Aaarrrr...3 hours to grind and adjust a new clutch equalizer bar...AND THEN :l

[taipeichris]

Hi Guys,

Arr...3 hours of grinding, forming, and bending on the vice with my super sized crescent wrench and a 3 foot long pry bar.

After completing my clutch install I decided to get a new clutch equalizer bar. $$cash/money plus tax and shipping, $$ for the bushings, $$ for the boot, and I'm good to go right? Wrong :l

Problem 1, The new flat bar goes all the way around the aftermarket equalizer tube, keeping it from pivoting on the frame rail bracket. Grind, grind, grind, ok...it pivots.

Problem 2, Now it clears the frame but in the flat bar connecting to the clutch adjuster rod is too far towards the transmission. Even adjusting the clutch adjuster rod all the way in it still rides the throw out bearing.

HHMMM... now what? Problem 3, The flat bar connecting to the pedal rod hits on the frame rail. Fine, bend out towards the side, back in again, and over some more, just like the old one. It fits, right? Wrong :l

Problem 4, Next adjustment to be made, the flat bar to the pedal rod was too thick and hit on the edge of the frame mount bracket. Grind, grind some more...

Sorry for venting but I'm sure someone on this site gets it, none of my friends would understand why I was so greasy with driveway dirt stuck to me on a Friday night.

So why didn't I just fab up a new one instead of buying it?
C-

 

[Stutsmo]

I understand....... and I am glad it is not just me that has these issues.;D

 

[taipeichris]

BroncoFreak,
If this is happening to other people, I just feel bad for the guys who aren't experienced in the art of grind-bend-it til if Frack'n fits.

I called the vendor before I took the grinder out thinking maybe I was shipped the wrong part. HA, fat chance. They even asked for a photo of my linkage but it was the correct part.

Anyway, it's installed now and I'm picking up a new clutch adjuster rod from Auto Zone tomorrow morning. Mine doesn't have enough thread to back it in enough.

ZZZzzz...

 

[Chief Master Sergeant]

It sucks that a new part, which is supposed to be a replacement, has to be altered so much to make it work. Unfortunately this seems to be the case with most of the stuff I buy these days. Beyond frustrating!

 

[JLBachs]

Sounds like a really good argument in favor of a hydraulic conversion.

 

[stupidboy]

And the simplest things too%)

 

[itsabronco]

WHere did you buy it from? I need a new on one of my '72's. Dont wanna go through all of that BS .

 

[taipeichris]

Chief Master Sergeant, Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the vendors for selling parts that work in most cases but it was too much effort for what it was.

JLBachs, Hydraulic conversion? Naaah, I just redid the manual linkage plus this way it's one less thing that will leak.

Itsabronco, I'm not a vendor basher, I'm glad they exist so I decline on mentioning their name. This could happen with any of the vendors and the part is more robust than the original.

Off to Auto Zone to get a new clutch adjuster rod...

 

[Kurt]

Itsabronco, I'm not a vendor basher, I'm glad they exist so I decline on mentioning their name. This could happen with any of the vendors and the part is more robust than the original.

It is in the vendor's best interest overall to help straighten out the problem. Otherwise, the problem keeps re-occurring, and even the most loyal customer gets tired of the nonsense.

Overall, if the vendor repeatedly states, "Yep, we shipped the right part", or, "Contact the manufacturer directly", without looking into the problem, they deserve to be held accountable.

 

[fordtrucksrule]

i was giving away a used but good equalizer bar a few weeks ago and no one wanted it. i still have it its the 1969 original and i was gonna give it all away too .

 

[sgtdcoulter]

Chief Master Sergeant, Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the vendors for selling parts that work in most cases but it was too much effort for what it was.

JLBachs, Hydraulic conversion? Naaah, I just redid the manual linkage plus this way it's one less thing that will leak.

Itsabronco, I'm not a vendor basher, I'm glad they exist so I decline on mentioning their name. This could happen with any of the vendors and the part is more robust than the original.

Off to Auto Zone to get a new clutch adjuster rod...

Good call on not being a basher, I have a lot of respect for folks w/ a humble attitude! It is much easier to bash others, but it takes a lot more effort to be humble and not do it, besides tommorow, it won.t even matter. You da man!

 

[taipeichris]

Kurt, I contacted the vendor at 4:30pm on Friday afternoon and I needed to make what I had work but before I started to grind-bend it I wanted to make sure it was the correct one just in case I had to return it. The vendors have always been more than helpful and have always made good on whatever the issue but communication was key.

Fordtrucksrule, I could have patched up my old one again but I need reliable, that's why I got a new one.

Sgtdcoulter, thank you Sir.

Everyone, I appreciate our vendors very much, if it wasn't for them I wouldn't have been able to drive my Bronco as a daily driver. OH AND WOW, it's back on the road and WOW I should have got a diaphragm pressure plate sooner. So early tomorrow it'll be time to degrease/wash it and take it for a long test up PCH.

ZZZ...zzz...

 

[JLBachs]

I apologize - I didn't mean that to sound like I was suggesting you scrap all the work you already had in it and do a conversion yourself. It isn't all that bad of an idea though, imho. the industry has almost completely shifted in that direction and once they're bled, they're not bad. The tube can be routed practically anywhere. Yes, they do leak after a while, but so does just about everything else given enough time.

 

[taipeichris]

JLBachs, no worries. I was keeping it stock to keep it simple. Was I wrong... Where did you source the parts for the hydro-clutch linkage?

 

[JLBachs]

I don't think you were wrong at all. Especially after having just replaced a clutch - really, who wants to take apart something he just put back together?
I changed my '66 f100 using boneyard parts from an '80s f250 that had a 351W. Everything cleaned up nice. Put a kit in the slave cyl but the master seemed fine and was still working like new when I sold it.

 

[taipeichris]

So it all went back together just fine, everything seemed good, but somehow there was too much play in the linkage. . .

AND THEN the pedal mount bracket separated from the cowl causing all kinds of NEW play in my linkage . . .

Maybe I'll take that drive up PCH later in the week.

:l

 

[Slim]

Good call on not being a basher, I have a lot of respect for folks w/ a humble attitude! It is much easier to bash others, but it takes a lot more effort to be humble and not do it, besides tommorow, it won.t even matter. You da man!

I don't think anyone here wanted to bash the vendor. I think people wanted to know who it was so they could make a decision to either buy from them and go through the fab work to make it fit correctly or look for another vendor/supplier where the install would be easier.

If I'm a vendor selling products that are not fitting correctly I want to know. If I don't hear about it and customers are told to be "humble" and I think everything is fine and dandy when in reality it is not then shame one you. If I know my product does not fit properly as advertised and I do nothing about it then shame on me. At the minimum, the vendor should be aware of the situation.

 

[DirtDonk]

Hi Chris. Saw this thread just now, so sorry I was not able to contribute anything over the weekend and am just now adding to it.
I left you a message this afternoon (yes, that was me on the phone), but like my typing, I talked a bit too much for your voicemail system and it cut me off. The nerve!!!!
Anyway, hope you got the message.

And I don't feel bashed at all, so you can mention you got this part from us at Wild Horses. We always try to sell the best parts we can for Broncos. Whether we designed and make it ourselves, or purchase someone else's stuff for resale. We always want to know if a part ends up not being right for someone, even if it works on other Broncos.
That way we can either fix it, change it's design, change suppliers, or, in extreme cases, delete it from our inventory.
That sounds like a pretty good company line, coming from the FNG, eh?

And I did ask, but can't remember at the moment if this is something we make, or it's the same thing all the vendors sell.

I'll re-hash a bit of what I said earlier, to see if we can figure this out. In my message I said that I'd checked our inventory for consistency, and compared the pieces to what was installed on some of the Broncos at our facility.
It all looked good from what I could tell.

One thought that came out of the conversations we had though, was wondering if your Bronco had originally been a 6 cylinder and converted to a V8. We thought it might be possible that things were skewed just a bit from original. Even that might not have been enough, but was worth bringing up as a possibility.
Also, as you mentioned, we wondered if you had a very early '66? We really aren't aware of any differences in the clutch linkage for real early models, but you know how things like that crop up considerably more often on them, than on other years it seems.
Do you have a body lift by any chance?
Newer year pedal assembly?
Again, not trying to pass blame on to your rig, if the part is defective. Just questioning the different possibilities.

I asked you in the message if you would be able to take some pictures of the parts installed for us to look at. Is that something you can do? We'd really like to see it to get a better idea of the scope of the issue.
Anything that can help us take care of the problem if possible.
As I said though, the ones I've got on the shelf looked good and proper compared to known-good and working stuff.
Nothing out of the ordinary.

Of course, I did not have the time to actually try one on a vehicle. Which I will be happy to do if it turns out to be necessary.

In the meantime, here's an image of my stock original one from '71 for you to compare yours to. Notice any differences in yours and mine?

Thanks for any images you can provide, since we're not down there to look at it in person.
And again, sorry you're going through this. Whether it's with one of our parts or not, we know how frustrating it can be.

Paul

PS: Sorry about the pic quality. It was dark and my Mini Mag-Lite "flash" unit (visible in the second pic) was not calibrated for close-up work. ;D

 

[DirtDonk]

Oh, and although I didn't check it today, I'll have someone get some of the bushings out and see if we can duplicate your squared-off edge rubbing the frame bracket. There really isn't that much material around the ones I looked at, and the frame bracket has a relief hole cut into the pivot area to give it extra clearance.

The larger square plate area surrounding the tube is the engine side, and there is no bracket material in it's way.

I "mimicked" the installation by hand, but did not include the bushings to center the tube on the studs, so may not have given it as accurate a representation of your issue as possible.

Paul

 

[taipeichris]

Hi Paul!
I never put it together that I spoke with you or that you were at Wild Horses.

Thank you for calling back, I normally don't answer my cell during the day and almost never to unknown numbers. I did get the VM, called back but heard you were at the counter with a customer. Anyway, I'm a happy Wild Horses customer and know that things like this are all "par for the course" with vintage Fords. Just ask Nick about a "key" issue I had recently and WH took care of it with excellent follow up and communication. HA, you should have seen the condition my Mustang was in years ago.

My 66 Bronco was a "special order" sent to Los Angeles with the "N" for a 289 motor in the vin, a bright package, Signal Flare red, made in May, and had a few other odd items. Anyway, I'm sure it wasn't a 6 cylinder at anytime in the past.

I don't think there's anything that can be done at this point in time. I've modified the heck out of the bracket to make it fit and it still hits on the return spring for the clutch rod adjuster. I'll probably take it apart again and do a bit more bending later during the week. Hmm...also my original clutch adjuster rod couldn't be used with the new bar, even with it backed in all the way it was too long also the rod from the pedal was also too long and had to be adjusted in a bit.

I'm too tired right now to post photos but I'll take some good ones and post them.

Have a great week and good night...zzzzzzzz.....zzzzzzz......zzzzzzz.....