Newbie/Clutch Install Costs

[Tdogg77]

Hey All,

Just wanted to introduce myself. I just picked up my new 86 FJ60 this weekend and drove it back to Colorado from New Mexico. I'm really excited to own this truck, and so far this board has been a great resource. There's a wealth of knowledge and I'll do my best to do my reasearch before asking any redundant or stupid questions.

She's solid from all the important aspects. 180K on the clock, runs great. Virtually zero rust anywhere on the truck. She's slow, as expected--I see 40 mph (sometimes less!) on the really steep (6% plus) long grades here in the mountains at altitude. Am I drastically slower than what others are experiencing? From my experience w/my friend's FJ40, these speeds seem to be pretty normal. Am I wrong?

My question: PO sold me a new clutch w/the truck, but I need to get it installed. I just called my landcruiser shop to see what labor would run on a clutch install, and was told ballpark $700! Is this accurate?

As far as getting it in myself, I'm reasonably mechanically inclined, but lack access to basics like a shop, lift, etc. which would be limiting.

Any feedback is appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Doc]

I paid $535 at the local Toyota dealership to have them install a new rear main oil seal and new clutch kit. Do a new rear main while you're in there.

$700 is on the high side if you're providing all the parts, if that quote includes parts, then yes, it's a good quote.

PS my 60 drives a LOT better up steep hills now that my clutch isn't slipping all of the time.

 

[saint60]

have you ever thought about doing it yourself? it's time consuming, but not too too difficult. plus it's a great time to bond with your new cruiser. if so let us know and we can walk you through it.

 

[Tdogg77]

Alright then, let's talk about what's involved. What am I looking at? What needs to come out to get to it? Etc, etc.

I'd rather spend $200 on tools and to it myself and learn something in the process. Like you said, good bonding time w/the new truck. It's gonna be up on the jack tomorrow anyhow b/c I need to throw on some hi-lift shackles on the back to match the ones already on the front. I've got the time, patience, and good mechanical sense.

PS--also picking up a Service Manual w/ the shackles this afternoon, so that should help...

 

[yooper]

I'm also interested in this. My new to me '73 FJ40 has a bad clutch, prolly the slave cylinder I'm told, and I don't even know how a clutch works. Is there a primer somewhere on refurbishing a Cruiser clutch?

 

[VTCruiser]

The clutch is a wear item, much like break pads, and needs to be replaced. I believe a clutch kit will also include things like a pressure plate and throw out bearing, which are good things to replace as well while you are in there. Alas, i have never bought a kit for a cruiser, can some one verify this? The fork may not need replacing but look for wear/fatigue. The Slave cyl and master cyl can probably be "rebuilt" but new ones are cheap enough to buy without dealing with the hassle.

 

[Tdogg77]

Well, got myself acquainted with the new 'cruiser today after work. Just spent a few hours crawling around, over, through and underneath the entire truck to get a sense of how the thing worked. I've been driving around Hondas and Mazdas my whole life, so to even have a carbeurated turck is a pretty huge departure.

Got further acquainted today installing new rear high lift shackles. With the same shackles on the front it managed a solid 3" of lift, creating more than enough room for the 33's I'll someday run.

The clutch is so worn it's killing me. Leaving from stop lights is absolutely comical. People go insane when your truck takes (what seems) 15 seconds to hit 30 mph. All I can do is laugh and sit back and enjoy the ride.

Tracking down a service manual tomorrow to get an idea of if I'm ready to tackle the clutch.

: How many are we looking at here. I don't mind the time, I'll spend a weekend on it if I need to. I'm talking mechanical difficulty and tool requirements.

 

[Overlord]

Down load it:

http://www.birfield.com/downloads-cat-1.html

 

[saint60]

you can get an aisin clutch kit from jt outfitters for $155. i bought one and it included new pressure plate, clutch plate, throw out bearing, pilot bearing, and an alignment tool. not a bad deal and i think aisin is decent. if you've never done a clutch before i'd definatley get my hands on a tranny jack. if you don't know anybody that has one, rental places usually have them. i'd also get help from a buddy for balancing and everything especially because it is a PITA to try and muscle everything around. i did a search on the tech links and found nothing on exactly what to do, but you could try birfield.com or FSM or a chilton manual. it's seriously not too too hard. the worst part is muscling it. here is a quick rundown of it.
1-remove the skid plate
2-remove the drive lines
3-unhook the linkages (4 wheel drive, wires, shifter,)
4-back bolts out of the slave cylinder. don't mess with backing the adjusting nuts to get it off, all the fluid will leak out if you do and then you'll have to mess with bleeding it.
5-remove the 4 bolts from the tranny to the bell housing.
6-put your jack under the tranny and maybe a bottle jack under the engine
7-take off the cross member, back the tranny off and lower it.
8-take off the nuts and bolts to get the tranny out-i can't remember what all there is, but it's pretty cut and dry.
9-take the bellhousing off
10-take the flywheel off and probably get it resurfaced.
11-change your real main oil seal
12-chang the pilog bearing and the throw out bearing. you will need access to a press, most machine shops will do it for free.
13-install the clutch using the alignment tool. make sure the clutch disk is facing the right way.
14-reinstall everything else that you took off
15-adjust the slave cylinder if necessary.
16-drive and enjoy the no slippage.

if you have any other questions post up. my buddy and i did the whole job on a saturday. it takes a while, but none of it is hard. just cuss a lot and you'll feel better. it'll save you a grip of money to do it yourself. good luck man.

 

[swank60]

I paid $535 at the local Toyota dealership to have them install a new rear main oil seal and new clutch kit. Do a new rear main while you're in there.

$700 is on the high side if you're providing all the parts, if that quote includes parts, then yes, it's a good quote.

PS my 60 drives a LOT better up steep hills now that my clutch isn't slipping all of the time.

Damn, for s***s-n-giggles I decided to call Toyota of Fort Worth to see what they'd charge (rear main & clutch install) $1020.

Unbelievable. how long ago did you have yours done?

 

[Doc]

3 Weeks.

Swank, I provided all the hard parts though. clutch, pressure plate, bearings, and rear main (bought from c-dan)

So it was a 'labor and small parts only' quote.

If $1020 was a labor only quote, you need to make a road trip to a different dealership.

 

[informationjunky]

IMHO much easier and safer to lower from inside of cab than to be underneath with tranny jack. Verrrrrrrry heavy with transfer case. You might want to replace gasket between trany and transfer while you have it out.

 

[swank60]

That quote was for everthing...I wasn't sure if you'd supplied the parts or not.

None the less, looks like I'll be doing this crap myself this winter.

 

[Tdogg77]

I'm thinking about taking the easy way out (not easy on the pocketbook) and having a shop in town here do it for a few reasons--my lack of tools (not so big a deal) and lack of a lift to put the truck up while doing this (big deal). Sheesh, it was scary enough using hi-lifts to jack up the truck onto jackstands when I installed the shackles! Darn truck almost fell on us 3 separate times while we were raising and lowering it. Like my original post says, I'm a brand new Cruiser owner and have been softened by a life of driving virtually maintenance-free Hondas and such, so I'm a little gunshy and not too confident in my abilities yet. Thinkin' I may want to ramp up to something like the clutch eventually, but unfortunately this clutch needs to go in SOON--I can't even really take the thing off the street right now for fear of totally burning it out and getting myself stuck back on some trail. Then again, w/how encouraging you guys are and w/the guidance I know you can provide I may end up tackling it myself, just not sure I really can commit the time to it right now w/everything else I've got going on. Plus, this truck's my DD, so I don't want it out of commission for long.

I live in Denver. Anybody know Comprehensive Car Care? Great shop, they specialize in 'Cruisers, and have always treated me well in the past w/my Honda, so I may take it there. Looking around $650 labor for clutch install, plus another $95 total (parts and lab) for the main seal and tranny seal. Anyone in the area have any good shop suggestions?


Ah, the ups and downs of 'Cruiser ownership, and this is just a taste!

 

[cahilc]

time vs. money

Ahhh ... the old equation or balance beam problem.

It really boils down to time vs. money.

If you have plenty of time, not much money. If you have no time, break out the check book sports fans.

Cahil

 

[Doc]

I will say that once you get that clutch fixed you will think it's an entirely different truck. I could barely keep 30 mph up any kind of hill with my bad clutch, now- hills really aren't a problem. It actually takes some of the 'fun' away from the drive, but you can't wheel with a blown clutch.

 

[dd113]

Best of luck; buy a star

 

[cruiser_guy]

The clutch is not hard to do. I've done it on my own without a lift. In fact I've never used a lift to do it with. The easiest is as another lister said, raise and lower the tranny/transfer from inside the truck. It works quite well if you have an engine hoist. The main problem is the way the transfer throws the whole assembly off balance. If you decide to do it yourself, make sure you use a centering tool. You'll curse yourself if you don't use the centering tool (plus it probably won't go together otherwise either)!

There is NO need to replace the slave or clutch master if they are not giving a problem. The only necessary parts for a clutch job are the pressure plate, clutch disk, throwout bearing and pilot bearing. You can do the rear main if it makes you feel better but it's not necessary.

Before you take the tranny out, or if you decide to take it in, then before that, you should check the tranny and transfer oil levels. A common transfer problem is oil leakage from transfer to tranny (on '60 series). If the transfer is low and the tranny is overfull then have the seal between the two replaced at the same time. You can do it later but it's easier when the tranny is out of the truck. You can expect a significant increase in labour costs if this seal is required.