Triumph Repair: TR7 4 Speed rebuild, thrust bearings, thrust bearing

Question
Howard,

I finally got back to rebuilding my TR7 4 speed.  

I took measurements with the circlip in place in front of 3rd gear and it’s thrust washer (on main shaft).

I noticed the clearance between the back of 3rd gear and the front of the 2nd gear bearing flange is 8 thou.  Factory manual says it should be 2 – 6 thou.  Haynes says 2.

The clearance between the front of 2nd gear and it’s bearing flange is 6 thou, factory and Haynes manual says it should be 2 thou, so does this mean I need a new 2nd gear bearing ? (it has the flange in front)

Haynes manual says new 2nd bearing is required, the factory manual only says to replace the selective thrust washer behind 2nd with a thicker one, but I think this is only to adjust the bearing to bearing clearance.

Also, clearance of my cluster gear between the new thrust bearings is over 20 thou, should be 15 thou max.  I read using the 3 preload springs on the front thrust bearing may help with that.

  Thanks,

  Steve.

Answer
Hi Steve,
I don't want to tell you to use clearances that are more than factory specs but I have been in many gearboxes for other things and found clearances like that many times that did not cause any problems providing you don't have bent or warn shift forks or worn and beveled splines on the sliding dogs of the gears.

Howard