Shuddering when taking off
 

I thought my shudder in drive line was from the flywheel not being re-surfaced. Clutch, PP, is new flywheel resurfaced. Still get a shudder when letting the clutch out. Any ideas? It has new motor mounts and new bell housing mounts.

Thanks
Ron

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

No oil leaking from rear seal?

Center bearing rubber in good shape?

Differential U bolts tight?

If you have clearance maybe take a look from underneath or off to the side as someone drives away?

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

I was considering going to 3.55 or close to it. If I am not mistaken going to 3.55 or 3.73's would require replacing the carrier, is that correct?

I am pretty sure the u-joints are tight but will double check. It is a swb so there is no center carrier bearing. Also no oil at main.

Thanks
Ron

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Did you buy a 300 dollar clutch or a cheaper 100 buck one?
Cheaper ones usually have different height fingers on the pressure plate.
FWIW I ran a 3.08 gear behind a 2.20 first gear muncie with no problems. I used the best clutch I could find. Best 300 bucks I spent.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

If you didn't already you might want to have a look at the pilot bearing.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

I did replace the pilot bearing. I installed a clutch kit from Oreilly Auto. The whole thing was about 175.00.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Also check for worn out, sloppy, and/or mis-aligned clutch linkage.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Mike I really dont feel anything in the clutch pedal. And I have put bushings in for worn holes. Do you still think it could be loose clutch linkage?

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

MOST of your chattering is the fact it is so HIGH geared 308s are a great ratio for an automatic not very good on a manual trans

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Another thing often overlooked: check the bolts that hold the bell housing to the engine. Seen many $'s wasted on new clutches when they just had loose bolts. HTH,
Sam

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Thanks all for the information. I think I will start looking at changing the gears. I returned the first clutch kit as the fingers ended up not looking even when installed. The new clutch kit looks ok as far as the fingers go and there is no evidence of oil or contamination anywhere. The engine only has about 2000 miles on the rebuild. I will also take another look at the clutch linkage. I took as much as I could out of the slop in the linkage with new bushing. I actually thought the flywheel resurfacing was going to take care of it. Since we plan on doing a lot of towing , with a trailer that weighs about 2800 lbs, it will probably be a good idea to get the gears changed. Anyone have a good idea on how much that will cost to have the new gears installed?

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

linkage will not cause it to shutter; either you can engage the clutch or not.
how well did you torque the flywheel bolts and has been mentioned b/housing bolts
how are your engine mounts. higher gearing also puts more strain on the mounts
ron

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Padresag, I did torque the flywheel on to the specs, not sure but 85lbs comes to mind. I went over the bolts three times after reaching 85 so I do believe that its torqued good. Having 3.08 gears probably has a lot to do with it. I am taking another trip to see how the new trailer pulls. It is lighter than the one we rented. Only by around 500lbs but the aero is a lot better than the rental. The rental was a big square box, this one has a more sloped front and rear. I most likely will be changing the gears before going to the mountains but want to check out the way the new trailer pulls. Being retired makes money a little tighter.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

If you have the clutch off again I wonder if there would be a way to put a dial indicator on it to check the flywheel run out. It would have to be done in such a way that the crankshaft end play would not be a factor in skewing the results.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

Sorry, I have to disagree. If the linkage is flimsy and/or flexing, or hanging up due to lack of lubrication, poor adjustment, etc, the clutch engagement can be inconsistent.

I replaced the worn out stock linkage on my truck with a custom setup using heim joints, and clutch engagement is smooth as butter.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

ck your rear trailing arm bushings.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

if the stock linkage is in good shape it should work quite smoothly also. if the linkage is flimsey and or flexing it more than likely is not stock linkage. if the linkage is badly worn then you more than likely won't be able to engage the clutch enough to get it into gear and if you can't get it into gear it will not be able to shutter.
ron

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

what if he glazed the surface of the clutch disc ?
could that cause the problem ?

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

I have brand new bushing in the trailing arms. Now they are poly bushings but I doubt that has anything to do with it. Checked the bell housing and they are tight. Have even looked at the motor mounts again and they look fine. I replaced them when I did the frame off. It could just be that the clutch kit I got from Oreilly Auto was not a very good quality set. The manager said that it was the same kit that was sold at NAPA for almost a hundred more. Said it came from the same place in Canada. But we know how that goes. ????? The clutch kit only has about maybe 800 miles on it.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

What does it do if you slip the clutch and start out in second gear?

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

I have not tried that yet but I will and let you know.

Re: Shuddering when taking off
 

mine does it a little bit also and i used a cheap zoom kit. should of spent the $300 for a center-force set.