Super Bearings - Current Rebuild Problems
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Replacement parts for torque tubes have never been available from Porsche. Before our Super Bearings, owners who needed to replace their torque tubes had to purchase expensive Porsche rebuilt torque tubes, purchase rebuilt torque tubes from other re-builders or rebuild their own torque tubes.
The problems we discovered from tearing down "rebuilt" torque tubes is most rebuilders use the original bearing unit parts replacing only the bearings within them. Since the removal of the torque tube from the car is a major and expensive service, the current rebuild methods were unacceptable to us and is why we decided to design a better alternative for the Porsche owner.
Here are a few facts that we discovered during our research and development of our Super Bearings:
Fact 1 - The original specified bearings used by Porsche® are no longer available and the bearings used by aftermarket rebuilders have tolerances below what Porsche® originally specified. Our research also found aftermarket rebuilders do not always use "Top Tier" bearing manufacturers in sourcing their bearings. This is a cost cutting practice meant to maximize their profit margin which will lead to a shortened life of the rebuilt torque tube.
Fact 2 - The hard rubber which covers the original bearing units have lost some of their original tolerances due to heat and age shrinking the outer rubber. This can result in the bearing units shifting within the torque tube and not supporting the drive shaft at specific points along it's length as initially designed. This will cause vibrations in the drive line which can be hard to diagnose.
Fact 3 - The original bearing insert which grips onto the drive shaft is made of a thin steel extrusion covered by a thin, hard rubber. As with the rubber on the outer bearing housings, due to heat and age this thin rubber coating shrinks away from the drive shaft and lets the drive shaft spin within it. This causes the drive shaft to burnish off it's protective coating which can lead to the drive shaft being damaged.
This will also happen when the bearing insert is replaced with an aftermarket Nylon or Delrin insert. These materials do not grip the drive shaft as the original insert did when new and will allow for the drive shaft to spin within them causing the same damage to the drive shaft as using an old bearing insert.
Below is a picture of a drive shaft with it's coating burnished off and damage starting to the drive shaft metal.