Transmission update

[allen]

I posted about a month ago asking questions about removing the transmission because of a leak it had. Well I got the transmission out without too many problems and by the grace of God the pin holding the transfer case levers came right out which helped when getting it out from under the jeep. Well when I was cleaning the transmission I noticed the shaft coming out of the tranny had lots of play from side to side. I'm sure there is a reason for this so can someone help me figure this out. If I need to change the bearing in this location is that hard to do? I have the mechanics manual and dont see anythin about changing this bearing. Thanks in advance for the help. My jeep is a 53 CJ3A. I posted on 2A site also just to see what they had to say.

[Carls_jeep]

I just posted a reply to you on the CJ2A site and I will cut and paste it here.

Your going to have some side play in the input shaft. The reason is there is one ball bearing supporting the shaft in the case and the end inside the tranny has roller bearings with the output shaft riding in them. The rear of the output shaft is supported by one ball bearing and that allows some side movement from one end to the other.

When the input shaft is in the pilot bearing in the flywheel the input shaft is supported at both ends and that also keeps the output shaft running straight.

The "seal" that holds the oil from coming out the front bearing retainer is a rubber backed felt disc. You need to soak it in oil for 24 hrs before you install it and the rubber side has to be facing the right direction.