Overly Sensitive Clutch

I'm going to have to pull/rebuild my T14 transmission and definitely want to get this second bird while I'm in there.

My clutch is very sensitive! There is only about 2" on the pedal from Fully engaged to fully distinguished. You know the pedal has like 10"+ of travel so there is a lot of searching for the spot where it starts and I sometimes stall on taking off from a stop. Wheeling on rough trails is very hard with this clutch.

I have the Advanced Adapter chain linkage (which works great) and I have no idea what brand clutch. I think it was the cheap one from RockAuto. A longer clutch fork would likely help but I don't know how much?? (it needs a lot of help). I have searched the forums with no luck. Hope this is an issue that we've seen/solved in the past.

Thanks for your input!

 

Mines sorta the same, I have described it as grabby. Lot's of travel, lot's of travel... bang head against seat!

Looking forward to what comes out of this. Good luck with the tranny, looks like you are about to learn a few things.

 

The best thing I ever did with my v6 was to swap the bellhousing out for one from a Monza. The Jeep clutch’s pivot point is on the near-side of the throw out bearing, giving it a stiff and short 1:1 ratio. The Monza had a long clutch arm that put the pivot on the far side of the throw out bearing, giving it twice the travel at half the pedal pressure.

This requires a re-route of the actuation, since what was pulling rearward to disengage the clutch would now need to push the arm forward.

 

I searched at Summit Racing a bit tonight. I did find a fork that in a review someone mentioned that the fork was longer and made depressing the clutch easier. Then I called and the guy I spoke with wasn’t at all helpful. I’ll call again tomorrow and see if someone is a bit more ambitious about helping me find the good fork.

I was hoping (like y’all above) that someone would know - “so & so clutch is muck less sensitive “.

 

Looking at the forks online seems very few have the slot and hole needed for a cable clutch linkage. Is that something anyone has drilled/cut to make fit?

 

Cables were used on 70/71 to replace the linkage IIRC.

 

The '70-71 cable setup seems well-liked. Ask jpflat2a. The cable from Inline Tube seems good. The '72 cable setup was a disaster.

Which clutch cover do you have? The diaphragm covers take less pedal pressure to move.

I don't think you can judge now until it's together again.

 

You can always lengthen the lower arm and shorten the upper arm on the pivot tube to get a (edit) shorter throw on the clutch arm also.

 

My bad. I didn’t realize OP was using the chain.

Edit: Duh. I re-read the first post.

 

This. Most of the replacement cables available are garbage. I fought them for years before I got the cable from Inline Tube....no more worries!

 

After this thread, I just ordered and Inline Tube cable to have on the shelf.

 

I used a crown cable for about 2 years, then it snapped. No warning. I was lucky I was at home when it happened. I replaced it with the Inline Tube cable, which is much better quality and lower resistance. This made the pedal a little easier to push, but it is still very sensitive.

It also stretches a lot less, making adjustments far less frequent.

I have wondered about changing the overall ratio at the pedal end instead of the fork. It wouldn't be too hard to drill a new hole in the pedal arm closer to the pivot point.

 

Thanks for jumping on here Chuck. That Chevy Truck fork certainly is longer than a stock fork and would definitely give more pedal travel. How much more? I have no idea.

Do you think that would be a drop in replacement and we could use that fork with the current stock bearing and post?

 

I'm willing to bet that your clutch issues stemmed entirely from the bearing retainer problem. The throwout bearing was likely riding on the clutch fingers.... thus the instant release of the clutch.

 

Bet? Money?

My CJ has only been on the road for just under one year. It’s always had this issue. The clutch pedal / linkage has lots of travel before any engagement and some after as well. I do hope you’re right, but I’d bet.