The clutch pedal in my '73 F-100 never quite returns full up after use. There's still about 1" of travel, and unless I knock it fully up with my toe, you can hear the throwout bearing ticking on the clutch fingers. I've tried the usual clutch adjustments and that is fine. I've even checked the pedal assembly when the clutch rod is removed, and it's not sticky. Now, I noticed a fairly hefty spring in the pedal assembly that seems as if it's designed to help pull the pedal back all the way up after use. With the clutch rod removed, if you step on the pedal this spring will slam the pedal down to the floor after a few inches of travel. I am wondering if this spring is out of adjustment and not helping return the pedal?? Any opinions?? Thanks, Polkat

 

You should have a long coil spring with a long, straight end with
a hook on it, under your truck. The coil end attaches to your clutch
fork, and the long end hooks onto your driver's side motor mount
stancion. This spring pulls the throw-out bearing away from the
clutch fingers (and hence pulls your pedal up too).
Make sure this is under your truck?

Ohio Bill

 

Yea, that spring is fine and keeps constant tension on the fork, but the pedal still hangs about 1" from full up. The spring I was talking about is attached to the pedal up on the rod (under the dash) that anchors both the brake and clutch pedal. This spring seems to be some kind of equalizer for the clutch pedal only, and is very thick and heavy (I've seen this spring on just about all F-100's with clutch pedals). I'n just trying to determine if there is some kind of adjustment for it. Has anyone delt with this? Thanks, Polkat

 

I've been looking for this spring under the dash myself. Mine is missing, does anyone have a part# or picture or measurements they could post so I know what I'm looking for? The trucks in the salvage yard don't seem to have them.

 

Polkat,
I don't know of any adjustments to the big clutch-pedal spring under the dash. I've pulled two pedal clusters from 68 F100s, and there
weren't any adjuster nuts (or anything else )to adjust it. I also ran my 68 F100 for 5 years without the big spring (I had to replace the pedals and bracket b/c the bushings were shot. For some reason I had to pull the big spring off, and I couldn't get it back on easily, so I just left it off). I don't notice a difference between trucks with the spring and those without it. The pedal in my 68 (w/out the spring) also returned just fine, so I'm not sure the big spring has anything to do with pedal return.

Don't know if this helps or not...

Ohio Bill

 

Polkat,
Is it possible that your brake pedal sits too high, and this
makes it look like your clutch pedal is sitting low? If you
want I can measure the distance between my pedals the the floor.

Ohio Bill

 

Ohio Bill,

The pedal can be pulled up with my toe so it is even with the brake pedal, so I don't think that's the problem. But sometrhing you said about the bushings for the pedal cluster being shot got me to thinking that I might have a bind in mine. I have noticed that my pdeal assembly will rock slightly from side to side. How difficult was it to replace those bushings, and are they available?

I might just remove the big cluster spring. If it's worn or bent, it might be binding the pedal itself! Did you have to go to a heavier fork spring when you removed yours? I think this spring acts as a kind of pressure equalizer against the spring pressure from the clutche's pressure plate. With the clutch rod removed, if I push in the clutch pedal, the big spring doesn't seem to do much until the pedal is near the floor, then the spring takes over and slams the pedal flush to the floor. I think it simply assists your foot when the most pressure from the pressure plate is coming back up (pedal nearly all the way down).

Thanks for the advice. Polkat

 

> Did you have to go to a heavier fork spring when you removed yours?

Mine does not come up all the way either and I tried running another spring inside the stock spring. Really made no difference. I think the solution is its binding somewhere from bad/lack of bushings because there is a lot of side play in mine.

OR its because it needs new cab mount bushings.

 

The clutch spring at the fork mearly brings the fork back to it's rest stop position, but once that's reached it does nothing to bring the pedal further back up. usually this is enough to get the pedal back up, but in some cases such as mine, that doesn't quite work out. I'm beginning to think, from what Ohio Bill said, that there's some bind in mine because of worn bushings. That's the fix I think, but I'm also thinking of putting a smaller spring under the dash to pull a little bit more on the pedal as a temporary measure.

None of this would be a problem except that the pedal binds just enough so that I can hear the throwout bearing just touching the pressure plate arms unless I tic the pedal all the way up with my toe. Sadly, the fork return spring is still strong at rest, so a stronger spring probably won't help. Ohio Bill....if you're out there can you tell me what was involved in replacing your pedal bushings?

 

I did the bushings on a Mustang a long time ago. If I remember right, the bushings were so bad that there was metal to metal contact. I had to do some fabrication to make it right. The shop manual is not much help. You will just have to pull out the pedals to get to the bushings.