Thanks, Mary Ray. It seems that this tail housing with the brake is fairly rare. Bearings are no longer being made. I may post another thread on this housing alone, bearing and seal numbers, also brake parts when I find out what they are.

Trans should be done today

I fired up the coach!

Trans seems to work fine, no leaks. Still refilling it, lots of air in the systems. So far about 11 qts still needs about 2 qts more.

All forward and reverse gears are working, drove back and forth about 6 feet.

It was over 90 today, slowed things a bit. I will refill tomorrow and road test, should be fine.
Have Barth, will travel

Ran a test drive today. What a difference!
I did not realize how much noise and vibration was coming from the old transmission. I assumed ujoints, driveshaft, rear axle, etc.

About 80% of the driveline noises are gone. A steady whine and some transient load related growls are gone. I am feeling less driveline related vibrations as well. So far I am very pleased.

TCI claims the torque convertor is "tighter" than OEM by about 4% at "lockup." I am seeing a slightly lower idle rpm when in gear with brakes on, perhaps more drag from the torque convertor… more importantly, I am seeing slightly less engine rpm at cruise speeds. I can't claim 4% yet but I will watch the tach and the mileage on the Allegan trip.

I'm still surprised how much noise and vibration the old trans made. Long live the new!

TCI TH400 HD towing transmission #211001 $1451.24 including shipping

TCI RV/towing torque convertor #241110 $375.00 including shipping

2 NDH Z993L09 ball bearings (eBay) $32.00 including shipping, these are no longer made, getting harder to find

1 CarQuest/National 2457 rear seal $22.25

13 qts ATF ~$35.00

Ah, the things we do for our Barths.

Have Barth, will travel

Now sell the old one:http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=th%20400%20transmission&Brand=Chevrolet&_sop=16&_dcat=171114&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR7.TRC2.A0.H0.Xth400%20transmission.TRS1&_nkw=th400%20transmission&_sacat=0&_clu=2&_fcid=1&_localstpos=77520&_stpos=77520&gbr=1&_zpclkd=1

quote:

I did not realize how much noise and vibration was coming from the old transmission. I assumed ujoints, driveshaft, rear axle, etc.

Did you put the "E" brake drum back in? Might check the balance of that before you do. That is a lot of rotational mass spinning at high RPM during cruise.

Wish I could replace my MD3060 for that $$$$. I am not looking forward to the day I have to R&R that big heavy beast!

I did not replace the brake parts. It was a cable system. All cables are rusted and were cut off. The drum is fairly large and may have been out of balance, just the weight hanging on the tailpiece was more than I like. It has never worked since I've owned the coach.

If I replace the brake system I will have to balance the drum, free the shoes, and fabricate cables. Considering the trans already has parking pawl to lock trans the additional brake does little.

I am thinking of putting a parking brake system on the tag axle. It has drum brakes which could be adapted to the standard RWD cable style. That way I would have two brake drums rather than one and doesn't depend on ujoints to work.

Although you only have 1 drum, it has a 4.88 ratio gear advantage over the axel mounted brakes and 4 wheels. Although not much it will stop you in a emergency. I would block my wheels on any kind of incline. With the weight of these coaches I wouldn't rely on just the 400 parking paw. Better safe than sorry.

Enjoy your GTG. Looks like weather should be great. If I had not spent 4 days in Bucanan Mi. over the 4th I would have tried to make the GTG. Can't make Kenny's GTG due to prior commitment. Have fun and be safe.

Actually I have a 4.56 rear end, I never park on any incline to speak of. I have chocks for hills if needed.

I agree, the brake is better than nothing but mine has never worked. Rather than spend time and money I will try the tag axle thing. (I am due for periodic inspection of bearings, etc anyway. Next thread will be "Gimme a brake, part 3: Neway TA-5 tag axle.") There seems to be minimal info on that axle, we have the TA-3 manual but nothing on TA-5. Bill h did some work on his and I will try to collect all the data in one thread.

I ran 86Barth to the Allegan GTG this weekend, about 360 miles.

The new transmission is great. Much more quiet and noticeably less vibration. Shifts are smooth and positive. Upshifts on full throttle are about 200 rpm higher than before, allows engine to stay in the power band without lugging down after the shift. Downshifts are smooth and more sensitive to throttle than before.

It appears the torque converter has less slip, it hooks up sooner at lower rpm and it looks like I'm getting about 2mph more than before at the same cruise rpm. I have not gassed up yet, I hope to see a slight mileage improvement.

Overall I am very happy with this setup. Should have done it sooner.