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Pros vs. cons of a hydro cluch

84CUCV

84CUCV

3/4 ton status
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Jul 1, 2002
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I have heard so many different things for other people I don’t know what to believe. I have a 80 with a sm465, I was told the clutch on there now will give me problems twisted up offroad. SO is it worth going to hydro? Any other advice would be appreciated.


thx mike
 
i drive a fullsize, i think it might flex a little more than a k5 but my z bar is the worst thing on it, i cant waite to do my clutch swap to put a hydro bell housing, the problem with the z bar ( proably what you have ) is when the frame flexes it makes the space from the bar to the bell houseing and your clutch pedal falls to the floor, ive heard the z bar rod can fall rite off leaving you wtih no clutch, from my expericances its just annoying trying to clutch it going up a rock when the frame flexes it stalls or doesnt engage and its just a **** show, go hydralulic
 
I've actually had mine fall out and get lost in a mud hole one trip and had to drive 80+ miles home without a clutch, towing a small boat at that! I started to carry a spare linkage after that. That was on a 76' K5 I had about 10 yrs ago.
 
hey im thinking of going from my th350 to a sm465 and was wandering how other people like em. just wandering if itll be worth the work or not
dont do much rock climbing just sandy beaches and backwoods muddy paths
 
I like my 465 a lot more than the turbo 350 that I used to have. I haven't had a problem with the linkage though.
 
The one time i took my truck offroad i had a lot of problems due to having a mechanical linkage. If i got twisted up at all my clutch would engage at different points but it didnt help that my cab wasnt completely bolted down :whistle: I dont know if my linkage is stock tho, could someone take a picutre of the linkage that connects the zbar to the clutch fork? On my way back the linkage fell out and i found it sitting on my tcase crossmember chillin in some mud :D


Later
 
Well, if you run good body mounts without a body lift you won't have as much of an issue.

That being said, there is no way in hell I'd have put a 465 in my wheeling rig if it wasn't hydro. I'd have stuck with a 700R4.
 
I had the problem of the clutch engaging REALLY close to the floor when flexing. Poly body mounts fixed that problem (though I'm sure new rubber mounts would have worked well too). The only real advantage to the hydraulic is that it is easier to push the clutch pedal down. Cons are failed clutch master cylinder/slave cylinder when you need them. I have a manual clutch and have no intentions of swapping to hydraulic (pretty much every hydro clutch will have a failure sometime in its life, mechanical is much more reliable IMHO).
 
and i have yet to have a hard time finding one. got one sitting in my garage as a matter of fact.
 
beater_k20 said:
and i have yet to have a hard time finding one. got one sitting in my garage as a matter of fact.
Click to expand...

Maybe I am not looking hard enough. Around here everything I can find is manual linkage, or else is owned by JK5 :D
 
38377k5 said:
Cons are failed clutch master cylinder/slave cylinder when you need them. I have a manual clutch and have no intentions of swapping to hydraulic (pretty much every hydro clutch will have a failure sometime in its life, mechanical is much more reliable IMHO).
Click to expand...

I experienced that with the aftermarket master I have, (started leaking with very little usage) but it seems that the stock GM parts are lasting a long time. Even with the leak it worked fine (no idea how long it leaked) and I wouldn't have noticed were it not for the light stream running down the inside of the firewall.

The master and slave *should* last just as long as a hydraulic brake master cylinder.
 
needs a tether....

It seems the infamous "Z" bar needs something to keep it from taking a hike when it falls off during a flex!--maybe a peice of wire or cable would keep it from dropping to the ground and dissapearing ,and make it easier to retreive and put back in place--better than driving home with no clutch! :crazy:
 
I wasn't really trying to dog on hydraulic clutches too much, they are pretty nice. All I was trying to say is that my mechanical clutch has never left my truck stranded in 28 years and 175,000 miles. I have never seen a vehicle with a hydraulic clutch go anywhere near that long without some kind of clutch hydraulic failure that leaves the vehicle stranded (I know it happens, but slave/master cylinders fail with time especially if they are in J**p Cherokees)
 
I've owned my '80 K10 for 14 years, the first 11 with a mechanical linkage, and I never had a problem with it. After converting the truck to one ton, and throwing in a big block, I decided to switch to hydraulic, based on the things I've read on this sight.

I really like the hydraulic clutch, its way easier to control (less muscle), especially in nerve racking situations. Right now, mine is leaking a bit, so I have to keep an eye on the fluid level. It did take me awhile to find all of the correct GM parts, but it was well worth the swap, especially off road.
 
Also, I don't know much about 465 slave/master cylinders (they are probably way better than most), just that they generally fail on cars.
 
atho said:
Maybe I am not looking hard enough. Around here everything I can find is manual linkage, or else is owned by JK5 :D
Click to expand...

LOL....Not everything...but I'm working on it. ;)

I may have one for sale in the very near future. ;)
 
84CUCV said:
how many of you had a hydro fail on you? thx
Click to expand...
my dad has burnt a hole in the line because we didn't check the clearances when we installed the headers. then on the slave cylinder, the end that attaches to the pedal broke off once. other than that in 150,000 miles its fine.

mine is all 1989 GM stuff and is still working today.
 
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