hard to get into 1st gear

68gtxman said

No, I meant throw-out bearing. But my experience is Chebby related. The input shaft on a Chebby goes thru the center of the throw-out bearing and sometime will rub on the bearing so much that the rubbing can even cause the input shaft to continue spinning enough to cause difficulty in getting into first gear. Maybe Mopar transmissions don't have the same potential problem, but that was what I was thinking.

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No throw out bearing rides on the input shaft, the front bearing retainer has a sleeve that covers the input shaft and that is what the throw out bearing rides on, this way it does not move untill it slides foward and touches the pressure plate levers. Then only the bearing portion of the throw out bearing assembly touches and spins allowing you to release the pressure on the disc, this is where the adjustment comes in when travel needs to be added if the disc is not getting released 100% by the pressure plate which will cause hard shifting. Mopar, ferd, chebby, imports, the theory is the same.