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Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:06 pm

Hi. I looked in the "how to" forum and couldn't find this. How do I flip the ring gear in my 61 bus? Does the tranny have to be taken apart? Is it a pain to do? How many bolts hold the tranny? I believe this to be a small nut tranny. Thanks. Craig.

Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:17 pm

i quess any one with tools in hand could do it but if you are asking questions like how many bolts hold the tranny in?i am guessing you are not familiar with the whole situation,i would recommend you paying someone who is knowlegable before you cost youself a whole bunch of added pain.not being a dick either just making a suggestion.

Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:25 pm

yeah, thats what someone else told me. Is it an expensive job? My tranny only had a pint of oil in it when I got it because it is leaking oil out of the pass rear axle seal REAL bad and saw some metal filing in the oil and wan't to know if It will be worth it. Thanks.

Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:41 pm

To flip the ring gear you have to
1) pull motor
2) pull tranny
3) remove rgbs and axle tubes and axles from tranny
then you get to where you can flip the ring gear.

If everything goes well, plan a day to take it apart, a day to put it together, so really expect it to be two weekends. It is a nasty dirty smelly job. gear oil smells bad. The Muir Book and Bentley have info on the above proceedures... The lowering thread probably has info onthe straight axle set ups.

But in the meantime, why not fix your axle seal leak and fill the tranny?

Tue Jun 27, 2006 10:04 pm

Clara wrote: To flip the ring gear you have to
1) pull motor
2) pull tranny
3) remove rgbs and axle tubes and axles from tranny
then you get to where you can flip the ring gear.

If everything goes well, plan a day to take it apart, a day to put it together, so really expect it to be two weekends. It is a nasty dirty smelly job. gear oil smells bad. The Muir Book and Bentley have info on the above proceedures... The lowering thread probably has info onthe straight axle set ups.

But in the meantime, why not fix your axle seal leak and fill the tranny?
I have been smelling gear oil for about a week! It is nasty. This initially started when my tranny was getting alittle noisy and though I would change the tranny oil. I drain the oil and a pint of dirty oil with microscopic filings come out. Iam like damn! So I put 3.5 qts of oil in because thats about when the oil was level with the plug. Iam all happy because I think I have fixed the problem. I go to the pass rear wheel for some reason and I see about a qt of gear oil on the ground. I look at the rgb and don't see any oil but it is coming from the backing plate and out of the spline shaft. so i drove it to a meet the same day and my wheel is covered in gear oil and by the time I left the meet there was another pile and when I drove it home and looked the next morning there had to have been over a qt of oil by the wheel. I have a lowering kit but am waiting to get 68 axles. I know I have to pull the motor and tranny but don't know if I have to dissasemble the tranny but people are telling me to have a mech do it because I can mess it up. How bad can it be?

Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:44 pm

dude- flipping the ring gear means disassembling the half of the transaxle. this is not a beginner job. if you haven't taken swingaxles apart a bunch of times already, you will screw it up.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 12:00 am

If you had to put 3.5 quarts of oil in the center section, then you ran it with almost no oil in it. No wonder flakes of metal came out with the oil!
Dude, you need a new transmission. Get a type 1 if there will be no RGBs.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 7:29 am

Hi Craig,
If this is going into your 1961 bus, and you are trying to install a bug tranny. The stock Bus 1960-63 tranny runs @ 3,000 engine RPM @ 47 MPH. Plus the stock Beetle tranny used a 5 MPH lower fourth gear, and if you are going to use the stock RGBs it will be that much slower in fourth than the Bus tranny!
Better to get a properly rebuilt tranny, and figure out what MPH cruising speed you need and RPMs you want to run. Then wether you want to stay with stock, or lower the Bus and go to straight axle, or get higher geared tranny like a Freeway Flier tranny.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:13 am

I think you are saying that since the tranny might be on it's last legs, and you have more ambition than money, that you want to give it a try? Drain every thing. Pull the engine. Wheels, drums off. Pull the transaxle. Open the RGBs. Remove the upper-outer bearing and gear. Remove axle tube retainers and knock at the RGB or use the correct puller to pull the tubes off. Take out the circlips, side-gears, fulcrum plates, and axles. Undo the side covers. From inside one side to the other, large wood dowel and hammer bash the opposite ring gear side cover (clutch cable side) off. Then wood block hammer bash off the carrier-ring gear assembly with the cover. Get off cover. Switch covers and rebash together in flipped order. Reassemble with the straight axles and tubes.

Note: this is about the hokey-est thing you can do. The ring gear backlash is so critical that special tools and measurements are required and surgically clean environment is needed that your chance of it working for long are about zero.....but....give it a try if you want and let us know what develops.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 10:59 am

I did this a while back to install a bug transmission in a bug. It's a lot easier than it's made out to be.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 11:19 am

I did this awhile back on my bus as well. I have had no issues yet with the tranny. It is really a pretty easy job. You will need a tool to pull the snap ring that holds the axel in the diff. This can be a real pain the A$$ if you do not have the right tool. With this being said I did this on a unknown tranny to get me by with the idea of having to replace it after awhile. It would be best if you had the tool to make sure the back lash is set up correctly. I did see in the Without Guesswork guide a measure to check the length of the pinion gear from the ring gear.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 1:39 pm

what is this tool 77? Do the autozones have this as a rental tool? I went to my vw shop today and they didn't act like it was a problem to do. I guess to each is own. Iam getting some 68 axles for $40 shipped so this should get me by until I get a better tranny.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:05 pm

You can get them at autozone, but I have found them not to be strong enough. The ones I have used before with hit and miss luck are made by Channelock that I have bought from the Home Depot. I have also been able to use a Needle nose Pliers with limited luck. The best ones that work ever time are from MAC and I do not know the part number. Just be careful and protect your eyes as the snap ring is under a lot of pressure when it is compressed to take it off and on.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:06 pm

VW_MAN_73 wrote: what is this tool 77? Do the autozones have this as a rental tool? I went to my vw shop today and they didn't act like it was a problem to do. I guess to each is own. Iam getting some 68 axles for $40 shipped so this should get me by until I get a better tranny.

Snap ring pliers, should set you back all of $10

Wed Jun 28, 2006 2:19 pm

thom wrote: Snap ring pliers, should set you back all of $10

I have not used this style yet. The autozone in my town has two styles the one pictured and a different kind. All I know is I had a really hard time getting the other style to work and broke the insets for different size snap rings.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:22 pm

if you are simply flipping the diff over to the other side no measurments really need to be done .keep your shims on the same side of the diff,not the same side of the tranny and you will be fine.the diff is set up on center.if you are so-so with mechanicals and feel real ambiscious get on it.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 4:26 pm

Those are too wuss. You need some big berthas. Harbor freight has them in a 2 pack. They are the biggest snap-ring pliers they sell. You need them for the long reach.

Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:35 pm

I bought a set of the large, made in China, snap ring pliers for $10 plus tax at a Harbor Freight store. One was bent near the end and the other is straight, which is the one that you use to remove the two large snap rings on the center section. For the amount of time that you will use the tool, it should last forever. I've used mine to remove and/or install about 26 snaprings from bus center sections, with no problem. :D

Wed Jun 28, 2006 9:39 pm

where are these snap rings? They are holding the axle tube on?

Thu Jun 29, 2006 5:38 am

Those snap rings are huge...I just made my own snap ring pliers from a pair of needle nose pliers. I took a file and worked the tips into a better shape. Took all of about 5 min.

The snap rings come off after the axle tubes are off ....snap rings hold the axle in.

Of course, you have to get the axle out of the RGB before you can get the axle tube off the axle. Savvy?