From my understanding, the factory pressure plate isn't self adjusting. Not sure why this would be an issue.

 

Internal slave means you can't adjust it like the old days to get the most miles from the clutch disc

Also means with new clutch disc the clutch pedal must be down to the floor, and maybe an inch farther, lol, to get full release
So any little bit of air in the system is a major headache, over time as disc wears down its less of an issue
As disc gets thinner pedal disengage/engage moves farther up on the clutch pedal until its at the top of pedal so disc starts to slip
In the old days with external slave you could adjust it so pedal travel disengage/engage was in the lower middle, and then adjust it more as disc wore out

Self adjusting pressure plate does that for you, keeps pedal travel at the same place as disc wears down
I think self adjusting setup may have a slightly thicker clutch disc as well, because it can be adjusted, so lasts a bit longer.


I normally do my own clutches, but, I am getting older so last clutch was done by local shop, they had done other work for me and they are good guys
I asked for self adjusting setup because I wasn't sure what was in there now.
They put in "factory" non-self adjusting pressure plate because it was "stock".
They/we spent the next week trying to get system bled so I didn't have to shut off the engine to put it into 1st when stopped, lol
They ended up pulling trans and putting in self adjusting pressure plate, which worked fine, they also reversed my O2 sensors, another story, lol.
I told them I didn't care if the non-self adjusting pressure plate stayed in there, it was less money, but I did want it to work, i.e. being able to shift into 1st while stopped

 

Okay I see what you're saying. I wanted to give this stage 2 clutch a try and see how it does. I don't drive the truck much anymore so I'm not too worried about having to pull it apart down the road. Thanks for the info, Ron.

 

Congrats on your upgrades! Thanks for sharing and the photos. Any chance you might have some photos that are not just the front, left front or right front of your Ranger? Before and after? Thanks.

b

 

Stage 2 Clutch will definitely be fine for what you do since you have the beater car. Jacob went with a dual friction this last time around since he also never drives his truck. I had to stick with a self adjuster since I daily mine 40 miles round trip. I couldn't imagine doing the daily thing with a stage 2 clutch. lol.

 

My car has a stage 2 in it lol. It aint bad

 

I wish the Ranger Clutch Hydraulics were easier to service, IE not in the bell-housing.

 

You and everyone else with a manual Ranger lol

 

Not true, in my opinion, being older, I spent most of my driving years with external adjusting clutches, linkage, cable and hydraulic styles

In cars it wasn't a big deal but still one more thing to deal with along with Points and Carb adjustments, which I also hated, don't get me wrong I loved to tune an engine, when I WANTED TO, not when I HAD TO, lol.

In trucks, especially if you were off-road much, you would get damaged linkages, or broken linkages, broken spring holding linkage, ect....................

I have to say I have never had an issue with an internal clutch system, off road or on
Just lucky I guess

But I do understand people wanting "adjustable" everything, and there is no reason not to have what you want, but to say it is the "right way" or "better way" is not true for all people
Except for fuel injection, distributorless ignition systems and self adjusting clutches, which is RIGHT and BEST for everyone, lol.

 

I agree with ya on all that, Ron lol. Now that my Ranger is not my DD, it gets about 2500-3000 miles on it a year tops. I figured I could comfortably try out this stage 2 clutch for ***** and gigs. I can always swap it out for a self adjusting set up down the road if I'm not happy with it. Especially since I don't need the truck to get to work.

 

Here's some side photos:

No lift on 32's
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4 inch lift on 33's
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Picked this up the other day. It is a 1350 linkage but it has the long lever arm and will only require minor clearencing to work with the 1354 case. Pulled it off an 89' auto ranger. From my understanding these only came on rangers and bronco 2's with the A4LD. The rest got the short arm 1350 linkage.

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Glad to see some progress Sam

 

Managed to get my hands on a 1354 linkage from an fx4 level 2

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Chrome lever too?

 

Nah just the linkage

 

Dang, I'll keep my eyes open and I'll let you know if I find anything cheap.

 

Thanks man. I think I might just run an 8" hurst handle to match the trans shifter

 

Honestly, after owning a few sets of the Fx4 stuff, if I were to do the 4x4 thing again, I would run dual Hurst levers hands down.

 

I like the look of the Hurst levers better. I got the linkage from Ford and not a junk yard so it is brand new (yes they are still floating around, just gotta look hard).

 

I don't blame you. I could definitely tell it was a NOS part, the lack of rust gave it away. lol.

 

Haha yeah, I was surprised that I found one.

On that note, if anyone is looking for the fx4 level 2 linkage you can get it from fordpartsgiant.com. Part #: 2L5Z-7210-AB

 

Ballin'

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A little update. More parts collecting..

Shift **** thanks to Fordzilla80:


Level 2 floor plate:
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2003 level 2 manual shift t-case:


Hurst shifter:
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Just a pro-tip, Loctite the threads of the bolts for the shift lever, they love to rattle loose. I got so tired of mine coming loose that I coated them in Loctite and also threw a 3/8-24 nut on the other side of each bolt to really be able to crank them down and make sure they don't come loose.