I thought I’d pass along a recent experience pertaining to 69 and later Swepts that I found little on when searching the board. Although I’ve had a ton of earlier trucks, my 69 W100 is the first 69 and up sweptline I’ve owned with a manual trans. The clutch was not releasing fully and was getting worse rapidly. I’d hoped an adjustment would help, but braced for a clutch R&R. When I got a chance to check it out I found the clutch fork pivot had broken from flexing/metal fatigue. Up to this point I’d only dealt with the ball type pivot. In this case the clutch fork simply “rocks” if you will, like a teeter totter over the pivot. Apparently most or all of the 69 and up manual 100 and 200 trucks have this type of pivot in the bellhousing.
I’ve got a replacement coming from Brewers Performance. I felt they were the best source of a quality part at a reasonable cost, much better than most on evilpay, and hope to be back up soon.
Hum, my 69's clutch pedal has been getting stiff and creaking after only driving a few miles, plus I did go through a period of abnormal adjustment. I wonder if I could have the same problem. How much work was it to replace?
It doesn't take long to see if you have an issue with a pivot, and a close inspection should reveal any cracks in the corner of the bracket.
The good news is that it's easy to R&R. Jack the truck, remove the clutch inspection cover, disconnect the clutch linkage from the clutch fork, remove the fork, and the pivot is held in by too bolts. Piece of cake.
I took the opportunity to replace the clutch fork boot with one I got from Brewers while I was there, and the operation of the clutches now light and smooth as silk.
Well, I took it apart: Low and behold, I do have a crack in the pivot about half its length, and it is also bent over as a result. Good news vs a clutch!
I just chatted with someone at Brewers Performance, and the guy I talked to wasn't 100% on the part numbers for a truck, if you could confirm?
Also, if it's not too much trouble, can you snap a pic of the shift boot and bezel inside the cab? I think my boot is aftermarket, and it is missing the bezel, anyway.
Sorry you got a crack for me but glad you caught it before you had a total failure. Also a good thing you verified the part numbers. The FP 312 pivot is correct, but the boot I used is an FB021R. The boot seemed to really fit well and appeared to be very close to the original which turned to dust when I removed it :-).
Make sure you get the fork behind the uppermost clutch Fork retaining spring on the throwout bearing when you reinsert the fork. It can be kind of tricky, and it won't work out well if you don't get it right.
I'm doing some interior painting, and my wife would kill me if I stop to run out and take photos of the truck. I'll post a picture of the boot when I can.
Thanks for the parts info. Got the order in with Brewers. Gonna be nice...
I see what you mean about the fork springs. Took me a bit to figure out how to get the fork out. Spent a minute poking and prying on the springs, before I just decided to get aggressive with the fork :). Yeah, my boot came out/apart in chunks.
No need to get trouble on the boot pic; whenever you have time. Kind of a long shot that Brewers would have a correct replacement. Just that looking through their website got me thinking.
Pulled the pivot today, and installed the new one along with a new boot and conical bush thingy.
You can see the the 60% crack on the right. What you can't see are the multiple stress cracks on the left side and the reduced bend in it. Very close to total failure.
I'll re-adjust the push rod and drive the truck some more tomorrow, but so far so good. The fix seems to have reduced pedal effort dramatically---so no more hydraulic-clutch envy
Glad you caught that before it failed while on the road! I noticed my clutch was very light after replacing the pivot as well. It's amazing how well things work when everything is in order.
I'm still working on the boot, have been in contact with Brewers to get some measurements. More to follow soon.
