OTC 4518 5-Ton Bar-Type Puller and Bearing Separator Set

OTC 4518 is a 5-ton bar-type puller paired with the two bearing splitters a transmission bench actually uses: a 2 inch and a 3 inch. The kit includes four sets of hex push-puller legs, a 5 inch puller cross-bar with a 6-1/4 inch forcing screw, and a blow-molded case that keeps the legs and nuts together instead of scattered in a drawer.

A splitter is what you reach for when a bearing, gear or drive hub is pressed onto a shaft with no room behind it for a jaw puller. The two halves of the separator wedge in behind the race, the bolts draw them tight around the shaft, and the bar and forcing screw push the shaft out through the middle. That is the standard method for pulling output shaft bearings, pump drive gears, governor drive gears and pinion bearings, and it is far cleaner than heating a race with a torch and hoping the shaft survives.

The legs are hex stock and reversible, so the same set works as a puller or as a pusher. Because the cross-bar, the forcing screw and each splitter can be used on their own or combined with other pullers you already own, the 4518 also covers jobs a fixed-jaw puller cannot reach. Rated 5 tons, part number 4518, manufacturer part number 4518.

Two working notes from the bench: always run the forcing screw against a shaft protector or a soft slug so you do not mushroom the shaft end, and get the splitter as tight to the back of the race as it will sit before you load the screw. If the splitter is riding on the cage instead of the inner race, it will collapse the bearing and leave the race on the shaft.