I've got a 72 ford f250 with a four speed granny gear, the other day upon pushing the clutch in, this ungodly crunch and then rattling noise started coming from the tranny. I can't put it into gear, and the clutch is slack, goes right to the floor board. upon looking at the inspection plate, I can see a ball bearing in the hole at the bottom, a friend of mine says it could be from the throwout bearing. Thing is, I can't find any mention of a throwout bearing in any manual, diagram or parts listing, am I just retarded, or is this thing called something else? What is it and where is it located?

 

also called a release bearing. It's on the input shaft and it is what presses in the fingers of the pressure plate

 

Awesome! Thanks man, everything makes a lot more sense now! I can actually tell what it is I'm looking for!