transmission mount now, I cannot believe what they are costing and more than likely will increase in price faster than your buying power. I thought they were costly 4 years ago when I was doing my coupe. RM European lists them for $141, Geeze

 

[Ohmess]

From looking at it, it appears that one side of the mount came loose and moved forward, perhaps because of too much pre-load. Can you run the car in gear and observe the driveshaft for wobble or play, perhaps on a two post lift?

 

[stphers]

Be careful of running a car on a 2 post lift for very long. The rear axles are in full droop and there is a lot of deflection and unnatural load on the CV's. If it aint broke leave it alone When you do replace it, then set it up properly straight and a small preload.

Thanks, Rick

 

[coupedegrace]

Thanks for all the guidance. I think I'll stick with the leave it as is suggestion and go ahead and get a replacement. I haven't noticed anything worrying in terms of drivetrain vibrations or bearing noise coming from down there, fwiw. It's just pretty jarring to look at.

 

[rsporsche]

Dan,
Hard to tell, but it appears you have a 5 speed installed? My shifter (5 sp.) hits the surround when shifting into reverse. Very normal for 5 speed swaps.

there are a couple of things you can do to keep the shifter from hitting the surround
1. replace the bushings in the shifter and the connector to the back of the tranny <look for a post from @Stevehose >
2. change the shifter arm to a short shifter - many options here <look for posts from @sfdon>