Landsharks 69er Bought not built project

[landshark]

well after about 4000 or so miles the throw out bearing finally gave up the ghost and barfed its bearings out at the bottom of the inspection plate. I will have to pull the transmission off to see what caused it but i suspect its engaged just a bit too far and finally gave up.

I guess my two options are to cut and weld the fork so it angles back just a bit... or put a spring on the other end of the fork to pull it back off the clutch pressure plate. I am favoring the cut and weld option right now.

Any other ideas? The dodge bearing which i used (i think), seems like its the better option of the two to try as its thinner. I will check it against the other throw out bearing I bought...

Other than the throw out bearing its been a great swap so far. Consistently getting 14+ MPG, easier shifting and much easier on me and the Bronco when driving long distances.

I was about to pull it into the garage to fix the rear ARB as its leaking and suspect that its the seal housing or seals... have a feeling the line was installed short and not allowing the seal housing to move - which i guess its supposed to so will kill two birds with one stone ;)

[ZOSO]

How has that clutch fan worked out for ya this year?

[Kinder]

Is there anyway to find out how much contact is occurring? If it's tenths off mm or less than a mm maybe you could machine the the engagement arm or bearing contact surface. Not that I don't like cutting and welding stressed components, but I wonder if the engagement arm is strengthened by one of many processes.

[ZOSO]

I use a spring on my car to keep the throw out bearing off the PP.

[landshark]

How has that clutch fan worked out for ya this year?

The clutch fan seems to work but to be honest I currently do not have a fan shroud and I think it would be much more effective with one. I have to make, or have one made and just haven't gotten around to it. I do have to run the electric puller fans on the trail right now but driving around it sits at 195 - 200 or so.

Is there anyway to find out how much contact is occurring? If it's tenths off mm or less than a mm maybe you could machine the the engagement arm or bearing contact surface. Not that I don't like cutting and welding stressed components, but I wonder if the engagement arm is strengthened by one of many processes.

After discussion with the guy who originally did this swap he thinks its the clutch fingers that might be the cause of the problem. I didn't use the dodge bearing which apparently has a stronger bearing seal than the original ZF one - which is plastic. He had a similar problem when he used the original ZF bearing, basically the throwout bearing disintegrated because the fingers removed the bearing seal.

I think what Iam going to do rather than fight that hardened steel fork is test fit the dodge bearing, trim back the fingers a bit more ( i have already trimmed them once). While I do have the transmission off the engine I will drill a hole to add a spring to the end of the fork so that if needed I can pull the fork off the pressure plate with a spring.

I have an inspection plate that i can pull to see what the bearing is doing so I think doing the above should work.

If the bearing is riding the pressure plate its not by much, I can hand compress the clutch fork and move it slightly back and it seems to clear.

[landshark]

I pulled the transmission and swapped in the dodge throwout bearing. The old throw-out bearing basically disintegrated into its basic pieces. It looks like there was quite a bit of heat generated which could mean it didn't like riding the pressure plate all the time but as pointed out I think the clutch fingers also had a role to play. I would need CSI to really find out what went wrong as there wasn't too much left as you can see from the pics.

The new dodge bearing is a bit thicker and it does ride the pressure plate quite a bit. I drilled a couple of holes in the fork while I had it out and plan on putting a spring to back off the bearing slightly. It only needs 1/8" or less to stop it from riding the pressure plate all the time.. should help.

Crossing my fingers as its not easy to stuff that zf back in an early bronco with a 400, takes some creative engine strapping to tilt things..

[Kinder]

Just be glad you don't have a stupid internal slave cylinder to deal with, the one I replaced is already leaking.

[Gunnibronco]

Just be glad you don't have a stupid internal slave cylinder to deal with, the one I replaced is already leaking.

What brand? Just so I can avoid. I'm buying one soon & that is one of my fears going to the ZF.

[landshark]

Just be glad you don't have a stupid internal slave cylinder to deal with, the one I replaced is already leaking.

so from what you saw there was no way to convert to an external slave?

[Jesus_man]

What brand? Just so I can avoid. I'm buying one soon & that is one of my fears going to the ZF.

Avoid the chain parts houses. Last one I bought was from BC's and it's been solid...check that...the last one I bought was when my tranny was re-built. No way will I EVER pull that ZF and not replace that slave! But the one from BC's did last 4 years until the rebuild and appeared to be just fine.

[Kinder]

It was from NAPA, made in USA with a 1 yr warranty. I won't say a external swap isn't possible. And when I drop it this time I will likely convert it over.

[Gunnibronco]

Thanks,

And build a couple extra external slave cylinders while you are at it. I bet you could sell a few.

[landshark]

Thanks,

And build a couple extra external slave cylinders while you are at it. I bet you could sell a few.

you can pull entire external slave setups off zf-5's behind 460s. Its all one unit and comes with an integrated mount retainer for the external bracket.

[Gunnibronco]

If I wasn't already worried about finishing my project before it gets too cold, I might take some time to work on that. I'm going to drop in a stock one, and hope someone figures a swap, before mine goes bad.

[Kinder]

Yes, that's the easy part, it's the internal support structure for the engagment fork that is missing and there is no existing casting to tap into. Honestly I believe it's my application that is making them fail. I've read on other forums that the 4bt folks all have problems with the internal setup, there is something going on in there that is degrading the seals faster than a gas motor. It's not the heat, my 4bt runs cold, so it must have something to do with the vibration or transfer of torque. I'm sure Ford found this out and that is why the BB and Diesel ZFs run the external slave setup.

you can pull entire external slave setups off zf-5's behind 460s. Its all one unit and comes with an integrated mount retainer for the external bracket.

[landshark]

I pulled the center section and found it just like this



Oh boy... talk about lucky.. lucky i had an ARB that acted as a warning before the ring gear exploded... that was the only bolt that had backed out but they are all loose. Pulled three none had thread locker on em...

already have the parts to repair so will start on that tomorrow - along with adding some red thread locker in the mix this time ;)

[Rox Crusher]

Is that another fine installation of expensive parts by the PO ?

[landshark]

Is that another fine installation of expensive parts by the PO ?

you are correct.. luckily I caught it in time, will make sure everything is good to go before I put it back in. Makes me want to pull the front and inspect that too..

[Jesus_man]

Makes me want to pull the front and inspect that too..

That would be very wise. And you could possibly repair that without pulling the diff.

[landshark]

Off to repaint and rust treatment!

[ZOSO]

Going to keep it red?

[landshark]

Yup. Same color.

[Justin]

Nice! Who is doing it? Want to get mine done at some point.

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[landshark]

Bronco has been repainted and sitting while I finish my garage build. Final inspection should be done this week but I snuck in and started working on stuff for the Baja bronco adventure in may.

Swapping in a new to me dash, cut out the speaker and ashtray, filled In stock radio and dash light holes.





A bit more grinding then fill and paint. Moving the speakers in the current dash into some fiber glass door panels.

I am way behind in prepping the bronco for Baja so hopefully have it in the new garage next week.

[landshark]

Finished welding and grinding. A little primer then scuff and filler to make it less wavy ;). Then more primer scuff and paint. Going back to gloss black with a clear so expect it will show imperfections but these dashes were never perfect anyway! Will be better than what I have now.

[landshark]

Filled in the low spots, cut two new holes for usb and power point, primed, painted and gloss coat. Unfortunately a few dog hairs ended up in it so will have to sand and touch up in a few days. On to the next thing!

[BroncoRaider]

Looking good.

[landshark]

Built a box with 40" locking rails, will seal and paint it. I bought 1/8" rubber matt for the top which i will glue down and then mount the box where the harness rings were in the bed of the bronco. Should hold most if not all spare parts and fluids for the Mexico, need to figure out a drawer front to seal it from the dirt and dust.

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[ZOSO]

Hey great idea.... I love mine. Sure makes it easy to have all your tools and stuff in there when camping. It kept me from empting the bronco on my Ouray trip when the fan died on me.

[Jesus_man]

That looks like it will work well!! For a seal, I wonder if stapling down some sort of rubber/neoprene flat around the perimeter would do it?

My advice is to take brand new *unopened* fluids. And to try to keep them from rubbing together or even on the floor. I carry fluids in an ammo can, and more than once I've had bottle get rub holes and leak, or just leak because of an off camber situation or something. While contained in the ammo can, it's still a mess. I think the two issues were antifreeze (rubbed thru) and gear oil, which I think never re-sealed, but my memory is foggy.