HDJ79 CLUTCH

Don't shout mate ... we all can hear you.

Not sure about the HDJ, but VDJ some owners have had grief with aftermarket heavy duty clutches with shudder etc. General consensus on LCOOL is to stay with Mr T's units.

I fitted an Exedy clutch to my 1hd-ft engined HZJ-75 with the H150 gearbox. Been hauling our 2 1/2 tonne van around for a couple of years now with no problems.
Not the real heavy duty ceramic disc model, the one below that.
Smooth engagement, no shuddering or slipage so far.
I have heard that the genuine Toyota jobbie is ok too. Just a few more dollars.

Cheers
Pop

I'd go oem clutch, spigot bearing and rear main seal while the box is out.

Have a look at how many ks the factory clutch lasted.... that should give you an idea what to replace it with. ...

I have just had my OEM clutch replaced with same OEM Toyota Kit price of $495 plus aftermarket spigot bearing $22 and $500 fitting in Shepparton. The orig clutch did 105,000 kms most towing with GCM 6.9t Diesel/Gas/3"system and recently added Diesel Smart module. The flywheel was in good condition but advised them to skim anyway.
The clutch plate still had approx 10 to 20,000 kms left dependent on towing conditions and terrain, no failure or slippage was ever encountered. I prefer to keep the pedal pressure the same as before the reason I stuck with the original.
After being a mechanic for over 40 years it was with great indecision that I allowed someone else to work on my vehicle as we are on the road full time (12 yrs) and I am not capable of the heavy under vehicle floor work anymore. After picking up the vehicle and checking out the finished workmanship I was very disappointed to find the Oil Pressure Light Switch not connected and on a vehicle that has never been touched in this area to find numerous bolts, nuts and incorrect size 8mm bolts fitted with nuts where 10mm size bolts are required which I replaced myself easily with the proper bolts.
Then on inspection the Clutch Lever Pivot showing signs of NO cleaning of excess Dust and NO sign of fresh/clean grease at the Pivot ball/socket in the Lever inside the Clutch Housing. I was told by them that they only Blow out the excess Dust and did Re-Grease the Pivot Assy with fresh grease!!??. It doesn't end there!!!.
What happened next was not expected as we headed off a day early (Luckily) for Melbourne as my wife was to fly to Cairns at 6am next morning for a elderly family member issue. That was 35 kms Sth of Shepparton we broke down as we run out of fuel, so thinking it might be bad fuel as the Sub tank I was on was still close to full I changed to the Main only to still not run. So replaced both fuel filters 8000kms old and seemed ok, still no go, so headed straight for the fuel tank changeover switch/taps and seemed like a blockage in the Rear Sub tank side of the switch/tap and without proper gear couldn't bypass so drained approx 20L fuel out of rear tank into front tank, then primed and up and running.
On inspection next day after getting mate to run us to the airport grabbed a torch and found that the "So called mechanics" had NOT reconnected the Main Power Supply to these Fuel Tank Changeover switches, NOT Happy at all!!!??. I have since phoned them for the Third time about their "Workmanship" and advised him of their responsibility to the untrained "Public Consumers" as the consequences of this minor indiscretion could have been a Major Safety issue in the wrong Terrain towing a heavy caravan and/or cost a lot more to them with towing and repair charges for the uncalled Breakdown.
All he could say was "your kidding" and oh yeh I'll have a talk to my employees about that and Sorry. As my first thoughts were of concern of someone else working on my vehicle after all these years and running my own workshop for close to 20 years without any problems like this.
The next workshop will be scrutinized more thoroughly next time but the problem is that just because they look like they have a clean and tidy workshop that the Quality Workmanship is unknown even though I had a good chat with the owner about Who and What I was and that I expected a certain quality out of their shop as I was recommended by locals of his business. Anyway after this I feel Sorry for the Motoring Public relying on so many small and larger dealer type Mechanical Workshops around the country delivering below standard workmanship on Basic repairs.
Here's hoping that the Pressure/Clutch Assy is fitted correctly!!??.
I know that there are many good quality conscientious and responsible Mechanical Workshops around Australia but it's just finding them.

Cheers Kev.