Yodaforce

Clutch is easy. Buy the "middle" priced clutch in a kit. No need to buy the high end clutches unless you take your truck mountain climbing and you have a STRONG left leg.

Jay351

Like posted before, I would be wary of buying somthing like this at such a cheap price. They have to offset their costs somehow.

But I wouldn't buy a new flywheel ( or a reman one) Take it down to your local machine shop and have them resurface it. It cost me 45 bucks and was done in an hour.

so purdy!

Redeyejedi

nice thread. great info guys!! hey, whats up with centerforce clutches? i have heard a many mixed things about them.

tc

and no step machined in as there should be.

pdrayton

Sheesh, just when you thought it was going to be easy. Last time I say last question....

OK, brand new flywheel by Perfection for $64 from Advance Auto. Surely a new one will have the step in it right? (famous last words, along with "That lion's not hungry")

My new, super revised plan, is to

1. order the Marlin HD clutch set.

2. Pull everything off on Monday, see how the flywheel looks. See if someone can do a good job of resurfacing it. If so, use it. If not, buy the perfection flywheel

3. Put it all back together when the Marlin clutch arrives.

4. Celebrate that I no longer have to worry whether my truckie wuckie is going to be able to pull my boat out of the water one more time. Today was a close one.....

Jay351

Been working a-ok for the past 10k miles

pdrayton

update: I ordered the Marlin Clutch and I'm getting a new Perfection flywheel from the FLAPS (friendly local auto parts store).

I've started taking everything off. I'm stuck at the drive shaft removal. I know someone on this list said they just took it off at the front, but I didn't see how that would work - didn't know how to get the forks (like a universal joint) to release, so I took the 4 bolts off the back at the diff. Tight mothers those. Got them off, but now the drive shaft won't release from the diff. I've banged with a hammer to release it, but no go. Even put a jack under it to try release it. Didn't push it too hard, but it still won't release. Am I missing something (took the 4 bolts off, that's all)? Or is it just frozen from 140,000 miles of use?

THanks.

tc

Its just frozen on there. Shoot it with some PB Blaster and let it soak.

You will see a little notch under the yoke where you can get a prybar in.

TNRabbit

If you have an air hammer, slip it in the notch and give it a couple of "BBBBBBRRTs". Be careful no to booger it up, though.

pdrayton

Thanks guys. I sprayed it and thenlet it sit while I contemplated my navel. Then I wedged something in there and it just fell off as if to say "What's the deal buddy! Take it easy!"

So I followed the rest of the FSM procedure up to my favorite "Remove the remaining transmission bolts". Somebody was laughing when he wrote that. The three bolts on top of the transmission are accessible only by adolecent simians! Damm! I got the two bell housing bolts off with about 3 ft of wobble extensions (impossible without them). The last bolt at the starter is almost inaccessible. I can't even get my hand to it to get a socket onto it.

At that point I quit for the day. Cold, windy and the nut gods were obviously against me. I'll have a look at it on saturday when I (hopefully) have the new clutch on hand to inspire me.

pdrayton

Yeah well, MArlin Crawler may have good clutches, but their customer service and shipping sucks. I ordered on Saturday. UPS got the shipment on Wednesday. And it says "Same day shipping" on their website. I emailed their cust. support to ask why it says that and they take 3 days to ship and they ignored me.

So the clutch will be with me next wednesday. Thanks a lot, another weekend without a clutch or a truck.

Redeyejedi

marlin's customer support / service is top notch!! there has got to be a reason why your shipment was "delayed". as far as support goes, i dont anyone that can touch mike and the guys@ORS, the marlin crew, and bobby long & co. EXCELLENT support, stand behind their isht and will help get your junk back on tha trails.....or roads for the DD.

just on a sidenote....i call linksys, dell, microsqweesh, sony, hp etc etc and NONE of the 'support' staff are in the states, and all have names like jeff, david, henry, alexander....i can barley understand a word they speak, and they rarely help me with problems i am having.

pdrayton

REdeye, I hear what you're saying - it's good to speak to someone who actually knows what is going on and isn't just reading it from a computer script.

HOwever, fact is it took 10 days for the clutch to get to me. And today, when I was putting it on (all the while thinking about going fishing later in the day) it so came to pass that I stumbled on the fact that THEY SENT THE WRONG CLUTCH! So I called them but they say it's not their fault becuase that's the size that comes wth that truck. I said "But NApa, Advance Auto, and Rock Auto all sell the size clutch that is on my car" He says "that's never happened before". ANyway, I told them I'm not paying to ship it back - I'm already 2 weeks delayed and pissed. He says he can't help me. I say fine and start looking for what other clutch I can buy pronto, and tell my bank to reverse the charge and then see who wants to not pay shipping.

15 minutes later they leave me a voicemail that they're sending the new clutch out with a reship box so I can send the wrong one straight back to them. That was a close call, I almost ordered a seco kit delivered for $92. I'm not sure it's even worth all the hassle for the Marlin one any more. It's a seco clutch plate with some other cover. I don't see what's so special about it, but maybe I'm just a grumpy ol' man....

pdrayton

OK, so they sent me the right size clutch at no extra cost to me.

I installed it this weekend. once you've taken everything off it's not so hard to put it all back together. I suggest you label or group carefully, your bolts. I spent 15 minutes trying to figure out what went where..... It had been 3 weeks though.

Wehn I was almost finished putting everything back on I had a bit of a scare when I realized I mihght have put the throw bearing on the wrong way! Oh well, let's see what happens....

But I got it all together and it drives really nicely! YEEEEHAAAW! My first ever successfull clutch install! The engine seems to have much more pep when the clutch works well. The clutch is good - it's very responsive but not sharp. It feels firm, but not grabby. So, me like.

However, 2 things, one is a question about a potential other problem.

1. I'm not convinced this is a 1200 lb clutch. The 2nd clutch plate and cover they sent me were standard Korean made Seco. Am I supposed to believe these are 1200lbs?

2. When I first pull off after the truck has been sitting for a while, there is a reluctance to pull off, then there is a big clunk, which comes from under the car somewhere, and then it drives fine. I noticed a little black oil markings on the differential- could it be low on oil and that is what is making it clunk first time round.

Anyway, regardless of that, THANKS everyone for all the help and encouragement! It really helped.

Paul.

Allstar93088

This may have been already addressed but does the Marlin HD Clutch kit come with everything i will need, all the bearings(especially the throwout bearing) and alignment too?

tc

Yes. Comes with both the pilot and throwout bearings, alignment tool, clutch, pressure plate, and probably some stickers.

pdrayton

No stickers....

Also, It was recommended to me that I get the gear seat and thingy (that goes at the end of the shift stick). The guys on the forum said it wears out. Mine was completely gone. So good thing I got that too. If you call them, they'll know what you're talking about if you say you want the 2 plastic things that go at the end of the shift lever.

trbizwiz

Did the big clunk ever resolve it's self? Did you clean everything with brake cleaner before install? I read that skin oils and packing oils can cause a clutch to be noisy. I never dreamed that they would make it bang though? I'll be installing my Marlin clutch soon, and I want to avoid a the avoidable.

Ezrider_92356

only thing i would suggest if you don't have a tranny jack and are planning on using an floor jack i would take the transfer case off it will make it easyer to handle.

pdrayton

The clunk on take off turned out to be the rear brake drums freezing to the hub from sitting for so long. Wire brushed them and it's all good. Sorry for the delayed response, I didn't get emailed that there was an update.

Not sure where I got the service manual from, but it is good to have. you just follow the steps and it's reasonably easy once you are familiar with all the parts