Replacing the Clutch in Your Car

It was time for a new clutch. This ol truck had over two hundred thousand miles on the odometer and this was the original clutch. Quite a long life for a clutch really.

This kind of repair job is not something you want to do in your back yard. So I borrowed a garage and began the process of taking things apart and putting them back together.

The clutch is more rightly called a friction disc. It rides on the input shaft of the transmission and when you release the clutch pedal, this disc is forced up against the flywheel of the engine. This is where the friction comes from. Once the vehicle begins moving, the clutch is let out all the way and now the engine,clutch and transmission are all moving at the same rate of speed..and the slipping of the clutch, has stopped. The only time a clutch gets any wear, is when you are just taking off.

In the garage I prepare for what is a rather laborious trek into the mechanical guts of the drive train. In the cab I pull up and remove the flexible boot of the gearshift. There will be four bolts under there and after removing them, the gearshift will come right out.

For this kind of work, I am going to need some elbow room. So, I jack up the rear end of the truck and place jack stands under each side and adjust them as high as they will go. And the same thing for the front end as well. On a creeper and under the truck I drop off the drive shaft and pull it out of the transmission. It is a good idea to take some electrical tape and wrap it around the universal joint end caps so they don't pop off and spray bearings all over.

That done I can go on to the transmission. There are several things here I need to do before I start pulling out bolts. There is the speedometer cable to take off, or on some vehicles, the speed sensor. The back up lights connector. The cross member that supports the transmission. I will need another jack stand for this once the cross member has been taken out to support the weight. You don't want your transmission just hanging there.