I've recently rebuilt my 351 (400) engine in my 79 F250 4x4 and while I had it out I surfaced the flywheel, replaced the clutch, pressure plate, throwout bearing. I was previously running a Centerforce I setup and it was very pleasant. There was very little pedel effort, the clutch engaged smoothly with no chatter or grabbing.

I decided to give the Centerforce II a try this time around. When I called Centerforce, they said that I would not see any difference in pedal effort between the Centerforce I, II, and DF. What I've found is that the Centerforce II is a completely different animal than the Centerforce.

There is tons of chatter on the engagement, it is very difficult to slip it at all to get a nice smooth engagement. When pressing the pedal down, I have some freeplay, then I can feel the resistance of the pressure plate and then about 2" from the floor the pedal goes very soft as the pressure plate suddenly disengages. Now the problem is that the transition from the pressure plate being fairly stiff to soft is sudden, so when engaging the clutch it is impossible to control that step and the pressure plate suddenly engages.

Now I've double checked all my linkage and I have no binding problems. I have new cab mounts and new motor mounts so the equalizer bar is nice and level. I've double checked that the that clutch fork is properly seated on the bellhousing pivot as well as properly attached to the throwout bearing.

So if I am to believe Centerforce that the clutch feel should be identical, I am drawn to a conclusion that I have a defective part. If this is how the pressure plate is suppossed to be, it is next to useless and needs to find its way to a junk pile.

Has anyone experienced a problem like this? Or can anyone confirm from experience whether the Centerforce I and II have similar pedal feel?

Thanks.

 

Oh heck, you need to call centerforce and talk to them about this.

Sounds like there's something wrong with your new clutch to me, not just something different, but something wrong.

You're gonna have to take that sucker apart again and figure out what's going on and explain it to them, betcha.

Alvin in AZ

 

Alvin is correct call centerforce . I have used both clutch setups in my 79 F 150 and there was no diffrence in pedal pressure and engagement, sounds like a deffective part