clutch linkage questions

[dave123]

I have a 1974 CJ-5 with a 304 and a T-15 transmission. I will try to describe the problem and parts involved, but I’m no mechanic. I started getting a squealing noise, kinda like a slipping fan belt while driving. It's not real loud, but irritating to me. This only happened when the clutch was not being pushed in. It would get worse when I would hit a bump. The noise did not happen all the time, but most of the time. I realized that if I pushed the clutch in, the noise went away. I also noticed that if I pulled back on the clutch pedal, it also went away. Getting under the Jeep, I see that the fork (is it called that?) coming out of the bellhousing can be pulled forward (towards the front of the Jeep) about an inch. This will make the noise go away. There was a spring pulling the fork towards the front of the Jeep (hooked up to the linkage). I assume this keeps the adjuster from falling out. I saw a hole in the bellhousing and put a spring going from the fork to the bellhousing in addition to the existing spring. This pulled the fork forward, eliminating the noise about 90% of the time. When it comes back, I just pull back on the clutch, and the spring will hold it there, eliminating the noise. I think with a stronger spring, I could get rid of it altogether. Another thing that may be part of the scenario is that my clutch engages very early, when I just begin to push on the clutch. I don’t see any way to adjust this so that I engages after more travel. The clutch does not slip, and appears to completely engage/disengage. So my questions are:
1. Should there be a spring from the fork to the bell housing? The hole seems ideally placed.
2. Is my spring a band-aide that is just putting off repair, or is this normal without a spring there? (I’m thinking the throwout bearing was not completely engaging/disengaging without the spring).
3. Is there any way to make the clutch engage/disengage after more travel, I would think it should catch closer to the floor.
4. I have seen that quadratec and other companies have a cable setup that replaces this linkage (part number 52026.1012). I don’t like the linkage, would this fix my problem? Also the cable says it works on 1976-1986 CJ’s. I would think it would work on my 75 as well? Anyone know? Has anyone used this cable?

As always, thanks much for the help.

[Dragin]

It sounds like your noise is the throw out bearing which will start to make noise as the age and keeping it tight with the spring is basically a band aid at the moment. I have seen alot of transmissions from alot of manufactures do the same thing. As far as when it engages has to do with how the clutch ages, without some sort of automatic adjuster like many newer vehicals the engagement point will change. If someone makes an adjustable cable that can fix where your clutch engages vs pedal height but yout throwout bearing is still going to be making noise and will need replacing soon. Hope that helps some.

Steve