The dremel tool did the trick, finally got that cursed bearing race out. I cleaned out the hole and aside from some cut marks and mangling on the outer rim it felt fine and should easily accept a bearing. However, the needle bearing they gave me weeble wobbles around in the hole. It fits decent on the shaft, could be tighter though. I’ve heard that needle bearings are not a good way to go, they don’t last with all the dust and eat your input shaft? Should I find an oillite bushing and if it’s the same fit maybe center punch the OD of it?

 

You could use a bushing if you can find one. Only time the pilot bearing actually does anything is when your in gear with the clutch disengaged, at a stop light, or stop sign, aside from keeping the input shaft centered, The input shaft will always spin at engine speed any other time. I usually put my truck in neutral and let the clutch out if I'm gonna be a minute or two at a light.

 

I never saw the OEM bearing, only the crappy one the shop had installed and my Sachs replacement which should be the same as the original. Both were needle style.

 

Well I’ve got some good and bad news. Good news I found a bronze oil impregnated bushing for my pilot bushing. I put it in with some brass shim stock on the OD and it was a nice tap fit with my 8oz ball peen. Bad news is once I got the trans in and secured with a couple of bolts I put on the slave to test everything out. Hopped in the truck and had no pressure on the clutch pedal. No leaks anywhere, slave rod is indeed lined up on the fork, throw out bearing moves free and I can make it contact the pressure plate when the slave is out by hand. The only thing it could be in my mind is the hydraulics. But I have no idea how, everything seems perfect. When installing the slave it’s got plenty of resistance when I push in the rod. What do you guys think? Is it possible to get air in the system just by pushing in the slave rod? The reservoir cap was on the whole time.

 

I guess make sure the slave piston is all the way back in the cylinder? When new ones come they are tied in with plastic straps that are not removed until you push on the pedal to break them. It doesn't move much either so just a little off can make it feel dead. You stuck your finger in the hole and made sure the fork is straight on?

 

The fork was in place, throwout bearing up against the clutch. I put the slave onto the studs with the piston just hanging there uncompressed and it compresses as I push it into the fork fully and tighten down the nuts. Is that not sufficient? That's how I did it when I cleaned the rod prior to dropping the trans and it worked fine.

 

Sounds right. Don't know what to tell you then. I would remove it all to check the clutch, et al.

 

Pulled the trans back off to check. Everything was as it should be, throwout bearing can extend a bit over the splined section indicating that it reaches the pressure plate with ease. There’s no way the clutch disc is in backwards, I read somewhere that happened to somebody. I don’t think it would fit the wrong way in these. I pumped the clutch a ton, nothing.

 

Just got under the truck again since I had a friend available to help me. Had him push the clutch while I looked at the clutch fork from the starter hole, and it was indeed actuating properly. Is it possible to get a much lighter pedal feel with all new components? It was not abnormally hard to press beforehand. I suppose I'll go try and spin the output when he presses the clutch in to see if it's actually disengaging.

 

Different clutch manufactures have different clutch feel. Luk is known for the ease of the clutch disengagement. A clutch rated for more HP and torque will be a little stiffer. I think your paranoid, I'd button it up, make sure it's neutral crank it up, and put it in gear and drive it. Only way to know for sure. Make sure give it a good 500 mile break in before you go giving it the beans. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.