long shaft clutch, paging all ol'timers
 

ok so my truck has a long shaft clutch in it, i know this because it requires a long shaft throw out bearing, I'm pretty sure this did not come out of the truck but the P/O put in cuz my truck is an 84. now my question is, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE LONG AND SHORT SHAFT? like is it the Bellhouseing? or the actuall transmission itself?? and whats the advantages vs the disadvantages? :chevy::chevy:

Re: long shaft clutch, paging all ol'timers
 

If I remember correctly it is the pressure plate design that determines which throwout bearing to use;the bellhousings are the same as is the input shaft dimension.

Re: long shaft clutch, paging all ol'timers
 

that cant be because when i put in the first clutch i used the bearing that came in it, after the first time i pushed in the clutch it started squeling like an SOB and i had to drop it, thought maybe a bad throwout so i used another one that came with the kit and it did the same :waah:so my granpas friend said that it was probably a a long shaft so i found a long shaft throwout bearing and wala it worked nice:metal: its just the long shaft throwouts are more expensive and rare then the shorts and if i could like swap the bellhousing to on it to accept a short shaft i would for sure

Re: long shaft clutch, paging all ol'timers
 

the term "long" comes not from the length of anything but rather the company that made them. there are three types of clutches for our chevys, long, borg & beck and diaphragm. the length of the throw out bearing is determined by the clutch style, type of pivot ball and the clutch fork. there are two styles of fork, stamped & cast & i have seen different configured stamped forks. once you start to mix these parts up you kinda "lose your rabbit" & have to start over sometimes.
andy

Re: long shaft clutch, paging all ol'timers
 

Good clutch info. I've never heard the expression "Lose your rabbit". Must be an interesting story attached somewhere. :)

Re: long shaft clutch, paging all ol'timers
 

"lose your rabbit" is a hunting term used when the rabbit makes a sharp turn & the dogs run past the turn & lose the track & have to back up & find the track & start over. you can "lose your rabbit" lots of ways, especially when working with carburetors!
andy