Towing messed up my truck? (manual)

Damn, you just reminded me of a hydraulic TOB failure issue I had with an F250. The TOB would fail if the temperature would fall below about 20º F. I had to drive it 35 miles from job in the city to home in the boonies with no clutch. Changed the TOB and replaced with new factory part and it happened again during the next cold spell. The big issue is the fact that the TOB slips over the input shaft so the trans. has to come out to replace.

My wife helped me drop the trans. with truck sitting on the ground in my garage, it was 15º F in the unheated garage. My son helped me put it back in. I sold the truck with Ford's stupid idea... It was a nice truck other than that.

 

I am going with this. Fluid probably needs a good flush too, to freshen it up.

 

There might be a higher torque capacity from Exedy than the stage 1.

LCE has some. Centerforce may. SPEC Clutch should. Possibly ACT Clutch.

I prefer all of those to Competition Clutch brand, and URD's line. These last two mentioned, just do not last as long as the above mentioned, in my hands on experience.

 

Ford used a hydroTOB as factory?
IDK if cold would make it shrink stuck onto the shaft or what
I know on cold mornings (as cold as 0 deg) it wouldn't feel as good (year ago) until warmed up, but it would still work nonetheless

I will look into those, thank you.
So far all I really know is:
-hydroTOB softens the pedal, so it can handle a stronger pressure plate for more clamping force without making the pedal feel too tough
-clutch disc; not sure yet. I always heard Exedy was good. Maybe not.
-flywheel; that's the tricky part. LUK @ RockAuto, they say grinds with starter. Nobody buys OEM Aisin because it's $800.
And machining is tricky. Imagine you're DIY'ing clutch on a Saturday when a machine shop is closed. Or they lie and claim they know how to machine and shim it when they really don't.

There is URD heavyweight flywheel for rock crawling off road, but I hear people don't like those
same thing goes for their lightweight flywheel

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I ended up doing the "4th gear test" someone mentioned earlier.
Found a spot going 4th, and pressed/held clutch down until revs dropped to idle (truck still going like 40mph) then released pedal in 4th fast as I could, expecting it to shock/jolt the truck.
It did not. Revs caught up pretty quick and smooth

which tells me either
A: the disc is worn with some slippage
B: it might just be natural function of the HydroTOB. CM states one added benefit of their HydroTOB is it reduces drivetrain shock somehow

also performed another pedal rod adjustment trying to get it closer to 75%. Probably the 6th time.

Supposedly normal driving can wear the clutch a bit to expose fresh surface. I hope that happens.
New clutch break-in procedure is 1k miles stop go gentle grandma city driving. Hopefully if I baby it that might restore this possibly-burned clutch into good shape, if there's still enough thickness material left. If not, it may be clutch time

on the other side, it still holds power without slipping
whether it be accelerate in 4th, or stall engine to die in 4th.
So maybe the "shock test" is impossible to truly shock the driver seat. Because to match the speeds that fast, even a good clutch is probably gonna slip a bit for a second under that amount of force...
trans has upgraded mount so it's not gonna buck back and forth under load (shock) like a stock setup would, kind of forcing the clutch to slip if shocked

at least for now it still seems driveable with OK shifting after performing pedal rod adjust, as opposed to completely dead in the water beached in a driveway

 

I vaguely remember the test for slippage in an '88 Ford Ranger was to be in 3rd or 4th and floor it. If it slipped it needed replacement. It was a 5 spd. trans. I don't like the "shock test" but I'm old...

 

No you're right it makes perfect sense.
It holds when I give it gas. I think I'd notice if it slipped enough to raise RPM but not speed, because then the truck wouldn't move.

But I will try that tomorrow to be sure.
Yes probably 3rd or 4th where the engine may have enough power to overcome it (if the clutch slips) especially up a hill and at lower RPM under throttle.

 

Yes. Exedy makes top of the line clutches.

Highest gear, full throttle. That'll load up the clutch the most and make it slip if it is. You'll know quickly.

 

K just did the slip test
WOT in 4th on highway incline full throttle
It held did not slip.

however I am noticing the engagement of the clutch disc still feels shitty. Not crisp. Almost like the thing is glazed or something.

gonna order a stage 2 pressure plate and clutch disc probably. Hoping I can re use the expensive flywheel by giving it a quick scuff with my Roloc disc I have on a right angle grinder. It’s milwaukee electric so it has different settings for a more gentle light low power mode.

who knows if a clutch disc kit with pressure plate (no flywheel) is only $100-200 then this may end up being a cheap fix

thankfully it is still driveable
I will try to keep the bed unloaded
But so far in the city driving I’ve done in attempt to restore the surface of the clutch through multiple engagements, it still does not become crisp again
On top of that once I get inside there, I may find the pressure plate appearing discolored and so on.
If heat fatigued the metal of it.

I’ll reread that one post that mentions top ideal companies to choose from.
even though Exedy has a good reputation, at the end of the day this was only a stage 1 disc. So no increased clamping force for more power or anything. Their lowest model line cheapest one basically.

 

Really, just how was it cooled? Some sort of special pump and a fined cooler? There is nothing in there to slip or generate a great deal of heat.

 

My F350 also has a transmission cooler, it's driven by a pump on the input shaft, the same way an automatic transmission would work. The ZF-6 are one of the few manual transmissions with an oil cooler I am aware of, they are used in full size pickups in the early 2000's and thought to be one of the best manual transmissions for towing (of course before all the fancy 8-10 speed automatics came out).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ZF_S6-650_transmission

 

It had a pump inside to circulate trans fluid through a cooler. It was a Zf-5 or Zf-6 I don't remember. A big German transmission. Gears running against each other cause heat. Feel your rear differential some time.

 

Now mind you I only have a couple million miles or more driving a stick shift I tow, I drive in mud and snow I live in rural Maine nothing is close my drive way is a 1/4 mile long no hard tp there I get at least 200K out of a clutch it not the trans or the clutch. Adjusting the rod on the clutch cylinder is nothing more than clearance it does nothing at the slave cylinder or for ware clearance. If the the slave is bottomed out so is the clutch disk.

 

Any update TacoTuesday? I am stuck between buying a master and slave cylinder set or just buying the clutch kit for my Tacoma. Thanks!

 

warranty part replacement pending.

I don't get what you mean/reasoning behind: master + slave vs clutch kit

 

Sorry about the confusion...

My tacoma has the same symptoms as your truck. Upon visual inspection the hydraulics are all working as they should, but clutching feels like crap and getting it into gear is difficult and worsening. I replaced the worn out shift lever bushing and still nothing.

All that to say I was trying to decide between: spending $100 and an afternoon on replacing the clutch master and slave or spending $275 on a base level clutch and flywheel and invest a whole day or weekend tackling that job... I bit the bullet and ordered the clutch kit.

Thanks for the reply!

 

Hydraulic systems are usually self adjusting, if your disk is worn, you should notice a lower fluid level in the res as the slave would need to extend further than it used to.

Recommend bleeding it with fresh fluid (remember brake fluid has a shelf life if opened!). Could have possibly a failing master or slave if your disengagement is crap. I am going through similar issues with my t56 swap in my Lexus. If i am on flat ground, clutch in and start to put it in first the car starts creeping forward.. (i think i have a bent clutch disk though)