jim x 3
1988 F-350 DRW
A year ago the plastic bushing/keeper in my clutch bellcrank to clutch master pushrod gave out. I fixed that by buying the heim joint with the setscrew and hex head capscrew to replace the bellcrank stud. While that all worked and was a better design than the Ford original, I ended up with a lazy clutch pedal – one that won’t return (completely) to full upright when letting out the clutch. So my left foot has now trained itself to pull up the cluch pedal after each shift.
I decided to finally do something to fix this. I reclocked the bellcrank to clutch pedal shaft splined connection. My clutch pedal then snapped nicely to resting position. However, my clutch is now slipping under heavy acceleration. There is no intermediate spline.
So I take issue with the heim joint mod as half assed. It should have been designed with an adjustment mechanism. I ended up sticking a thin circular shim into the pushrod hole as a fix. But the heim joint hole should be female threaded for a locknut and male threaded pushrod. [And that hole is ~3/8” in diameter – too large for the pushrod.]
Keep this if mind if your clutch mechanism needs this repair.
Jim x 3
PS. While messing with this (with my upper body and head in the driver footwell), I determined the clutch pedal shaft right end bushing was plastic as well. Green plastic powder was filtering down into my eyes and 3 pieces of plastic broke away as I exercised the clutch pedal with my hand. The ~3/4” shaft had hogged out the opening in the potmetal or aluminum bracket. I ended up using a piece of 3/4” copper water pipe cut down to fashion a new bushing.
So sometimes the original Ford design is wholly sufficient for an application, and other times the design certainly did not contemplate a 40 year operational life.
I decided to finally do something to fix this. I reclocked the bellcrank to clutch pedal shaft splined connection. My clutch pedal then snapped nicely to resting position. However, my clutch is now slipping under heavy acceleration. There is no intermediate spline.
So I take issue with the heim joint mod as half assed. It should have been designed with an adjustment mechanism. I ended up sticking a thin circular shim into the pushrod hole as a fix. But the heim joint hole should be female threaded for a locknut and male threaded pushrod. [And that hole is ~3/8” in diameter – too large for the pushrod.]
Keep this if mind if your clutch mechanism needs this repair.
Jim x 3
PS. While messing with this (with my upper body and head in the driver footwell), I determined the clutch pedal shaft right end bushing was plastic as well. Green plastic powder was filtering down into my eyes and 3 pieces of plastic broke away as I exercised the clutch pedal with my hand. The ~3/4” shaft had hogged out the opening in the potmetal or aluminum bracket. I ended up using a piece of 3/4” copper water pipe cut down to fashion a new bushing.
So sometimes the original Ford design is wholly sufficient for an application, and other times the design certainly did not contemplate a 40 year operational life.
