well I set out on a nice halfway sunny day here to adjust the slack out of this clutch and I dunno what to do now... lemme explain.

first off the owner said it was the original transmission but I think they replaces few more parts than she know/admits. no problem they all work so far. now my chiltons book that was in the trucks cab shows a different adjuster setup for 65 than whats on the truck... in the relese lever that sticks out of the ckutch housing, it shows the 65 had a long allthread bolt for an adjuster rod, and 2 nuts you adjust acordingly. mine has what the diagram calles a relese rod extention (I've had these before no bigg I know how to adjust em) my problem is the damn thing is all the way out on the rod, and in 3 turns it wiill fall off. In short, the relese rod and extention is TOO SHORT. so I get this clutch pedal thats on the floor, and I have to bury the pedal in the floor to get it in gear, and even then it grinds a wee but now and then.
note; this clutch is hall of a lot easier to get to than in a nissan or a subaru
now... do they have the wrong linkage setup in this, the wrong relese rod or what? it shifts fine when your running, the clutch doesnt slip in the least in any gear.
its a pain because there is no room to "ride/ease the clutch", your either in motion or out of gear, ther eis almost no inbetween at all.
I just put a clutch in my nissan mule, and I know how much movement there is in a new clutch between the time it starts to grab abd grabs totally. This 65 has no middle ground.
could the clutch be worn out eeven if its NOT slipping?

 

You should check all the pivot points for wear, I had a wear prob on my '66. I discovered at a stoplight in big city(ha ha)lol, lots of fun speed shifting home. If there is a lot of wear the linkage will not adjust enough. Check the rod thru the floor thatc has a pivot top and bottom, if the hole or pin is worn they cause alot of slack.HTH


Putt

 

Ok this idea might get my butt chewed out ,but im going to run it by you anyway . Years ago i had a 71 that the clutch was letting out like yours . I did not have the money or time to fix it (right) so i slipped a half inch craftsman socket inbetween what i call the crayon and the fork .And no new clutch needed i drove that truck like that for years! ( a peice of small od pipe would work) A bout 10 years later my dad had retired he was telling me that his truck was doing the same thing and that he needed a new clutch also so i told him what i had dun he took his crayon (ajuster) and he cut it and welded a peice of pipe inbetween . He said it felt like a new clutch was put in, i have a back injury or i would have put one in for him !

P.S. disclaimer no clutch, presure plate ,throw out bearing, or flywheel was hurt in the rigging of these trucks!

 

2ndmouse -- looks like you have a digital camera based on your gallery -- maybe a pic or two to clarify.

Also -- your gallery says your pickup is an automatic. Ehhhh... Clutch???

 

automatic? must have clicked the wrong option in those menus.. its a 4 speed.
I did check the linkage for wear as suggested, its all pretty snug on all the piviot points.
the adjuster just isnt long enough. Come to thinnk of it she said if I remember right thats the way her fater had it adjusted when he put the clutch in a few yrs ago, and she didnt change it because it was "easy" to clutch...to easy for me. making it longer would at least let me see if the clutch is ok.
it is simple linkage, I could even fabricare a longer rod to screw the adjuster crayon onto.
good word. it does look just like a crayon!

I'll try to take some pics of it tomorrow

 

Please let us know! P.S. the trucks i was speaking of was three on the tree.


( CRAYON)

 

Barring new clutch and pressure plate, may want to check the 61/64 cluctch rod to pivot, which i believe is longer than 65/66 and did not use the 'crayon'. With any luck 61/64 threads will accept the 'crayon', may not need it. Should only cost few bucks in salvage yard. Would not purchase unless you can see it, not sure it will work.

good luck,
dave

 

Sounds like the adjuster rod is worn on the end that ataches to the "Z" bar and or the "Z" bushings are worn out. It very common to see the bar ends egg out and the the odd too.

44

 

No one has asked you the biggest question relative to cluch adjustment. tupically the cab mounts are shot and the cab has sagged therefore adding about an inch of out adjustment to get it corrected in freeplay.

you will not notice the sag as much with a 4 speed as you would with a three on the tree.

Check here before modifying anything as if this is not correct the bandaids that follow will just compound the issues.

A. rotted cab mounts/ Bad rubber mounts
B Z bar and frame/ engine mounts for worn bushings and galled *****.
C. piviot points for missing bushings and elongated holes.
D. worn push rods. you would be suprised to see how many rods i have that are worn half way thru for a 65 66.
E. Plastic bushings in the clutch pedal rod.
F. Elongated hole in the clutch pedal rod attachment point.
G Worn "Crayon" and mounting hole in rod.

Garbz

 

i checked the cab mounts... someone has put new ones in but they are the right ones, not lifters. the engine they put in is a 390, they said they used the original motor mounts so barring that perhaps the 390 sets the thing at an odd hieght. all thepivot points arent worn, they are lose but not egged out. pushrods are good. bushings in the clutch pedal rod, i assume they are on there is no mob=vement to be found save the way its suppose to pivot.
the hole and the crayon worn, i dunno how they are suppose to look in the first place but I'm assumng they are fine to but I will get some pics of those up later.
thanks for all the great ideas!

 

For what it's worth. I had a '77 once that had the same typical clutch issues. I fabbed a new release rod from a piece of all-thread. Ground one end to a sort of point and cut it the length I needed. A couple of nuts to jamb for adjustment and you're done. Drove it that way for several years until I traded the truck.

 

I had that idea in my head but figured allthread would bend to easy...

 

OK -- I have a 65, known to be original, with a 240 and 4 speed (warner t-18). I do not know if the clutch housing is the same in the 352/390 and the 240/300. Anyhow -- I DO have your "crayon" (damn descriptive, BTW), so it certainly could be original.

Have you descifered your VIN plate to see exactly what supposedly was in your pickup? Hope the door plate is original. The vin is stamped on the frame in a couple of places, so you *could* verify, but they are hell to get to. Slightly in front of the starter on the passenger side, and under the cab too.

I am betting, since it sounds like the linkage is not worn out, that you have 1) either the wrong linkage or 2) a worn out clutch. Course, you knew that when you posted originally. Brilliant people here eh!!........

Merry Christmas......

 

I worked at a parts store with a machine shop and the flywheel grinder had a spec book for flywheels with a step in them. The FE was not listed as having a step, BUT when I had my wheel ground I had to lengthen my adjuster/crayon mech. in order to get adequate adjustment.

Never could get an explanation from clutch man. or flywheel people on that. I heard of several others with similar combos that had to do the same.FWIW


PUtt

 

THe above post is on track. Who knows how many times the flywheel has been ground? Every time this is done, the adjustment length becomes longer. I worked for many years in Ford parts and we kept several lengths of adjusters on hand for this reason. Make sure all bushings are good and lubed up, all the pivot ***** are not worn and cab is at correct height. The longest rod was Ford part number D0TZ 7521-A. You might try to see if it's still available from Ford.

Barry