Throwout bearing slipped off clutch fork

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Dartseller

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Working on a 69 charger 440 a833 that's been off the road for ages.. Had it all together and pushed on the clutch with my hand. Clutch pedal went almost to floor with my hand and I heard a loud noise. Then noticed the clutch fork was way loose to the point that I could pivot it rearward to almost hit the scattershield opening. Took it all apart and saw t.o.b. was hanging off fork by one clip. One clip looked way spread out so I used a vice to squash the clip back down where it's supposed to be. Put it all back together again and pretty much the same thing happened again (noise and clutch fork loose). Haven't taken it apart again yet. Thoughts?
 
weak spring on bearing, or your not getting it all the way on the fork.
 
Look for a cracked or broken fork clip the clip that holds the fork to the bellhousing, also check for excessive wear on the front bearing cover that the throw out bearing slides back and forth on. Also broken or damaged clutch fingers can cause side loading. I had that problem for years trust me I had to Burns on my hands to prove it. It can be very frustrating as I'm sure you know. That system will work pretty good but all components must be in good working order. Also even the rubber fork boot should be in good working condition.
 
Dartseller said:
Working on a 69 charger 440 a833 that's been off the road for ages.. Had it all together and pushed on the clutch with my hand. Clutch pedal went almost to floor with my hand and I heard a loud noise. Then noticed the clutch fork was way loose to the point that I could pivot it rearward to almost hit the scattershield opening. Took it all apart and saw t.o.b. was hanging off fork by one clip. One clip looked way spread out so I used a vice to squash the clip back down where it's supposed to be. Put it all back together again and pretty much the same thing happened again (noise and clutch fork loose). Haven't taken it apart again yet. Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I had the same issues trying to thread the long a833 pilot shaft through the bell housing with the clutch arm and TOB that was mounted to the engine block.
Fixed that by mounting the bell housing with the clutch arm and TOB to the a833 that was mounted in the chassis.
Them aligned the assembled block to the bell housing that was already bolted to the transmission. Used a couple of bolts threaded into the block to assist with the alignment of the a833 shaft to the crank pilot bushing.
For me this worked great and eliminated any chance of knocking the TOB off.
 
Well, I've gotta ask- make sure you are using the correct throwout bearing. An 18 spline/hemi bearing will never work on a 23 spline input. I've actually seen this. (Hemi parts are heavier duty, right?)
More likely: with the scattershield, make sure you've got the right fork pivot. The wrong pivot will not locate the fork correctly. These pics from Brewer's, depending on which scattershield you have:
Brewer's Performance - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission and Component Specialists (brewersperformance.com)
Brewer's Performance - Mopar A833 4-Speed Transmission and Component Specialists (brewersperformance.com)
And check the fork length, like TMM said- Brewer's lists your application at 10 7/8" overall.
I feel for ya, it's hard to tell what kind of a hodgepodge of parts we get with these cars after 50 years.
 
Dartseller said:
Working on a 69 charger 440 a833 that's been off the road for ages.. Had it all together and pushed on the clutch with my hand. Clutch pedal went almost to floor with my hand and I heard a loud noise. Then noticed the clutch fork was way loose to the point that I could pivot it rearward to almost hit the scattershield opening. Took it all apart and saw t.o.b. was hanging off fork by one clip. One clip looked way spread out so I used a vice to squash the clip back down where it's supposed to be. Put it all back together again and pretty much the same thing happened again (noise and clutch fork loose). Haven't taken it apart again yet. Thoughts?
Click to expand...

Same thing happened to me leaving me stranded at the end of a car show. It worked great for years then for some reason it slipped off one side of the throw out fork fingers. All the parts still looked good.

I upgraded to a hydraulic thow out bearing kit from American Powertrain, and have been very happy with the result. While not cheap, it is a nice kit.
 
Thank you everyone for your suggestions. It is an 18 spline. I'll get back to you with the results in a week or two.
 
If your fork, pivot, and, bearing retainer are in good condition and correct, the spring clip should not twist out the fork tip in the position the disc is released. The back side of the fork tips are like a cup. The further you tip it, the more likely it's contents will spill.
You may just need to space the fork pivot (make it taller) depending on length of the release bearing. I had to do this with my old 3 piece LW.
 
Dart apart said:
make sure to check that the fork pivot is not bent or broke
Click to expand...

Or too short;
Fully assembled; with the fork properly located on the TO collar, and with the TO assembly pushed forward onto the clutch fingers,
the TO fork should be at or near the rear of the window in the factory BH, about 3/4 inch from the edge.
The TO fork only needs to travel forward just enough to make about .080 departure on a diaphragm clutch/ maybe .100 on a 3-finger. This should be achieved well before the TO fork reaches the front of the window, and LONG before the pedal gets to the floor.
If it doesn't, the most likely reason is wrong parts, but I suppose that the disc could be in backwards.
 
AJ/FormS said:
Or too short;
Fully assembled; with the fork properly located on the TO collar, and with the TO assembly pushed forward onto the clutch fingers,
the TO fork should be at or near the rear of the window in the factory BH, about 3/4 inch from the edge.
The TO fork only needs to travel forward just enough to make about .080 departure on a diaphragm clutch/ maybe .100 on a 3-finger. This should be achieved well before the TO fork reaches the front of the window, and LONG before the pedal gets to the floor.
If it doesn't, the most likely reason is wrong parts, but I suppose that the disc could be in backwards.
Click to expand...

The hydraulic throw out bearing I got from from American Powertrain has 1/2" or .500" of travel when fully depressed. McLeod stated that's the maximum travel when I asked them about how much travel their 3-finger Street Twin clutch needed to full disengage.

There is .130" of freeplay included in that hydraulic set-ups travel. They spec the freeplay range from .120" to .180" if memory serves, and that is subtracted from the 1/2" of travel too.
 
Is this kinda like when yer finger slips through the toilet paper?
 
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