Home Forums Gear Hunting Trucks and Four-Wheel Drives new clutch

Last Thursday I was on my way to the Icebreaker in Montana to shoot with the boys up there. Clutch fell to pieces at a stop sign near Brockway. The nearest towtruck/mechanic is in Glendive, 60 miles east. I was able to get it moving/started without the clutch and drove it to the shop, shifting without the clutch. Gibbs Repair's guys were great. I spent the night in the truck in their yard. First thing Friday morning the guys ripped into it. Had it broke down by 8 AM. The holdup was getting the flywheel resurfaced, it didn't show back up till 1 in the afternoon. As soon as it was back, they jumped on it to get me on my way. I reckon it helped by talking to Mike Gibbs (the owner) first. A fellow shooter/gun nut. The Ford dealer was a week out, so Gibbs offer to help me get going the next day was much appreciated. I made it to the Icebreaker just before dark on friday, so didn't get to shoot till Saturday. By getting there late, Montana Marine and oldslowdog had already left, so I'll have to catch those guys next year. I talked to Sammo on the phone as I blew thru Wolf Point, but didn't have time to stop and visit this time. The 20 year old '99 Ford F-350 only had a 103,333 miles on it, so maybe it was time. While it was apart I had them put new u-joints on the back driveshaft. Put 1682 miles on it this trip, ford ran great and the clutch worked like a champ on the way home.

before she blew..


at home.

Good job on jake-shifting the old girl. Had that happen in the semi one time, coming down Crowsnest Pass in AB, at 80K lbs, and a delivery east of Calgary. Made it to the customer on no clutch, including crossing Hwy 1.

Just to give you a frame of reference, my 96 F250 is at 360K, and on her second clutch. You're a little ahead of the curve....

But did your '96 teach 2 boys to drive/shift a manual? I reckon they mighta had some affect on the life.....

You've had some adventurous treks up here.

it keeps the years easy to remember. If they was all smooth and pain-free, it'd just be a jumble of same-o, same-o.....

That 99 aint even broke in yet. My 2000 F250 diesel has just over 300,000 and ii s going fine. It has been a hard puller most of it's life pulling construction equipment from the Salt Lake area out to Western Washington averaging 18,500 per load on every road condition God has made. Couple of clutches and one transmission and one overdrive til retried it to my everyday driver two years ago. And yes I did have to slip shift from Boise to Kirkland clutchless one weekend which was quite a trip.

That's about right for clutch life when used for pulling loads.My 98 Dodge shelled out at about 120K.You can get good mileage out of these diesel engines,but everything conncected to them, not so much

The clutch on my Dodge diesel went out at about 100k. They replaced it with a much better one that they say should last the life of the pickup. That OEM dual mass flywheel causes a lot of problems. I don't know how it works or what the problems are, though.

Next thing to go will be the hydraulic clutch system

I'm betting the batteries will be next to go. They're 6 years old....

Clutch in my 02 is original far as I know, 165k on it. Noticed a week or two ago that it’s starting to rattle a little, probably not long for this world.

Starting my '99 was getting laborious; obviously the 2007-vintage Deka batteries were at fault. Changed to Napa Legend (rebadged Deka) a couple months ago...batteries weren't the problem, it was the starter! Should have switched back to see how long they'd go, but after 12 years I put them out to pasture.

I just rolled over 410k...7.3 with 6-speed

I have a NAPA legend in my wife's Sienna. At 7 yo, it still starts great. Not like running glow plugs on almost every start though.

170k or so on my 2000 f250. Around there anyway. It’s the original clutch and feels good but the throwout bearing is making a bit of noise.

I should go ahead a replace it.

No, both my boy and my girl learned to shift in my '97 Tacoma. It went 330K miles on the original clutch, when it got wrecked (see afore mentioned son....) The Chevy Nova before that taught three kids to shift, and it went 240K before I sold it.

The F250 ran about 100K doing local deliveries (off road, for a large part) at a CGVW of right at 22K lbs. But yes, I jake shift the F250 routinely, other than from a dead stop. Clutch life is largely dependent on the driver. I had one driver that would go through a clutch every 250K on the semi. Just poor driving habits.

Man that sucks, last time I saw you at the Icebreaker (6), you were plowing deer on the way home.

Hopefully we'll meet up next year.

Shane

yep. I would have liked to hang out with you again. good times....