Getrag 440/446 parts.

[vr4_rider]

Thanks, Jeff!

What's the WM5G1 and what's the WM6G1?

If OEM is steel, than it must be that I heard someone is selling a HARDENED replacement?

Or where did I hear that OEM is made of brass?

Thanks,
Trung

[Bret Brinkmann]

To clearify a few things, there are not steel synchro rings or hardened rings available nor where they ever. I do not know how this rumor got started but I do have an idea how it came about.

First, the synchro rings for 1/2 are a three piece set. There are inner and outer all steel rings and a middle ring with a brass/bronze looking material coated on what looks like a steel ring. All other rings except for reverse are single piece rings made of some sort of steel with the inside of them coated in some sort of brass/bronze material. The brass/bronze looking material is the friction material used just like the clutch disk in the clutch assembly. The reverse ring is a yellow looking metal (steel alloy with brass/bronze?) again with the same friction material on the inside. The friction material for the reverse ring looks different than the other rings but I am not sure what it is made out of.

This supposed "steel" or "hardened" ring is the middle friction ring for the 1/2 synchro sets. I think this rumor got started when Kormex started offering the middle friction ring for 1/2 gears. I have never heard Frank claim they are hardened or all steel or what ever. Only that they work in our cars. Which of course they do. The Kormex 1/2 middle firction ring looks almost exactly like the OEM one with a few minor details.

First, the OEM ring has what looks like "crown tips". These "tips" are the part of the ring that go into the gear thus the middle ring and the gear are always spinning at the same speed. The tips on the OEM ring are the only part of the ring that are not coated with the friction material. The also look as if they have been heat treated as they look "burned". The shape of these tips are square with the 90 degree angles at the base (where the tip mets the body of the ring) ground down to a curve. I believe the heat treatment and the grinding of the sharpe edges to be an attempt to strengthen the "tips". (Grinding sharpe edges into smooth curved edges is done for stress relieving.)

One difference between the 18 spline and 25 spline middle rings is that the 18 spline rings have one more groove cut into their grove pattern than the rings used for the 25 splines. I have also noticed a larger price difference from CRS between the two OEM styles of rings. ($45 for the first style and $15 for the second last I checked.) I can't see the price difference of the rings being completely due to a few less groves machined into the friction material personally but both rings seem to perform equally well.

The Kormex rings have the same grove pattern as the rings in the 18 splines. I did measure the grove depth between the Kormex rings and those used in the 25 splines and found that the Kormex groves are a few thousandths of an inch deeper. I don't know if that really makes a difference either way. The Kormex rings have the friction material coating even on the "tips". The last difference is that the base of the tips are not ground down. Thay retain their sharpe 90 degree angle. I have never heard of any one breaking the "tips" off of a friction ring before so as of now I do not believe the lack of strengthening of the Kormex ring "tips" compaired to the OEM rings to be a concern. The Kormex rings seem to perform just as good as the OEM rings.

aerOvr-4gto3k - We do not currently have the specs for these transaxles. There is another thread that is working on translateing a Japanesse book to get the specs though.

[Gatecrasher]

Thanks, Jeff!

What's the WM5G1 and what's the WM6G1?

If OEM is steel, than it must be that I heard someone is selling a HARDENED replacement?

Or where did I hear that OEM is made of brass?

Thanks,
Trung

W5MG1 = 5 speed AWD trans

W6MG1 = 6 speed AWD trans

The "hardened syncro" rumor may be an offshoot from the FWD guys. TRE sells a beefed up set of syncros for the FWD and AWD DSM transmissions. I suspect they're just beefier Lancer Evo parts. No guarantees though. In any case, they won't work on our trannies.

[vr4_rider]

Thanks, Gatecrasher and Bret!

Trung

[Flux]

Quote:
Originally Posted by lechnoid lol, no love for the rotary engine here! i know and love rotary engines.

serious? those things are SHOT by 60k, its like having a disposable engine. why would you ever mess with those things???

[imetis]

Hey,
I want to let everyone know about another possible option for parts. I recently had my trans rebuilt by a local shop. They did all synchros, and 1 shift fork + R&R for $1200. When I went in I gave them the numbers for all the part sources mentioned in this thread, but they got their parts from another company "AutoCraft". I believe they paid about $250 for all 7 synchros. I did a little searching, and it seems AutoCraft is a company similar to CRS. Their main business is remanufactuing transmissions for the big 3. I'm surprised they had the parts, but if someone wants to investigate further, they do have a website.
If anyone in the mid-Michigan area is looking for a shop to do trans work on an AWD, I'd recommend calling A&J Transmissions in Lansing. I think $1200 is quite a bargain!

[Bret Brinkmann]

Actually AutoCraft is CRS. CRS changed their name to AutoCraft. Or some thing to that exstent. They are the same company though. I just didn't have a chance to make an update until now. If any one uses the contact info I posted eariler Bill Lane will answer the phone "AutoCraft Industries this is Bill."

[A/V dude]

Bret,
Do you know if the 3-4 syncro "springs" are the same as the 1-2 syncro "springs"?

[imetis]

Interesting. That explains the confusion. My mechanic said he just called the number I gave him.

[vr4_rider]

250 bucks from CRS?

Isn't that unheard of? I wish you had posted this a week ago..hahah.

Trung