Patent ID: 6929578

Claim:
A planetary gear carrier assembly for an automatic transmission of a land vehicle, said carrier assembly comprising: a carrier housing including a first mating section and a second mating section, said first mating section including a central access opening having an inside diameter of a predetermined dimension, said first mating section further including at least one semicircular cutout formed coextensively with an inner surface of said access opening; a set of planetary gears rotatably mounted in coplanar relation within said carrier housing and intermediate said first and said second mating sections; and a replacement thrust bearing residing at a location within said carrier housing accessible only through said access opening, said replacement thrust bearing having an outside diameter greater than said inside diameter of said access opening and less than a linear dimension measured between said inside diameter and said cutout permitting said replacement thrust bearing to pass through said opening in alignment with said cutout after assembly of said carrier housing.