penick000

I installed a new Rhino clutch, rhino clutch master, rhino slave cyl, and a new hydraulic line. I'd been having problems w/ slave cylinders not holding up on this truck so I decided to replace the whole damn clutch hydraulics.

The last 2 times I replaced just the slave, I had no problems just bleeding the clutch by letting it drain a while, closing, pumping the clutch bringing the pedal up quickly a few times, repeat, done. I'd have a nice full clutch pedal that felt quite firm at about 1 to 1.5 inches depressed and felt great going down to the floor from there, actually letting off pressure a bit as it went down (much like it is when drawing back on a compound bow).

Anyway, after bleeding the clutch all damn afternoon I have a full pedal, the truck drives fine in that there is no clutch slipping, it engages smoothly, and there is no grinding in gears. The clutch starts to engage about 3/4 of an inch or so off the floor and then is fully engaged about 1/2 to 2/3 the way up. In all, it seems to be working perfect other than this pedal feel limp as hell.

What do you guys think?

I took the master back off the truck and bench bled it 2 times. I also tried using a pry bar between the teeth of the pressure plate and the throwout bearing and pushing the slave back in to force air out of the master. I've tried bleeding it like brakes by slowly depressing the clutch, releasing the bleeder then re-seating the bleeder before the pedal is fully depressed, etc.

What am I missing? Or am I missing anything? This simply feels softer than any other f-150 I've driven or owned. Maybe this pressure plate really is that different but I have a feeling I'm just not getting all the air out.

Any suggestions are great.

Thanks,

pen

penick000

Anyone install a clutch where the pedal was softer than before and that ended up being normal?

Good old Bill

In reading your posts, I am confident you know what is going on and how to do the job. Perhaps this Rhino clutch has this softer feel. Can't do much more if its doing its job.

penick000

Called Rhino tech support and they said the same thing you did. I was amazed that I actually instantly talked to 1 person who directly transferred me to the person I needed to talk to. No waiting and spoke English well.

He said just drive it, it will improve. I certainly wish I could do something about it in the garage, but I've just got to trust him.

Thanks,

pen

JC316

The clutch on my 95 is really soft, easily as soft as my old 95 Saturn. It was a welcome after driving a Mustang GT with a King Cobra clutch, it was like having a leg press machine in the floorboard.

penick000

Funny you mention that. My sister in law has a 99 saturn w/ a very soft clutch with a very short throw. She bought the car new, w/ 140k on it now, same clutch and still feels the same. I wasn't sure if anyone here would recognize the comparison but I had certainly thought about it.

pen

abranz

Just did a clutch (Napa brand) on my 92 and it's very soft also, like a car. It functions as it should and with my bad knee I'm very glad as it's a dream to work compared to my 96 dodge 2500. Tony

penick000

Well, I've been driving this for a few days now and it's still feels exactly the same as it did when I finished bleeding, so nothing is changing. Everything is working fine. I guess I too should just enjoy the lesser effort required!

pen