Anybody happy with Hydraulic Throwout Bearings ?

Which do you prefer, Slave Cylinder or Hydraulic throwout bearings. The hydraulic bearing seems so simple and easier ????

 

Hydraulic throwout bearing takes a dump and you got major disassembly to fix it. Slave craps out and you fix in in 15 minutes - gotta like that!

 

I helped a friend and his dad build a 32 chevy coupe and we used a hyd bearing in it..and this exact thing happened.
One of the O rings tore and he lost the clutch..luckily it was around town..
Like was mentioned, we had to pull the trans for the fix which was a pain in the ass on that car..

I have a slave cylinder onmy coupe, and even that went bad on me once..but a trip to the local parts store and i was back on the road..

BUT, i can say his clutch seems to be a little more responsive than mine..

 

had the h. bearing for 15 yearsin my 32--not second trouble yet.


knock on wood!!

 

What Hemirambler and Tony said.I have a 95 Ford F150 with hyd. throwout bearing. At about 100M miles developed hydraulic leak in bearing. You can bleed the system and it works for a while. Last week deciced to have it replaced. Took it to a reputable independent shop. Estimate was $100 parts, $325 labor!
Needless to say I'm not too happy with Ford Motor Co. right now ! I keep asking myself what the hell was the reasoning behind using that system.You can bet there is a bean counter in the equasion.
Ted H

 

I'm getting ready to put one in the Commander. The only
trouble I have heard is after improper setup. and not
having a stopper so you can't over stroke it.

I imagine there is a difference between the $130
Speedway one and the $300 McLeod unit.

 

I've used them on 3 hotrods over many miles. Two of them were speedways and one was a Tilton Engineering. I've never had a problem. Make sure you use the recommended master cylinder size to keep from over stroking it and you'll be fine. Also as Flt-blk says, use a stop for added insurance.

 

I smoked a new 11 in. centerforce dual friction clutch because the slave cyl couldn't release quick enough. This is at the drags though with a very torquey motor, on the street it was decent but every once in a while a hard shift. Just put a hyd bearing in the 33 w/hemi, can't wait to feel the difference. Don't think I would use the slave again unless I had to.

 

Sounds like 50 / 50, this will be a first for us too, We have a Howe Hyd T.O , supplied with the Pete & Jakes Brake / Clutch set, , just tack welded in for now , wont know till I get it on the road. THANKS FOR ALL THE POSTS !!!! still havig problems trying to post pics, I'll figure it out sooner or later

 

i like to use a complete stock set up when i can just because they have proven them selves and when i worked in a shop always asked all the guys how well some thing holds up.

 

I've been wondering this same exact question. I bought a complete hydraulic T.O. bearing and kit to put in front of my 6 speed behind my 331 sbc for my 40 chevy. I'm a little nervous because I've never used one and I don't know anybody that has. It't be a major hassle to pull the tranny in this application.
We'll see.......

 

we went the HYD T.O. route due to lack of room, 32 Fod Pick up, and 31 roadster, both are tight for space around the clutch / brake pedals. Both are on deuce rails.. The Howe sold us. will let all you know how we like 'em, once thier on the road- Jack

 

I used the Wilwood Master and Slave setup in my Willys, it worked OK, but was slow in reaction making the car real tough to drive aggressively.
If I do a stick car again, it will get the Hyd, Clutch bearing setup as I know allot of guys that went that way and are extremely happy.

 

I've got the McLeod bearing in my hemi sedan... it was a piece of crap 'till I fixed it. It came with swiveling banjo-bolt type hoses attached to it and the o-rings never lasted more than about 2 weeks' worth of driving . So I pulled the bearing, disassembled it, and tapped it to 1/8" pipe thread, then installed AN fittings and ran braided stainless lines to it, eliminating the swivels. Never had a problem since then; clutch has great feel and no slow release problems. All in all a mixed experience; product works well, but only when modified. Seems like McLeod should have done some better product testing.

 

No they didn't bind. The "banjo-type" fittings I mentioned before were the problem; they weren't real banjo fittings, looked like some lame-ass imitation thereof. They had flat head allen screws through them with really small heads and the outer O-ring was kinda just jammed between the fastener and the banjo. The fit was not good between the fastener and the banjo either, so you'd get some slop in there, which would allow the o-ring to walk around between the two. When I took out the o-rings they were torn from getting pinched in there. Hence, the leak. Why the hell would you need those fittings to swivel, anyway? 8" AN braided lines give more than enough room for bearing movement. Just a badly-thought out idea, IMO.

 

slave/master setups work great. Supra,300zx,350z,skyline,ferrari. If properly sized you can drive them VERY aggressively.

 

I went with a slave and used all the goodies sold at http://www.t56kit.com/site.html
They adapt stock GM stuff for use in other cars. While they specify F-body and A-body retrofit kits, their stuff could be adapted to just about anything running a T-56 with a Chevy bolt pattern on the engine.

Great guys, great parts. Highly recommended...

~Scotch~

 

I've got a pretty stout 383 with T56 I'll be putting in my 54. I'm using the McLeod Hyd. unit and it looks solid. Here's a pic before I put it in. I also have the Wilwood M/C. I was planning on running it below the seat kind of like the underfloor brake units. Anyone see a problem with this?

 

Here is a post I did a week or so ago on my slave cylinder arrangement.

FWIW, I did consider a hyd TO bearing... I noticed that the ones from early-to-mid-90s Chevy Silverado trucks was about $35-$40 at the local parts places. I didn't get out my measuring stick to see how well they'd fit my Muncie set-up, but depending on what tranny you're running, that might help someone out...

 

Tooslow-
The bearing you have doesn't have the same fittings as the one I bought.. but that was a few years ago. Maybe they changed the design. Oh, and as for the underfloor mount, should work fine BUT you will have to make sure that the resevoir for the master cylinder is above the throwout bearing. Wilwood cylinders without the integral resevoir come with all the parts you need to do this, though. Run a hose and mount the resevoir to the firewall (INSIDE the car, please!) and you should have no problems at all.

 

I thought it sounded different than what you described. Unfortunately I can't say how well it works yet as I still need to figure out the clutch pedal, m/c, make a new trans tunnel, and have the driveshaft made. I've gotten this far so it should'nt be a problem...right???

 

I run a Howe bearing on my coupe (409/muncie) two years now and no problems. drove all over the west coast and out to bonneville last year with no problems, although I did have a rebuild kit in my tool box just incase.
Mine runs (if I remember) a 3/4" m/c any more than that and it will over extend the bearing and blow it apart.

 

This might sound stupid, but...

Why would I want to run the resevoir INSIDE the car? I would think if I ever have a leak my carpet would get ruined.

 

Brush:

Let us know how yours works out. My trans and bearing are already in, but It'll be awhile before I can test mine on the road. Seems like a slick set up, but it's not cheap.

 

Because it's gotta be above the M/C and if it's hanging out on the firewall it looks like ass, IMO.

 

Yeah, I'm all for a clean firewall. I just thought you were trying to say it needed to be inside for mechanical reasons. I'll find somewhere "outta sight" to put it .