Flywheel bolts shaved down!

I am replacing the clutch and T/O bearing on my '71 CJ5. The clutch was making a horrid sound when depressed so I assumed the T/O bearing was bad. When I pulled the pressure plate and clutch off, I saw that the springs on the clutch face had worn down the bolt heads on the flywheel!! The T/O bearing looks like it's been worn down about 1/4 inch! What would cause the clutch springs to hit the bolt heads and wear them?

Also, how in the world do I get the old T/O bearing out of the forks?? I don't want to beat it with a hammer, though that usually fixes things in my case!!

Thanks

Milan

 

I'm holding the clutch fork in my hand (with the bearing still in it) and can't figure out how to get the bearing out of the fork!! What am I missing? Should it just slide out?

 

Here are pics of the T/O bearing. What do I do next?? THANKS

 

Looks like that spring metal retaining clip is just holding it on. I think the hammer is called for in this case. I agree with above statement as well. Sounds like the disc was in backwards.
Brannon

 

I guess a hammer it will be! I hope the new one goes in easily and doesn't require a beating!!

 

no beating required; should pop right off (should being the key word here)
be careful not to break either side of the spring clip
plop a liitle grease on the fork pivot ball as well

 

Thanks for the advice, after checking out the fork further one of the "ears" is worn off and there is a groove cut almost through the fork where the bad bearing was rubbing. A new fork's on the way from Krage! As for the clutch disk, it WAS in backwards for who knows how long! The new one is on the CORRECT way (kind of hard to botch this one up when it reads "flywheel side" right on the face!). As soon as I get the fork it'll be back on the road just in time to move from NC to Sunny SoCal!!

-Milan

 

If the old bolts are ground down much, I would replace them. Sorry to hear your moving.....There are good jeeping spots out there however.

 

I was thinking about replacing them as well, might as well since I've got it off. Are they special bolts or can I just grab them at Lowes/Home Depot or the local auto parts store?

 

Maybe take one or 2 of those ground-down bolts into NAPA and have them hook you up with high-grade matching ones. Good luck!

 

Yeah, they are special bolt. They usually ahve a very thin head on them for clearance. The NAPA should be able to help out. See Kevin or Larry. They have helped me find semi-obscure parts before.

 

I can't find the torque for those bolts in my Haynes manual...any idea what it would be?

 

My book says 50-65 FT-Lbs

 

Brannon Thanks again! I was thinking about the flywheel bolts and the flip side of the coin is what if the head is a bit weak and won't withstand the torque of taking it out and I snap the head off...then I'm really screwed (literally) aren't I??

 

nope! then snap them all off and remove the flywheel anyway. Then you will be able to get to the rest of the bolts and remove them that way. The tension on that bolt is from the stretch created when the threads pull the head of the bolt into the recess in the flywheel. Remove that source of tension and the bolts will usually come out easily. Do you need to resurface the flywheel anyway? if so then it has to come off either way.

 

Good points!!! Thanks yet again!