I've been looking for a companion truck for my existing F6 and ran across an F3 locally. Cosmetically, she's almost all there, but I tried to put her in gear and she barked and barked regardless of what gear I put her in. Seller states that she sometimes acts up like that after sitting and that she will snap out of it once exercised. He then got in the vehicle, had the same troubles I had, but then suddenly, seemed to work as expected. He hopped out and I hopped in and couldn't get her in gear (barked if I tried). He hopped back in and tried but didn't have any luck. I tried one more and was able to get it in 1st and R, but then it decided to be cantankerous again. Can someone here help me diagnose the issue so I can make an informed decision if this is something I want to get into or not?

P.S. As an aside, are they syncromeshed or not? On my 52 F6, they are and was expecting the same, but did try double clutching with no success.

 

Oh yeah, another question, what would the towing capacity of an F3 be?

 

Not synchromesh if a four speed. The F-3 can tow a lot, but slowly. Cruising speed about 45.

 

No, they aren't synchro'd. Spur gears only in the regular 4 spd. It works much better to find a deserted stretch of back road and teach yourself to drive one.

To start out, shut the engine off, slip it in gear and restart the engine. Engine speed up and down is what makes shifting it smooth. When you get good at it you can just about do it without the clutch. Read up on double-clutching and then practice where nobody is looking. Somebody on here calls the crash-box trans their anti-theft device.

The F6 with the 254 six was the only one that got the synchro'd 4 spd as regular equipment. Others could be optioned with it, but they're pretty rare.

Towing capacity? It's a 2 wd drive 3/4 ton truck. Probably similar to modern stuff if they had been rated such - which they weren't as far as I know.

 

youll have to find rpm diff for same speed between gears then run up rpm to upshift +shift slow. if it has not been shifted this way you both will have to be trained. its alot like a 2 stick truck keep on low end of power while learning

 

I'm the person who considers it an anti-theft device. It takes some playing around to learn to double clutch. Upshifting is a little tricky but it's not all that hard, downshifting is another story. I'm about 90% successful.

The one big consideration when looking at a F-3 is wheels. The F-2 and F-3s are basically the same trucks, the one big difference is the rear brakes. The drums are larger than the F-2's. The F-3s have 17" wheels to go over the rear drums. The stock 17" wheels are Widow Makers. There has been a lot of discussions about WMs, do a search. The only viable option is to change out the rear axle to either a F-2 unit, or better yet, a rear axle out of newer, pre-'73 F-250 with higher gears.

 

As for wheels, it's got 8.75x16.5 tires, so they don't appear to be widow-makers but will double check before making the deal.

I have little double clutch experience (and haven't driven double in a long while and never on a ford truck), and suspected that they weren't syncromeshed, but being that It was extremely difficult to shift in 1st and R and that at times I swore I had the clutch in and still couldn't move the shifter with out barking, that something wasn't right. Maybe I'm wrong... could someone refresh me on double clutching (which to me is essentially shifting into N between gears at the appropriate RPM)?

 

It's possible something is hanging up in the clutch/throw-out area and not allowing the clutch to fully release. Could be only that it is in need of adjustment.

 

Is there an easy way to tell if it's simply out of adjustment?

 

Like the man said shut it off and put it in gear. Start it with the clutch in. Than drive the sh-t out of it and polish up the clutch and work the pressure plate. Than see where it engages at as to how far off the floor. If it engages close to the floor than it will need adjusted or replaced. But generally after working it and polishing it up it should work fine. And if ya ever have a clutch that is slipping and ya just need to get it home than remove the inspection cover on the bell housing and with the clutch peddle pushed in and spinning ( the clutch not the peddle) spray brake fluid on both sides of the disk. Than shift without the clutch till ya get home.

 

Check the tranny lube level, mine will growl if the gear lube is low.

 

Double clutching isn't all that hard, it's all a matter of timing. Start out in second, release the clutch, whine it out, push in the clutch, shift to neutral, release the clutch, move over to next gear (still in neutral) push clutch in and shift into higher gear. Both of my kids drive my truck and they've only been driving about a year.

The fun thing to do is let some one try to drive it and not tell them about double clutching. They'll bunny hop the truck all the way down the road, grinding gears all the way.

 

As has been mentioned, the clutch adjustment is the obvious first place to look, but if it is working OK, there are other things to check. If you intermittently can't get it in gear while sitting still and the clutch pedal is pressed, then the clutch could likely be sticking. My old Ford tractors do this on occasion. Two things can cause it - rust and oil. If it has been sitting for awhile in the damp, moisture can get between the clutch disk and the pressure plate or flywheel and it will literally rust them together so that the disk and transmission input shaft continue to spin with the engine even with the clutch depressed. This is what normally happens to mine since it sleeps outside. Oil from the transmission front seal or engine rear seal leakage can cause the same problem except that it's the gooey oil that sticks the disk to the flywheel or pressure plate. If it's just a little rust, it's no big deal and will polish right off and work fine once the disk breaks loose. If it's oil, then nothing is really going to fix it short of a new clutch and fixing the oil leak. You can sometimes slip the clutch and get it hot enough to burn the oil off and it will work again for awhile, but that's not good at all for the flywheel and clutch and it will happen again shortly as soon as it's coated with oil again. The easiest way to break a stuck clutch loose is to first get the truck pointed in a safe direction away from roads, people, structures, or anything else that you could possibly run over or into. Then with the engine off, put it in first gear, hold your foot on the clutch, and start the engine. The truck will start moving as soon as you crank the starter even though the clutch is in, so be ready for that. As soon as the engine catches, nail the brakes sharply. Keep the clutch pedal to the floor through the entire procedure. If it's just a little rust or oil, it should pop apart right away.

 

No foolproof methods, but the release point will move closer to the floor as the clutch wears. I know that doesn't help much, sorry. Clutch pedal free travel should be 1 1/8" to 1 3/8" for 10" and 11" clutches.

Sounds like you know double clutching - doesn't matter whether it's Ford or something else.

 

That's what I was thinking also, the throw out bearing is sticking and the clutch plate isn't releasing from the flywheel.