'97 F350 PSD clutch recommendation, now build and whatnot saga :)

[scotts90ranger]

Gotta pull the trans to rebuild it in the next month, it needs a clutch too, recommendations? Found these so far:

CENTERFORCE

SOUTH BEND

Plans for the thing later down the road are stage one injectors and intercooler so around 300hp or thereabouts so not sure I need some fancy clutch twice as much as these... but open to thoughts.

 

[scotts90ranger]

No thoughts? I'm kinda leaning toward the centerforce with my experience with the Ranger, I'm sure the price difference will get me a flywheel...

 

[bilbo]

I have a '94 with an IDI, so a bit different from yours. When I replaced mine I used a Luk kit but I didn't have any worries about HP as mine's stock. While researching that there seemed to be good things said about South Bend, but don't take that as my shining recommendation. Sorry I can't be more help than that.

Does the PSD use a dual mass flywheel? The IDI does and when I replaced mine I used the SMF. The pedal feel is a lot lighter and the flywheel was less expensive, but it caused the transmission to be noisy at times.

One other thing, the clutch pedal on mine has a little linkage that goes to the master cylinder with a plastic bushing. The bushing wears out and if left too long will damage the metal bits. In my case I wasn't able to open the new clutch fully. There are kits to implement a small heim joint instead of the plastic bushing. That's what I did as the hole for the bushing was egged out. I'm guessing your '97 uses the same pedal box so something to check and maybe plan for when you do the clutch.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Apparently some had dual mass and some didn't, this one looks like a standard clutch to me just huge , I'll try to get the clutch and flywheel off tomorrow... I'm leaning hard toward the Centerforce, I'm not going for dumb power, south bend has a good reputation but I don't think I want to go too crazy...

Got the transmission out and apart now, so far found the counter shaft bearing races have spun so technically the case is shot but I think I'm going to take a center punch to the bottom side (thrust side) of the case where the races go before final assembly then use some Loctite sleeve retainer, since it's questionable and I do use it for truck stuff I'll even go as far as checking for proper bearing preload... Tomorrow I hope to be able to rip most of the shafts apart to check on the pocket bearings since they don't come in the kits... If I have to go into Portland for parts I'd prefer to only do it once since I'm not a fan of that craphole...

 

[bilbo]

Yeah they are big clutches and flywheels. I think the one I put in was 14" or something like that. The flywheel had to be 50lb. Getting the new one in wasn't too bad though. Without using jacks there was enough room I could sit on the floor with my head up in the trans tunnel, then use my legs to position the flywheel while I put the bolts in. I'm guessing any of the well known brands will work fine.

Bummer on the trans. Is that a ZF5? Mine sometimes has trouble locking into reverse. From what I've read it's somewhat common, and usually a bad synchronizer and/or worn fork. It hasn't started popping out yet, but I'm sure that day will come. It's got 303,000 miles so it's probably due for some TLC. Other than the reverse thing it seems fine though.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Yep, ZF5, of the S5-47 variety, apparently that changed around '95 from the S5-42, minor differences...

I've read that about the worn out forks, it's why you're not supposed to keep your hand on the shifter, not sure how that would wear out reverse...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Just pulled the clutch that was in it, it was a Luk, throwout bearing wore a groove in all the springs from the looks of it, the splined hub is loose, looks like the friction disc is warped or something since there's only rust spots in odd areas. No real step in the flywheel but a few hot spots so I'll have it resurfaced if I can find a place locally...

So, about how I expected with the amount of weird surging and chattering that it did, combination of the loose hub and worn out bearings on the counter shaft is likely the surging thing it did idling in first around parking lots and such... might just skip trying to pull gears tonight and just clean the flywheel to take to Napa tomorrow, leave disassembly for tomorrow and over the weekend where I should be able to get my press from the garage to the shop, get the air over hydraulic jack conversion done and get to work... where I'm going to put the press, no idea

 

[00t444e]

South Bend clutch and a sold flywheel.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Dadgummit... after spending $52 resurfacing the flywheel I'm realizing the Luk flywheel that was on it won't work with the Centerforce kit I was looking at...

Ok, in the name of saving parts and getting good stuff, it's after hours at South Bend but would by chance anyone know if the bolt pattern for the Luk and South Bend pressure plate be the same? I found THIS which sounds perfect for my needs...

I don't have an account at FTE or anywhere that would be more helpful, this is my only vehicle related forum... The South Bend kit is $300 more than the Luk but it saves like $200 not buying a flywheel like the complete South Bend kit with flywheel...

@00t444e that's pretty much what you were recommending...

I'll call South Bend in the morning, hopefully they will know

Things are coming together, got the press moved from the garage to the shop tonight, pressed the carrier bearing off the rear driveshaft, realized I don't have a big enough bearing knife thing to attack much of the transmission so off to HFT tomorrow... I didn't have much more in me tonight, I have tomorrow night and half of Saturday to myself so I'll get some progress then . Ordered some anaerobic sealer and the carrier bearing so far and the trans rebuild kit, stuff should start showing up tomorrow through Monday...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Ok, did some research and it looks like South Bend uses their own pattern that won't likely bolt up to the flywheel, but called Valair and the guy on the phone sounded pretty confident it will work so got their stage 1 clutch on the way...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Tried pulling the input shaft bearing off the output shaft and it didn't wanna, tried pulling against the cage, that rolled the rollers over the lip, then tried the bearing splitter on the small lip, that lip broke, gonna have to dremel it off... got discouraged for the evening and moved to working on the welding cart storage door... , got that done aside from paint so feel accomplished, I'll hit the trans disassembly harder tomorrow... the rebuild kit should show up tomorrow I think so it should be able to go back together right after I get it apart which is more ideal...

 

[bilbo]

I'm interested in how your trans rebuild goes as I will eventually need to tear mine apart. I need to get a press first, though.

 

[scotts90ranger]

Jury is still out if the 20 ton HFT press is even going to be very useful, these gears are HUGE and heavy, main shaft assembled has to be almost 50 pounds...

Just to help you out and me I found some very helpful video's from a guy called "bulletproof garage" HERE, that's the assembly video but he has another for disassembly, very thorough and no special tools that can't be worked around... his choice of table for hammering stuff on could use some structure but aside from that that made me cringe the rest is good...

 

[scotts90ranger]

The rebuild kit arrived yesterday, got somewhere on the disassembly but got stuck pulling the front gears off the main shaft, there's a thrust washer and roller bearing sleeve that are both pressed on the shaft and there's nothing to pull on really... ended up with my cheap 6" or 8" or whatever Harbor Freight 3 jaw puller and notched the hooks for the synchro teeth so I could get to the gear teeth next to it...

So far for tools I've used the 3 sizes of bearing separators I have, that 3 jaw puller and a friends Proto two jaw puller with my custom extensions, haven't used the press yet but I still need to put the two end bearings on the main shaft, haven't touched the input shaft or the two bearings on the counter shaft...

Getting closer, I'll putz with it over the week and hopefully get it in next weekend...

 

[scotts90ranger]

Got the Valair clutch today and it fits the flywheel! Saves me like $200 and a big relief...

I finally used the press on the assembly, just to drive the pocket bearing and output bearing on the output shaft, after a bit I'll be putting the input shaft bearing in and probably calling it a night for that, gotta do some yard work quick first...