I read an old article stating that there are two different 308 bearings out there. One is .825" thick and the other one is .795" thick. I believe I need the thicker one,...right?

Who makes the right one, and who makes the wrong one?

I bought the 'wrong' ones at a local bearing house. Get the bearing(s) from Jamie Passon (passon performance). He has the good stuff all the way around. The wrong bearings will DESTROY a case if you don't swap them out.

What? Am I reading this correctly, that the correct bearings for a standard rebuild on an 833 are soon "no longer going to be available"???? Say it ain't so.
jt

Only a chinese version of the Mopar 308 is available I guess MRC/SKF wasn't selling enough of them to make it worth keeping them in production. Glad I'm a pack rat so I never threw away a good used one.

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I bought the 'wrong' ones at a local bearing house. Get the bearing(s) from Jamie Passon (passon performance). He has the good stuff all the way around. The wrong bearings will DESTROY a case if you don't swap them out.

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I must be the luckiest guy in the world, or I know how to order the right bearing. All of the letters and numbers either preceeding or after the bearing ID mean something. When you order a bearing you have to give all of the numbers to get the right bearing when ordering from a bearing distributor.
So I go to the auto store and order a bearing for and A833 trans. I take the bearing home. What's the first thing you do? You check to make sure it is the same as the one you are replacing. If it don't match you don't use it. Just because the guy/gale in the parts store says it is a cross reference, doesn't make it right. Most of these people read what's in the book and have little of no knowledge of what is actually needed.
I'm not saying that the 308's aren't made anymore, what I'm saying is that if the replacement bearing doesn't match exactly, you shouldn't use it. If you do use it and it does damage to the transmission, shame on you and no one else.

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Glad I'm a pack rat so I never threw away a good used one.

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Me too!

Well,
You are correct, The right bearing is the .825 thick one. Apparently SKF wasn't selling enough. I think it is rediculous though. I was in discussion with them for 8 months to make one more run of 308 SG8 bearings. It didn't matter the amount, they wouldn't do it. Just another indication of great quality laziness. The incorrect bearing is a 308 LOE. This is what you will get at a parts store or bearing house. This WILL ruin a cluster gear and input shaft. We do have the correct US made ones still. Actually, I managed to locate a LARGE quantity of them when they were discontinued. Of course we bought them bacause at that time, there were no replacements. Of course, they were NOT CHEAP, but it was either grab them or shut the doors. Now, there are replacements. I have seen at least 4 different ones from China so far. Some are SCARY to say the least. The one that we carry is the best one that I have seen so far.

It just once again supports the "We can make this stuff overseas for 1/4 the cost, charge full market price here and get 1/4 the quality and get rich mentality!"
If anyone has any questions, let me know.
Thanks,
Jamie

THanks for all the great info. Of course I trust my Dad with these transmissions,...he's been doing them for years and years and years and....... He can tell if things are fine, just by experience and feel when working on them.

I'm very new to this 4spd thing....but learning as I read and go.

Jamie and the others have cleared up some mystery as well. Thanks a bunch.

Jamie, have you every actually seen these "wrong" bearings destroy stuff? I guess you would feel the slop in the trans, if you assembled it with the wrong bearings in the first place.

The NAPA or whomever bearing is supposed to come with a shim to make up the difference, but still don't use it. BRC usually makes a run of these original SG8 bearings every 12-18 months because they are used in other applications. According to Chris they should be tooling up in a few months but nothing is etched in stone.

If you check with a bearing supplier you can get the correct bearing.There are two in my area that have the BRC 308SG,and they are correct.In any case all you need is a bearing number.It doesn't have to come from a auto parts store.

Thats some good info....it seems alot of important parts to us are starting to go away production wise.

Soon it will be like when we were all in the thick of it 20-25 years ago when the 40-50s collectors found things harder to get.

BTW thanks Jamie, the McLeod clutch you speced for me is the best clutch ive had in the car yet

Quick 77R/T,
I'm glad that you like the clutch! As for the others whos BRC? Do you mean MRC? I have seen a 308LOE ruin an input and a cluster gear on several occasions. As for "the bearing coming with a shim from NAPA," I have NEVER seen that, EVER.
Jamie

Thought so,
I am not saying that there are none out in the system. They are just not making anymore. I mean no direspect to Tecmopar, but from what I understnad I was talking to the "tallest hog at the trough" at SKF and he spoke to the three factories in the US that are equipped to make this bearing Georgia, South Carolina and New York and no one wanted to be bothered with it. Our discussions went on for a LONG time too. So, unless he knows something EVERYONE else doesn't, it ain't gonna be made anymore.
Jamie

If you say so.

Jamie:

What's the state of the availability of the Maxi Ball 307's. I'm going to convert my 23 spline to an 18 spline. I thought about getting a 308 bearing case, but if getting a hold of good 308's is now a problem, I'll stick with the Maxi Ball 307's

I'm not trying to piss you off Tecmopar. I hope that you are right. I just find it hard to believe after going through everything I went through that they would make it again. I certainly hope you are right. But if I were everyone, I wouldn't hold my breath.

Tork, as far as I know precision 307s are not a problem.
Thanks,
Jamie

I know this is an old post but I just talked to one of my bearing suppliers and he claimed the 308SG was available. This is the link he gave me.

https://www.motionindustries.com/productDetail.jsp?sku=00056902

I note though that the width of this bearing is 23 MM or 0.9055" which differs from the two widths in this post, 0.795" or 0.825". Any insight on this? Thanks.