Series 60 Detroit with heavy clutch and Autoshift

[madbrit]

Is Jim the RV Safety man still around on this forum?  I saw a reference to him having a series 60 with autoshift in his bus.  What my current problem is, when they took out the old worn out 9 speed Rockwell and installed the Series one Autoshift in my Freightliner, they messed with the clutch linkage resulting in a reasonably heavy clutch pedal.
 Fast forward a few years and now my left leg isn't happy with the heavy clutch.  Not sure what they did to modify it, but the pedal travel is much shorter than it was with the Rockwell. I have a few options, failing an adjustment to the linkage, I may be able to have an Eaton Easy Pedal clutch installed or convert to a B500 style automatic.  Does anyone know anyone they can recommend to do the clutch job near Kingman AZ or would be able to do such a conversion to automatic?  Also not sure if my 11.1 would like the drain of an auto either. It was converted from a DDEC ll to a basic DDEC lV when the autoshift was installed and has a 400hp fire truck program but without the injector upgrade.  Thanks for any help or advice.

[luvrbus]

Keep the auto shift and convert to a hydraulic clutch control ,should be easy since Freight liner had the hydraulic clutch on some models,Jim is still on the Eagles board and Wayne (rusty) here has the hydraulic  clutch on his Eagle  with a auto shift,Wayne could be a great help telling you what parts you need ,not real hard to convert over to a hydraulic clutch control to help those old legs 

[rusty]

Yes I have an autoshift in my 94 Eagle. I used volvo master cylinder and slave cylinder.  For the clutch assist I used the assist parts that eagle used with their manual transmission. If you go to eaglesinternational.net go to the forum then go to projects eagle scroll down to 94/15 eagle by Wayne Schell then go to page 7 you will see all the parts I used.. this system works very well I can control the air pressure to make the clutch effortless.
Wayne

[luvrbus]

Sonnie Gray used a hydovac system from a Chevy pick up on someone's Eagle it worked out fairly good I think with the 5 speed manual transmission

[madbrit]

Yes I have an autoshift in my 94 Eagle. I used volvo master cylinder and slave cylinder.  For the clutch assist I used the assist parts that eagle used with their manual transmission. If you go to eaglesinternational.net go to the forum then go to projects eagle scroll down to 94/15 eagle by Wayne Schell then go to page 7 you will see all the parts I used.. this system works very well I can control the air pressure to make the clutch effortless.
Wayne

Thanks everyone for your input.  Much appreciated. 

Wayne, I took a look at your page 7  and read what you had done.  I may not need the air assist as it is a truck conversion, so the hydraulic line is much shorter.  Do you think without the air assist the clutch would be a lot lighter?  I did find a Freightliner hydraulic pedal assembly prices ranging from $574 to $1600, not sure it fits my year/model as the websites were a bit vague.  Now all I have to do is find a local shop that will take on conversion work..... lol.

I like the idea of using a hydraboost too, I have one in my 59 Chevy El Camino to power the 4 wheel disc brakes.

So there is a lot to think about and some more research to do.  Thanks again for the input.

[rusty]

Madbrit the lenght will have an effect on the effort needed to depress the clutch. How much I don't know.  I know there is not any assist in the Volvo truck that I used the parts to build my system. I don't  know how hard the pedal is in that truck. I do know the pedal in my Eagle is very stiff with out the assist. I have seen a lot of Volvo trucks that launch very hard at take off could that be caused by a stiff clutch pedal?
Wayne

[luvrbus]

I know the I Shift transmission by Volvo will launch but the pedal was easy ,Van's Isuzu box truck with the 6 speed  and hydraulic clutch works real good

[madbrit]

Madbrit the lenght will have an effect on the effort needed to depress the clutch. How much I don't know.  I know there is not any assist in the Volvo truck that I used the parts to build my system. I don't  know how hard the pedal is in that truck. I do know the pedal in my Eagle is very stiff with out the assist. I have seen a lot of Volvo trucks that launch very hard at take off could that be caused by a stiff clutch pedal?
Wayne

I think I will try Eaton and Freightliner to see if they have dimensions of the sections of the linkage to see what has been modified.  Maybe the clutch fork arm could be extended but I will have to make sure the clutch operates correctly including the clutch brake.  There are different clutch pressure plates available for different torque motors pulling heavy or light loads so that maybe why that Volvo had a very hard take-off.

I know on my existing clutch, it can be fun getting the revs and clutch feed correct to stop any initial bouncing when pulling away, which I put down to a heavy pedal or clutch.  As I said before, one option is an "Easy Pedal" clutch.

I will try to get the dimensions in the week.  Thanks again guys.

[madbrit]

I know the I Shift transmission by Volvo will launch but the pedal was easy ,Van's Isuzu box truck with the 6 speed  and hydraulic clutch works real good

I try to make sure I get the clutch engaging at the lowest rpm possible as I feed the clutch but with the heavy pedal, that is sometimes tricky, especially when slow maneuvering.  Thanks.

[luvrbus]

I try to make sure I get the clutch engaging at the lowest rpm possible as I feed the clutch but with the heavy pedal, that is sometimes tricky, especially when slow maneuvering.  Thanks.

The Allison A-10 had all the answers, but Eaton bought it to keep it off the market to protect the auto shift ,I have hay hauler friend that has 5 of the A10-Allison in his Peterbuilts