This may be a stupid question but, I’m about to do a clutch job on my Jeep and the throw out bearing that came with the Sachs clutch kit has some play in it, it is a full steel TOB not the cheap junk the comes with luk kits. When I received it it was off center, then I realized I can just push the outer part of the bearing around, is this normal? The bearing is very smooth. I saw lots of reviews on the steel bearings about them being off center or having play in them, but none of the people actually installed them. Seems like there’s too many off center bearings being sold by different companies for them all to be lemons.

 

Throwout bearings are simple thrust bearings and a little looseness front to rear is normal. IDK what you mean by off center though. The last clutch job I did was my 67 SS Camaro with a Schaffer HD racing plate in it. The throwout bearing was mounted on a cast iron center piece with 2 wings to locate it on the clutch fork. The bearing itself was replaceable and pressed onto the hub. Are you saying the bearing spins off center? That to me is unacceptable.

 

The outer circle was off center with the middle, but this is the part that I can push around. I asked a buddy of mine who’s a mechanic and he said it’s completely normal. I also saw on summits website that they often are off center but once installed they will center themselves.

 

Except for the clips, it looks identical to my memory of a GM throwout.