New Clutch Old Problem Still 1987 Ram 50 4xr

[alohauser]

Aloha, went ahead and had a new clutch and cable put in the Ram. The clutch now has reasonable pressure and when I first drive the truck it shifts as smooth as hot knifes going through butter. But, after I drive for a while, maybe an hour or so going into town, it begins to get harder to shift it into low gear from a stop. Once I get the truck moving the shifting is much easier. Before I had the clutch replaced, I had to tighten the star nut on the cable all the way up towards the firewall. I could then shift ok (very hard clutch peddle) but would have a similar experience after driving the car a while, it got very hard to shift into 1st, and other gears till I was up in speed. Any suggestions?

James

[camoit]

Did you replace the pilot barring in the end of the crank shaft when you had the trans out? The pilot barring is one thing that can cause the input shaft to rotate when the clutch is pressed.

[dmr8x2]

i have had new cables that were bad
they were made the wrong length
I've had better luck with used cables from the bone yard
good luck

[LSR Mike]

The problem going into first is the input shaft rotating, which could be a crappy pilot bearing as described. the problem isn't the new clutch with it adjusted correctly.

[alohauser]

I had a complete clutch kit installed, including the pilot bearing. It could be the cable being the wrong length, i'll check that out next.

James

[pennyman1]

Change out the gear lube in the tranny while you're at it - with synthetic lube. You won't believe the difference in shifting but be careful - it will downshift into first real easy, especially when you miss third. Been there , banged that...

[abeemanator]

I noticed that on my truck also, I realized I had the star nut adjusted too far, and for some reason it would do the same thing. I noticed when I only pushed the pedal almost to the floor, but not quite, it shifted fine.