I have a 1996 Dodge Dakota 5.2L with the nv3500 transmission. WHen i first crank the truck up its hard to put in gear and it'll try to roll sometimes. any suggestions?

 

How old is the clutch?

My 2 guesses are 1) there is air in your hydraulic system or 2) the fingers on the pressure plate are worn out.

 

Im guessing its the original. The truck has 124,000 miles on it.

 

I'd change it out then. Does sound like it's worn out. That's some good miles on the original. I just did my clutch at around 103,000

 

no it doesn't seem like its worn out. Any suggestions on places where I can get some good prices on high performance clutches

 

Once it it warmed up with the truck stoped push the clutch all the way in put it in first and very slowely let out on the clutch. You should be able to let out an inch or two before it engages. If it engages the second you start letting out on it then most likely needs to be replaced.

 

The clutch discs could still be in decent shape, but after this many miles of use, the metal fingers on the pressure plate that the throwout bearing presses against could become weak and therefore not release the clutch as far as they could when new. Here is a picture the pressure plate in case you have no idea what I'm talking about...



The wedge shaped peices in the middle are the fingers. The throwout bearing presses against them and they pull the pressure plate off the clutch.

Like I said before though, the other option could always be air in the hydraulic system.