My 94 C2500 is going on 280,000 miles. Duriing the 60,000 or so miles that I have had it, I have gone through five clutch master cylinders and two slave cylinders. The truck has an aftermarket solid flywheel. The local Chevy dealer mechanic said that the problem was that the clutch disk is too strong. Doesn't feel that bad to me - tried driving a 3500 and the clutch felt much stronger. Had the clutch disk and pressure plate, plus other incidentals, replaced (no place to work to do it myself). The owner of the shop said the new pressure plate would be softer but it feels stiffer to me. Blew out the clutch master cylinder soon after getting the new clutch.

I am getting to be an expert on driving the truck in traffic with no clutch. Probably will not have any sychros after a few more bouts of clutchless stop and go freeway driving.

The problem each time is that the hydraulic fluid is forced out around the "O" ring where the line enters the cylinder. The cylinder itself appears to be fine otherwise. When it first happened, about 600 miles from home but within walking distance to a Chevy dealer, the dealer did not have the cylinder so I tried replacing the line and the "O" ring. Lasted about a day. Tried two "O" rings - lasted another day. When I finally got the new clutch master cylinder, it lasted for about 10,000 miles. Haven't tried replacing just the "O" rings since, but am tempted to try it - except that they are rather hard to obtain.

I am certainly getting to be good at swapping out clutch cylinders. Even made myself a little device from a small "C" clamp to push out the roll pin on the slave cylinder. I would be more than happy to give up my little hobby of replacing the cylinders, however, and find a more permanent solution. Not only is driving clutchless somewhat inconvenient, the cylinders are now more than $70 each at the local Shucks.

It appears that there is no heavier duty cylinders available. Short of having a couple of heavy duty hydraulic cylinders fabricated at the local hydraulic shop for a small fortune, does anyone have any suggestions as to possible solutions? It is almost enough to drive a dedicated stick shifter to a slush box...

Thanks