Clutch job nightmare

[Weldingman]

After the clutch went bad in my 86 F350 with a T19 I decided instead of taking a day off work to do the clutch in my driveway I would treat myself and have a mechanic do it. That was my first mistake. After taking 5 weeks to do the job they told me they replaced the clutch, flywheel, pilot bearing, and throw out bearing. Okay cool… I leave the shop get on the highway and at about 40 mph the truck starts to shake a bit. At 45 it’s worse and I figure I’ll speed up and see if it smooths out. At about 65 the entire truck felt like it was going to shake apart. I pull over call the shop ask if they took it for a test drive. Yeah around their parking lot, they never got it up to highway speed. The woman I’ve been dealing with tells me to “air up the tires maybe there’s a flat spot”. Okay Lol. I get home only a few miles away and get under the truck to find that none of the upper cross member bolts are tight so I figure that’ll surely fix my issue right? Wrong. I tighten them up and find that one the the nuts for the crossmember bolts was put on the bolts that holds the transmission down. One is fine thread one is course thread. Get those swapped everything tight and fire the truck up. Now there is this obnoxious squeak that goes away when I put my hand on the clutch fork or a little pressure on the clutch pedal. I go for a test ride and the truck is doing the same thing. Violently shaking. Now I’m not sure what the issue is but I’d rather find out then have the “mechanic” anywhere near my truck. Hopefully someone can help and I can get her back on the road sometime soon. Thanks.

 

[nelstomlinson]

It's shaking when you get the RPMs up? Or only when the vehicle is moving fast? If it's only when moving, that rules out an unbalanced engine or clutch.

Jack up the rear end, put it in 4th gear and speed it up. If there is no vibration, the problem is in your front end.

 

[Weldingman]

It's shaking when you get the RPMs up? Or only when the vehicle is moving fast? If it's only when moving, that rules out an unbalanced engine or clutch.

Jack up the rear end, put it in 4th gear and speed it up. If there is no vibration, the problem is in your front end.

It’s only when I get to about 40mph. I’m thinking it’s in my driveshaft but would that explain the squeaking throw out bearing?

 

[nelstomlinson]

I don't know what's up with the squeak.

If it vibrates when you're driving, but not when you put it up on jack stands and rev it, you probably have a problem in the front end, maybe bad bushings?
Edited to add:
If you rev it on jack stands you can look underneath for clues as you rev.

 

[Weldingman]

I’m thinking they screwed up a U joint or the drive shaft hanger. Very shoddy workmanship. I might just take it to another shop and have them start over. They didn’t even bolt my shifter boot back on in the cab. What is wrong with people.

 

[Big Bart]

Sounds like they gave it to a hack to do the job. Maybe your truck was getting in the way of Miller time.

Likely due to the fact it is mph and not rpm related it has to do with the drive shaft. Put the rear end up on Jack stands. Inspect the u-joints to see if they are tight or have issues. Also see if there are dents or gouges in the driveshaft. If you have a center support bearing wiggle to see if the bearing, rubber bushing, or bracket is loose or having issues.

If all looks good try taking the drive shaft off the rear axle, turn 180 degrees and see what happens. (Probably did Not mark and put back in the same way.)

Per above while the axle is on the jack stands have someone accelerate to 40-45mph and watch to see if the driveshaft or an axle starts to spin out of center and wobble.

Although most mechanics would not loosen your wheels to do a clutch, maybe they did to potentially upsell you on some brake work. So check your lug nuts just in case like the tranny support they are not tight.

 

[Weldingman]

The center support bracket does look like it is kicked and not square to the drive shaft. Maybe I’ll try to square it up and see if that helps while I’m under there.

 

[Big Bart]

If the drive shaft is not in a straight line (between tranny tail and axle yoke.) due to the center suppport bearing being moved to the passenger or drivers side. That could very well could explain the violent shaking at 65mph. In essence the drive shaft will have to swing not twist to achieve the same goal.

If you read threads members always suggest marking everything so you put everything back in it’s original spot. (Especially when replacing u-joints.) Because drivelines are balanced, just turning a yoke end 180 degrees can cause a new vibration.

Let us know what you find.

 

[cozinsky]

Check the driveshaft to see if the joints are phased correctly. If they pulled it apart at the slip yoke maybe they didn't get it aligned right on the splines when they put it back together. The yokes should line up with each other at both ends of the shaft.

 

[Weldingman]

They ended up not completely seating and tightening the U joint. What a bunch of clowns.

 

[Brian VT]

Glad you got it sorted.

 

[Weldingman]

I still have to drop the trans and replace the throw out bearing but one step at a time. At least now it’s drivable.

 

[The_Josh_Bear]

Wow how do you give someone a 0 star rating?

 

[Weldingman]

Wow how do you give someone a 0 star rating?

I left them a 1 star google review… you should see the owner’s response telling me they did nothing wrong and that someone else “molested” the truck before they got it blah blah blah. The lady is crazy. I think she’s an alcoholic because we would talk about stuff then a couple days later it’s like the conversation never happened.

 

[Scotty4]

I left them a 1 star google review… you should see the owner’s response telling me they did nothing wrong and that someone else “molested” the truck before they got it blah blah blah. The lady is crazy. I think she’s an alcoholic because we would talk about stuff then a couple days later it’s like the conversation never happened.

I've just been researching this for mine so before you go replacing things, post 13:

noisy throw out bearing - Ford Truck Enthusiasts Forums

1994.5 - 1997 7.3L Power Stroke Diesel - noisy throw out bearing - just installed my SMF and clutch, now my throw out bearing is squeaking, is this thing suposed to run all the time? or is it like the old trucks where you need free play?

www.ford-trucks.com