Pull back spring

[Kaiser2boy]

I know it will have to wait a while but going over my clutch and throw out bearing set up I noticed the throw out bearing pullback spring has gone missing in action.

The spring has less tension than a ball point pen spring and not a whole lot bigger as I recall.
Just wondering how important is that tiny spring and can I buy just that item if it is important?

It hooks to the throw out bearing collar and then to an adjusting screw that adjusts vertically about in inch or so on the rear of the clutch housing. The bearing moves horizontaly against the pressure plate so the vertical adjustment seems not to make much sense to me because adjusting it will not change the tension on it only the angle of it.
Everything on this truck it extra heavy duty and then there is this tiny little spring on the clutch as if the springs in the pressure plate may not push the bearing back so they stuck in this as a back up spring???
Any ideas ?

[Gsmith]

The clutch fork moves the throwout bearing and the pedal return spring pulls the whole thing back. The little spring pulls the bearing back and keeps it from "floating" so to speak. It does need to be in there.

[Kaiser2boy]

I figured they put it there for a reason . It just seems so small considering everything else is built with a degree of over kill.
The amount of travel on the screw is still a question.
Is all that adjustment for clearance when installing the bearing. It seems like there is plenty of room in there no matter how that screw is set. I screwed it all the way in and out and it seems not to make any difference other than to change the angle of the spring. Once the spring is conected turning the screw can cause the spring to get messed up because it will twist up the spring.
I know it seems like a silly question but I really hate to get it all back togeteher and running and then say Uh Oh the stupid spring is set wrong.

[Gsmith]

Your description of the spring sounds like you don't have the right one. Parts book lists it as being 9/16 diameter by almost 2 inches long. I don't remember what I did about the bolt you're talking about when I did mine, was several years ago. Hopefully someone else can answer that question.

[Charles Talbert]

The spring is an absolute must. The pedal pull back spring will pull everything back up to and including the fork assy. The release bearing sleeve is not connected to the fork, so the sleeve / bearing assy will just float unless the aforementioned spring is there and properly adjusted. It doesn't take much tension to keep it in check, and if you have the adjuster stud too high, the trans can't slide all the way forward against the bell housing, thus you are limited with the tension you can apply. As long as the bearing/sleeve assy is pulled back against the fork prongs when the clutch is released, that's all you need. The adjustment stud should have a jamb nut on the top end that tightens against the bell housing. A good starting place is to adjust the stud just high enough so the jamb nut tightens flush with the stud end, much more than that and the trans top cover will interfere. Once the stud is locked down, then attach the spring through the hole in the stud; if the sleeve is pulled back against the fork when the trans is installed, good to go. One note: if the spring is stretched or deformed, you will likely not be able to adjust the stud high enough to get proper tension, in this case the spring must be replaced.

[gusbratz]

super importand, I used to have a D-500 with a 318 and np-435. spring broke and I knew it but it was one of those things I kept putting off. Never got around to it. after a couple of months the throw out bearing went bad and then seized and fell apart. due to floating into the pressure plat fingers at high rpms as it bumped in and out of contach as I drove. this also wore the clutch fingers real thin. that little spring and my lack of fixing it cost me a clutch, pressure plate throwout bearing, and all the work to fix it.

[Kaiser2boy]

Glad I asked!
I dug around and found the spring at the bottom of one of the tin cans holding all the nuts and bolts from the tear down.
It loooks ok. Also it is bigger than I described. It is the right one.
Thanks.