(ET) transmission feature (bit of a rant)

[David Brandt <ev_dave13 yahoo com>]

Hi, everyone.  I've had a few transmission problems, and in the course of 
finding the solution (which I'll post when I know it has worked), I 
discovered something interesting (and accumulated enough good internal 
parts to build about 3 1/2 transmissions).

You all know that there are bearings in the ends of the axle tubes.  
You've probably had one sieze up from debris or rust.  It seems to be in 
the right location - you want the place that reacts the loads when you go 
over bumps and lumps to be as close to the load as possible, since 
increasing the distance between the load and the reaction only multiplies 
the reaction.  That is, it's better to take it at the end of the axle tube 
then the next restraint point, which is the needle bearings in the 
differential assembly.

When I demolish..(cough)...disassembled my ET transmission, I noticed that 
there is a relief cut in the axle right under where the bearing should 
sit.  It is a nice tight fit on either the inside or outside, but right 
under the bearing there is a gap of about 0.030" diametrically.  I happen 
to also have a peerless 2316 out of a John Deere 110, and it displays the 
same feature.

Why in the world would peerless purposely render this important bearing 
incapable of taking load until the axle had already deflected enough to 
load up the differential?  Planned Obsolesence?  So that after it siezes 
from rust (because of the water that can enter through the gap) that the 
axle will still turn?

David Brandt