Just wondering if there is a preference between the two. I am about to put my ls swap together, and the t56 i bought separately. The engine was from an auto f-car, so not sure what they use from factory or if it even matters.

thanks in advance guys !

 

bushing you dont have to worry about failing

bearing you have to worry about failing try lurking around ls1tech and searching they can fail

get the bushing and you have no worrys there is no performance gain using either or

 

Factory used a bearing. Bearings can fail, bushings are considered to be more durable. That being said, I have wiped out 1 bushing in short time with a fresh rebuilt trans, so bushing failure can also happen, just seems to occur less often than with a bearing.

 

it is possible just not common... lol howw you manage to do that ? and with fresh trans ?

from what ive seen bushings can fail but its more than likly have to do with trans or sumthing i really dont remember exactly but

bushiing are made of Bronze IIRC soft metal.. so if you dont install trans correctly you can mess up bushing fairly quickly

and sense bushing is a softer metal you wont damage your input shaft rather have bushing fail then input shaft get jack

ive seen bearing mess up input shaft when not replaced scoring input shaft tip

 

I probably just got a bunk bushing. Was on a lt1 t56, fresh rebuild from hawks with about 3,000 on trans and bushing. Pulled I all apart for a bloworoof and the bushing was wimped out, but input shaft still fealt tight. Only one out of several that I have seen that with.

 

thanks guys, i was thinking the same thing about the bushing not being as prone to failure.

 

I prefer a bushing since its a wear item. Sure the service life is less than a bearing, but as cheap as they are who reuses them?

If a bushing fails, the bushing is destroyed. $5-10 part

If a bearing fails, the bearing and input shaft are destroyed. $20-40 bearing $200+ input shaft

Easy choice for me

Just to make searches easier:
Classic SBC pilot bushing
OD .594"
ID 1.094"
Length .746"

Dorman 14650 is cast iron
DO NOT USE THIS ONE

More info on bronze bushings in here
http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/gm-p...-s-180286.html

 

i agree not worth it for that reason alone

 

i know the older cars always had bushings, that's what made me ask about why the switch to bearings now. I guess sometimes new ideas are not always better ideas. Thanks Pocket for that link to hotrodders thread, very interesting.

 

BUSHING! I forgot to take the P/N last time. I just asked for a 69 Camaro with a 350 and its the right one. They've been the same size for a long time.

Im another person that blew out a bushing due to a trans issue...and I was really glad it wasnt a bearing because Ide be replacing my input shaft for sure.

What happened was, one of the alignment dowels between the trans and the bellhousing got pushed into the bellhousing during assembly. This allowed my trans to clock itself out of place. yeah.. Ugly... So it wallowed out the bushing, and I was getting a nasty vibe when I would rev with the clutch in. Red flag red flag! Tore it apart and caught it before too much went wrong. So...Ill be using the bushings from now on.









Input shaft end was still perfect. And you can see how much material was taken out. Yikes!! But had that been a bearing, not only would my input shaft probably be trash, but the car might have been undrivable (not that i should have driven it more like it was) and getting the old bearing out would have been a pita probably.

J.

 

Great example .

 

yea i'd say that was a lucky break having the bushing instead of bearing. So the SBC and LS engines use the same bushings ?

 

I believe so I think there the same if I remember correctly
Early style ls1 had bushing and later style had bearing from factory
Another option Kevlar bushing
A bit more but there's options

http://www.ws6project.com/user_stor/...c5f1384a9c0870