Its held in with snaps n velcro lol!!!!

 

What Jacob suggested was exactly what mine was doing except i had a huge loud grinding noise. I could nudge it into any gear and the noise would dampen.
I tried two trannies to make it stop and it did it on both. I swapped back to original trannie with a new clutch, pilot, throwout, and resurfaced fw and she shift like a new one now.
I check the springs in my old clutch and they didn't really look loose or anything but it was a cheap sach's clutch. I put a $156 Luk clutch in and it's been doing great so far. 500 miles in at least! good luck. those problems can be a royal aggravation!

 

We were certain it was the throw out bearing when we pulled the trans back and took it out. It was rough feeling and didn't spin freely. I thought about you when we put it back in and it still made the same noise.

 

I actually had a different throwout in with the first tranny swap so I went through two different trannies and two different to's and had exactly the same symptoms. The original to bearing was just about toast and the other to bearing was actually in pretty good shape.
Most people that heard it in person said bad bearings in tranny. they wouldn't believe it if if they heard this truck now. i was able to at least rule out everything but the pilot and clutch. guess you could pull it and put a pilot bearing in if he doesn't want to buy a clutch but you run the risk one more time of it not solving the noise problem. sounds like you guys are having a hard time like I did! I hate things like that. I'm sure you guys will get to the bottom of it. Especially with you around!

 

The things we do for really cool trucks. totally worth it though. I love learning about these trucks.

 

Yeah we'll get it. I'd say it's the clutch.

 

Well, my clutch noise has been getting worse, and I have been hearing some other weird noises as well, and it's driving me nuts! It feels funny also, like some occasional slippage possibly. So, I bit the bullet today and ordered a new valair clutch! I got the next step up from stock - Brass woven organic. I already have the solid flywheel, which is valeo style, so I'll have that resurfaced and should be good to go. I'm excited!

I've found it's much easier to justify (to the boss ) getting things for the truck when stuff is messed up/needs fixed. It sucks, cause usually it's not the ideal time, but it will get fixed (and upgraded) nonetheless. I just hope this is the problem, and it's not an input shaft bearing in the transmission. Then the whole transmission may need rebuilt!

 

That's the same clutch I have Tyler. I think you'll really like it with your truck plans. It took mine about 2000 miles to break in and it seemed to me like I almost felt it "break" in. One day it was just night and day difference.

 

Yeah, I don't think I'll ever need anything more. I don't plan on ever going over 350-400 HP. But I guess you never know! It will be time for a new clutch before I would ever be at that point, maybe longer!

 

Well, we got the new clutch in Monday after we got Bill's truck back together. I've got to say - Man that thing is grabby! It took me a while to get used to. So almost 2000 miles to break in, huh Rick? I guess I'll just wait and see. 1st gear is the only one that is really rough, and it is hard to keep it from shaking when trying to get the clutch to engage. There is no slippage there...right now it seems as though it's all or nothing.

On the down side though...now I've got a "squealing" noise coming from either the T/O Bearing or the Clutch Fork, with the clutch pedal out, in neutral or any gear. I can put my foot on the clutch pedal and push it in just a little...about 1/2" - 1", and the noise stops. Actually, it gets higher pitched first, then stops. So aggravated! I just traded one noise for another. I talked to Gary at Valair, and he said he's never heard of that, but some guys have complained of a "squeak" coming from the clutch, and it ends up being the clutch fork wiggling where it pivots on the pivot ball. He said to check that first. I guess I'll get some kind of silicone or lithium grease and try to spray right on the pivot point to see if that helps. Arrrgh...

The old noise I was having ended up being the clutch disk. It was almost as if the two sides were trying to separate and had gotten loose. So that noise is gone...but now the squeal. I think the new noise is worse!

Any ideas, other than what I'm already going to try?

 

Well that's not good. Check my logic here, but the throwout bearing shouldn't be touching the pressure plate fingers with the clutch completely disengaged should it? I was always under the impression that the throwout actually separated from the fingers enough that the bearing wasn't touching so that it wouldn't be spinning unless there was pressure on the pedal. That's why you don't "cover the pedal" (keep your foot on it) while you're driving. Am I off in my thinking or does the Valair kit work differently?

I'm also curious about the clutch you had in there before. What kind was it? You didn't have that in there that long did you? 2 yrs maybe?

 

That's a good question. I'm not sure if it is actually supposed to separate or not. I can't tell if mine is touching or not, but I would think that it is due to the squealing. If it's not supposed to touch, I don't know how you would adjust anything so that it would not touch...? The only thing I would think I could check is the linkage at the clutch pushrod in the master cylinder to make sure that it wasn't pushing in on it with the pedal up. Other than that, I don't know what adjustments you could make.

Just for my curiosity, I took some measurements of the travel of the slave pushrod when we put Bill's truck back together, and then checked them on my truck with the new clutch installed. I measured the distance from the mounting bracket of the slave to the clutch fork. Here are the measurements:

Bill's Truck:
Pedal up - 2"
Pedal down - 2 5/8"

My Truck:
Pedal up - 1 3/4"
Pedal down - 2 5/8"

So analyzing those measurements, it shows that my slave is releasing MORE than on Bill's truck, which I would think would let the T/O bearing off the pressure plate MORE. But it could just be the difference between the two different slave cylinders. I don't know if that indicates anything or not.

The clutch I had on there before was a Valeo that was taken off the parts truck when we originally did the ZF swap on my ECLB. We have no idea how old it was or how many miles were on it. But yes, I have run it in both the ECLB and my CC for about 2 years now. I had the flywheel turned and reused it, and bought just the clutch and PP from Valair, which came with new pilot and T/O bearings.

 

I wonder what would happen if you were to pull the slave off the side of the transmission and then run the truck. That would eliminate everything except the fork, PP, Clutch disk, throwout and pilot bearings.

Just be careful when you start it because you won't be able to push the clutch in to activate the clutch safety switch, so you'll probably have to turn the ignition on, make sure the truck is in neutral, and then jump the starter relay on the fender with a screwdriver. JUST BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL (but I don't have to tell you that). If you run it without the slave on there and it still makes noise, then unfortunately, I think you're going to have to get in there again and see what's going on. The good news is the bolts should all be free, lol.

 

Yeah, I may try that. I suppose in lieu of that, I could start it, then just get under the truck and compress the slave push rod to release any pressure it has on the clutch fork, then see what happens. Same principle, less steps. I am afraid we are going to have to pull the transmission again anyway. It will have to wait though...we've got other things to get in the shop. My sister-in-law (one of Bill's other daughters) has a subaru that needs head gaskets, Bill is getting that other subaru that supposedly needs a head gasket, and then there's Jason's new truck that needs put back together. Everyone gets their turn...

 

Haha, get in the queue again, huh? Just don't wait too terribly long or you could burn up the throw out bearing. I don't know if you would be able to see anything through the inspection cover or not.

Of course, you could always bring the truck up here and we could tear into it if you wanted. My shop is empty at the moment. Of course that's a haul for you, but the offer stands if you're in a bind.

And yes, what you're suggesting would work too.