<VV> Input seal ring - purpose

[NicolCS at aol.com]

The ring is there to limit the movement of the flexible input shaft and  
protect the soft rubber seal.  I put a car together once without the  ring.  It 
drive about 1/4 mile before the first incidence of very strong,  low frequency 
vibration.  I turned the car right around, went back to the  house, and pulled 
the trans.  Fortunately, I knew that I had forgotten  the ring, so diagnosis 
wasn't too difficult.  I SHUDDER (pun intended) to  think of how hard it would 
have been to diagnose without knowing about that  missing ring!
Craig Nicol

<snip>I remember awhile back some discussion on the purposes of  the input 
shaft  
seal retaining ring. The most obvious purpose would be  to hold the seal in  
place. There was also some talk about a purpose  having to do with the input  
shaft 
flexing, or is my memory as bad as  my wife says? Ned <unsnip>