my wife reported the other day that the truck seemed to be hard to shift, esp into first and reverse.

i never had any issues, always smooth as butter.

after she mentioned this, the next time i drove it i noticed it was indeed hard to put into gear (more so first and reverse, but at any time can seem hard to shift in any gear, esp while going slow) and the clutch seems to engage RIGHT off the floor now, i mean a fraction of an inch. pedal pressure seems normal, maybe a hair soft until about 3" from the floor, but overall it's normal, initial clevis play is normal.

i checked the master cyl and it has dirty fluid...and some grime. BUT i am confident it's not the OE unit. it looks entirely too clean and new compared to, say, the brake master cyl. i cleaned/bled it and it just makes the new fluid dirty instantly, but no change in engagement/shifting by bleeding so i stopped. there doesn't seem to be any air in the system. i do notice that when the pedal gets near the floor, i feel some "unsmooth" friction, or...sort-of tension, in (what seems like) the master cylinder, through the pedal, but it doesn't seem to be actually affecting function. it might need a master cylinder rebuild or replacement down the line, but i am pretty sure it's not causing my issue.

so, i'm pricing clutches because it seems like that is the ultimate issue. i noticed that this truck crosses to starion clutches, so i will be checking into a basic "gravity series" clutch kit from a company my firm represents (Competition Clutch), or...if that doesn't pan out, i can probably rely on a Sachs kit from rockauto.com

anyway, thoughts on my issue? does it sound like i'm on the right track?

thanks.