Hydraulic Throwout Bearings

[601HP]

Originally Posted by Bryan Wilson

I have the Mcleod unit but have found if the clutch needs adjustment, because of bellhousing clearance restrictions I have to pull the engine and gearbox to get at the clutch or HTOB a real PITA
Cheers, Bryan

Bryan,
That adjustment process seems to be a lot of effort and nuisance.

McLeod offers 2 types of HTOB; the 1300 bolt-on, and the 1400 slip-on. I purchased the 1300 series and mounted it on a Toploader transmission. The product description for the 1300 series states the bearing will always touch the pressure plate fingers, without exerting pressure.

After I mounted the HTOB to the Toploader, I connected the wet lines to a bench-mounted Girling master cylinder which enabled me to measure the excursion of the throwout bearing while I operated the master cylinder's piston rod. It became apparent the bearing's face would always remain in contact with the pressure plate fingers. The bearing retracts only by the amount of pressure plate finger movement, when full clutch engagement has been reached.

I hope this design will eliminate the adjustment PITA you described.

David

[OROBBE]

Hi David,

I've got a 482Ci / TKO600 / McLeod RST Twin clutch disks kit installed on my car (CSX4000) but after investigating about McLeod HTOB I've seen that many people met problems with that part. Instead of McLeod I've installed a TILTON HTOB and after 5000 miles I strictly have no problems and I'm very happy with it (very soft clutch pedal and of course no leaks !).

OliveR

[wolf k]

I used this one from Keisler. It is OEM for numerous makes, Corvette and BMW for instance. If it is good enough to be OEM, then it is good enough for me. It has excellent feel, and was easy to bleed.

Oops, Keisler filed for bankrupcy, looks like Liberty Gears bought their assets.

[HTM101]

wolf k,
Its good to have options on these htob's. Thanks for your input.

I looked through your photos.....very nice ERA you have!

David

[jwd]

I think there is some confusion about the Ford clutch set-up. Ford has been using a "constant contact" T/O bearing for many, many years. It is used in conjunction with a clutch fork that pivots on the pass. side of the bellhousing. They are designed to be contacting the pressure plate at all times with 3-5 pounds of pre-load pressure. Not enough pre-load will cause them to rattle. If you try to adjust them where they are not contacting the pressure plate, you will not have enough travel to fully dis-engage the clutch like the problem the O.P. is having. No return spring is needed or used by Ford with this clutch. The old school clutches from the 60's & 70's use a drivers side pivot on the fork and need to have clearance between the T/O bearing and the PP.