Pilot bearing/input shaft.

Just drive it around with the bigger pilot bearing in it. I drove mine that way for almost 2 years (almost 30,000 miles) with no problems. If you are going to upgrade to another transmission later on there is no reason to throw money at a 4 cylinder trans. I didn't grandma drive mine either, it went to the track several times.

What happens with the loose pilot bearing is one of these two things:
1.) It beats the pilot part of the input shaft up so that the pilot bearing rolller fragments jam between the input shaft and the pilot bearing housing. Then the input shft gets locked up with the engine and it is almost impossible to shift gears with the engine running. This ruins the pilot part of the input shaft in the process.

Or

2.) It wears the bearings in the pocket of the input shaft that holds the mainshaft. This allows the mainshaft to move around and tear up other things.


The pilot bearing you need is for a Ford Ranger diesel from AutoZone part #14672

The input shaft will fit. The cluster gear will probably need to be changed at the same time.


See http://www.ttcautomotive.com/English/onlineorder/product.asp to download a FREE service manual for T5 or Tremec 3550/TKO
You will need the Adobe Acrobat viewer which is also a free download – http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html

See http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com/ or http://www.ddperformance.com for parts

A T5 rebuild kit with syncros, bearings and other small parts costs about $160. It does not include any gears or shafts.

http://www.hanlonmotorsports.com/ also has a video on how to rebuild your T5 or Tremec. It costs about $20, and is worth every penny of it.

I did a Tremec 3550 rebuild, and it wasn't that difficult. The video was an immense help, and I would recommend viewing it. At $20, it will give you an opportunity to look and decide for yourself if you think that it is something you want to try to do.