IMS bearing replacement tools, required?
 

So I am getting ready to drop the trans and replace the clutch. I am looking at popping out the IMS as well and installing the updated Pelican bearing ($167). Looking around at the install FAQ and it says to use the LN install tool kit. I pull that up and see $20 in metal chunks and a $410 price tag. I then proceed to puke my lunch on the table.

Are these tool really "required"? I know LN and Pelican certainly want you to buy them. I've not see anyone reference another way to pop out and install the bearing.

Car is a '98 Boxster 2.5l

I got the "LN Engineering Engine Intermediate Shaft Bearing Tool Set 1060813" on Amazon for $300.
Reading through some reviews on the web, some people say they didn't need it all. My experience has shown that taking short cuts and adapting my own tools leads to a less desirable outcome.
I'm sure you can find one from the forums used or to borrow/rent.

Yes, the tools and the LN Engineering instructions are required. By far, most of the botched IMS upgrades we have encountered happened because someone tried to avoid using the tools or took short cuts. In some cases, this proved fatal.

Do a search, someone is selling a lightly used set just about every day of the week. I would also rethink using the steel replacement bearing, it is no better than what you are taking out, and in some cases is less durable.

Occasionally, you will find them for rent with a big deposit. Or purchase used and sell them on to defray the cost. Always someone looking for a set.

I made my own puller and installation tools. As I had the engine out of the car, it was easy access so the tools worked. I did booger a bearing shield installing the new bearing and had to buy another new bearing. If I were working in a confined space, I'd buy the tools, the job is specialized enough to warrant that.

You don't have to pay list price. I paid $240 shipped from an eBay auto supply house who was willing to discount it. It came in the proper LN box with LN stickers on it and worked just fine for my IMSB installation at home. Right now I'm keeping it in case local club members want to borrow it.

If your profile had your location (hint, hint) someone near you might see you lived near them and just might have one and/or have done it and be willing to help. It has happened before.

By the way, it makes no sense to replace your OEM dual row steel IMSB with the Pelican single row steel IMSB. The odds are the Pelican one won't last as long as your original one.

Dennis raises an interesting point.

The '98 (presuming it has the original engine) has a dual row bearing which is by the stats that came out in the lawsuit is ~4-8 times more reliable than the later Porsche single row.

The Pelican bearing uses the same materials as the original Porsche bearing but uses a single row with less load bearing capability.

The labor involved is the same in doing a swap for most bearing kits.

After the slap in the face you just gave me for understating the time that was required to develop those tools, and the procedure, I don't feel sorry for you.

Try to make the tools yourself, or try to do the job without them.

Um, yeah, what he said. Nice first post A&F. Did you also know that when you bought your car, someone made money off that too???

Just another vendor hater.... Thats what happens when these cars become too cheap to buy.

No offense but that isn't how I took his comments at all and feel maybe you took them, as a personal attack? If I thought I had a 200 part that needed to be installed but had to buy a 400 tool to do it, I might puke up my lunch as well. If he doesn't know what the IMS bearing is and what your fix does...then yeah, I can see where he would feel like that.

Again...I didnt read it the same way you are. No one doubts your expertise.

The guy wrote "$20 in metal chunks and a $410 price tag" is pretty insulting and totally devalues the amount of work and engineering that went into making the tools.

*******removed

Your 2003 should have a single row IMSB. IIRC Raby's biggest difficulty was designing a puller to extract the dual row IMSB, which requires much more force to pull it out.

NOTE: the tool kit also includes the crank and cam locks, and the broken stud extractor tool. This hasn't been mentioned previously. The only suggestion I'd make is that LN could throw in the two bolts that are needed to put the cam locks into place. For the record you need bolts size M8 x 1.25 x 20.

The only way to know for sure would be to try it out and beef it as the tool failed. The tool was on the third revision before the bearing pulled instead of the tool breaking pulling a single row bearing.

I used my IMS tool: "LN Engineering Engine Intermediate Shaft Bearing Tool Set 1060813" that I purchased on Amazon. I tried a few wrong ways first, then managed to successfully extract the bearing from my 'practice engine' and reinstall it.
I am wondering if my tool kit is actually a counterfeit. The box was sealed and had all of the correct labeling, but my cat can do better welds.
http://986forum.com/forums/uploads01...1415047446.jpg

I'd have my cat repair it, but even with the welds broken, it worked fine.

I suppose that to a counterfeiter it actually is just $20 in metal chunks.

This part of the puller has no load during extraction, in fact, the load holds these pieces together.. How did it break?

It may not be real, hard to say, most everything we've done has been ripped off at this point. I just had to file another Patent application today.

It was actually after the extraction that the weld broke. The bearing was jammed in the end of the tube by the remnants of the dual-bearing locking ring. I gave it a couple whacks with the handle of a 1/2" ratchet. The bearing came out one end and the end came off the other.

Even with that glitch, the tools worked well despite my slight variations from the correct procedure.

There are two different sets of directions between the Pelican DIY and the Bentley Video. I reviewed both, and made some unintelligible notes. To make matters worse I had the engine upside-down on my engine stand, so left was right and down was up. In the end, it all worked out and I'm ready-to-go on my good engine tomorrow with a better understanding and the new bearing in the freezer overnight.

Mr Raby, If you ever need anyone to test if a procedure is fool proof, just pm me.