Clutch rod broke
 

Ok, Ol'Bessie my 66 decided she needs attention, so her clutch rod broke, inside the cab where it hooks to the arm, does anyone make these, or am I buying a piece of steel and making one? It is the one that goes thru the floor to the clutch pivot...

LMC only lists a "pedal lever rod" for '68-'72 for $35. It uses the same plastic bushing at the bottom as the '61-up (probably the top too). The length is probably different, but changing the length would be a lot easier than starting from scratch. If no one else chimes in by tomorrow morning, I'll measure my '61 & '68 and see what the difference is.

Pickupmanx2: been there a couple of times and now carry a couple of extra rods in the truck at all times. It may sound like a trivial thing but the plastic bushing is an important item. I took the original in to a shop and had it welded (the only option the first time since I was in a little town in the middle of nowhere Oregon). That is now onw of the spares. One of the guys may be along that has the part number. If for some reason you cant find one give a shout and I could probably find one to send you.

I've got the original one in my garage under my work bench if you need one. It's 16 3/4" long center to center and the ends are 180 degrees from one another. I have one of the clips that goes on it as well. It does show a little bit of wear on one of the ends that a little bit of welding can take care of. I even have the pedal arm if needed. Send a PM if you need it.

Mark, that one won't work on a 1965/66. There is one thing you need to know about these rods. There are dozens of different ones from 1961 thru 1979, and none interchange. The good news is, because they've always been a good seller, chances of finding a used one isn't that tough. In addition, they may still be available, as I bought a spare several years ago. I urge y'all to buy an extra one while you still can, these tend to break miles from home.


When replacing the rod and bushings, I suggest replacing all the bushings...the two on the rod, the four on the clutch and brake pedal shafts where they mount under the dash, and the two on the clutch equalizer arm. This last place is the most important, because the clutch equalizer bar rides on two ball studs, mounted on two brackets. One bracket/stud mounts to the engine, the other to the frame. These are no longer available, and the studs are peened to the brackets, so there's no way to replace them with a later model ball stud. All these bushings are still available.


1965/66 F100/350~Clutch Rod~Clutch Pedal to Equalizer Bar

1-C1TZ-7521-A .. 19 3/8"-length~Fits:1965/66 F100/250 120" WB 4WD & all F350's

1-C5TZ-7521-B .. 18 7/8"-length ~ Rod bent at right angles to each other~Fits all 1965-66 F100/250 2WD
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
2- C0AZ-7526-A .. Clutch Rod Bushings~Fits All Applications

4-B7AZ-2471-A .. Brake and Clutch Pedal Shaft Bushings~Fits All Applications

2-C1AA-7543-A .. Clutch Equalizer Arm Bushings~Fits All Applications

2-358979-S .. Clutch Equalizer Arm Felt Washers~Fits All Applications

2-97474-S .. Clutch Equalizer Arm Snap Rings~23/32" O.D. / 9/16" I.D. / 1/32"-thick

I once read a thread here about using rod ends and since I have also had the rod break on me plan on installing rod ends on mine soon.
They can be bought at mcmastercarr dot com for cheap, they even sell the rod to go in between the ends. They have a great assortment and you will have them the next day. They are by far stronger and you can get them that are greaseable it you like. The ones I looked at have the impregnated lube.

Someone here gave me the idea but once I do it I will post the how to thread.

Good luck

Jon,

Are the "rod ends" you are speaking of heim joints - the ball-end joints used in aircraft? I have been thinking of going that route & will be interested in your new thread. Please put a link in this thread so we can all find it.

Thanks,

That is the ones I am talking about..

I will try and locate them and post some info.

Yes that is the type of end Jon is mentioning. I have a picture in my gallery of using those for the repair. Look in the progress pictures and there is a short description of how I fixed mine. I just used the oe rod and threaded it to 3/8" SAE threads to match the ends.

Thanks Putt
I was going to use 5/16" but now I think I will go with 3/8"

the site is mcmaster dot come they have threade rod and ends pages 1133 and 1134.

Also I have to yell yepee I just noticed I have reached 1000 post...

Putt
Why did you use a clevis end at the bottom insted of a rod end? Was there a problem using two rod ends?

Don't want to make any mistakes..

Bill, I know there are bunch of different designs concerning the clutch linkages. That is why I posted the length and offsets, in case it did happen to be the same one pickupmanx2 needed. The hemi joint idea is a really good one. I would suggest adding rubber covers to prevent water from corroding the rodends. It will help the hemi joints last a lot longer then 4-5 years.

Jon, I believe it had to do with alignment of the rod and the bellcrank. I would have needed to angle the rod in order to get another heim joint to attach to the bellcrank or bent the bellcrank arm sideways slightly. I will look at it tomorrow and see if there was some other issue. Maybe I was being frugal and did not want to buy another heim joint!!!! I will check back in with my refreshed memory.

Thanks All, and again WOW, appreciate all the help. As of yet I haven't had a chance to do anything, was on call over the week and week-end so didn't get to do anything, Thanks Numbers, I am going to see if I can get those, and put her all back together, right now I am nursing her.

I repaired mine with a piece of thread stock and two Female Studded ball rod ends. Cut the thread stock to the length you need thread the Female Studded ball rod ends on and use nuts to tighten them to the thread stock. Has been in use since 1987. I bought extra Female Studded ball rod ends but have not needed them yet. If I remember right I bought them at a Ace Hardware store. Here are some at Grainger: http://www.grainger.com/Grainger/wwg...mId=1611785567

Jon, I think it was an alignment issue with the type of ends I had available. If I used two of the type at the top, it angles the rod and makes it come very close to the edge of the hole in the firewall. It may have also been that I could not get another end for a few days and my truck was a daily driver and my only transportation when it broke. I have had NO wear issues with the setup as I have it. It is easy to disconnect for little things like cab mounts, floorpan repair, you know the simple stuff. :)

Hope this helps.

Thanks Putt
I will have to get everything ready in advance. I will probably have the rod completely built prior to it going bad.

Thanks for the input and sorry we stole this thread.

Nuttin stole here! Just good info, I may be doing the same thing, changing to heim joints

Heim joints sounds like the way to go, my rod broke recently,this is the original with 140,000 miles, while I was in the bed shovling top soil and the wife was moving the truck up..damn near threw me out...I was able to weld it back together and found some bushings for my 66Mustang that were the same..so you can get the from Mustang resto places also