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Advice On Clutches


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All right men, I need some help here.  I posted a while back about my clutch slipping and now I finally have a little money to replace it.  That being said, I still don't have a huge budget to do this with.  I'm trying to find a good reliable clutch that won't break the bank.  I'm familiar with south bend and Valair but those are out of my league as far as affordability.  If anyone can give me any info on Luk, AMS performance, Exedy, etc. that would be great.  I have tried to research these brands but can't really find many reviews on any of them.  Also, I don't do any really heavy towing (probably 6 or 7k occasionally).  Thanks in advance for the help.

Edited by RubberDuck01
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I had my truck with the stock clutch and a Banks chip that added around 75hp. I pulled a 5th wheel and weighed a total of 19,500. The stock clutch held t just fine but was at ts limits and I dont tow that often. Maybe 5 or 6 times a year. Like Mike says call DAP and talk with him. A organic single is all you need. I run a Valair in mine.

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I have a valair 13 inch Ceramic and kevlar. They say 500hp but i know for sure it will hold way more. I have been mean to mine for the past 3 years. Only thing is if your a clutch rider it isn't good on the kevlar it will burn it up. I am almost 40k on this one and still cant even get it to slip.

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  • Staff

Save up for a dual disk and never look back... Went through a single disk OFE with just a tuner within 30,000 miles... Never raced or hooked up to a sled but I do drive it hard from time to time

 

You must have drove REALLY hard, or slip a lot at startup.

 

Unless the hp demands a DD I don't recommend it, they are noisy... much nosier than most realize.

  • Like 2
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The other thing is make sure you dont let your foot even touch the clutch pedal unless you are stopped or shifting. Even the slightest pressure can cause the clutch to slowly slip and burn it up in short order. I am wondering if that is what happened to D-LUX. Maybe he rests his foot on the pedal going down the road? That is a very short life span for a clutch.

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To both posts... Was under the recommended Hp level... Have driven manual my whole life so no I don't rest my foot on the clutch as I know that will kill it..

When driving it I usually started in second by just letting out on the clutch with little to no throttle input... I don't believe my driving style had anything to do with the short life span, the 35's and the tall gear ratio was the killer to that clutch...

To the OP, if you ever plan on going past anything more than a box style tuner/chip I'd recommend a dual disk, they're rebuildable and can handle way more power with less plate load and are not as loud as some believe...

I daily drive a southbend street D/D 3250 with NO issues... It will chatter when trying to slip it in second which is expected with that style..but to the doubters it is just as quite as the single... The newer style doesn't have the old rattle that they used to

Edited by D-LUX
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  • 2 weeks later...

Got 394,000+ on my 99 with the original clutch. Have an Edge EZ and Bosch RV injectors (75 HP). Its a daily work truck in and out the woods and with tools and fuel weighs in close to 12,000 lbs. Add to that the snowplowing and pulling trailers I would say I have done good not needing a clutch til now. My question would be should I replace the flywheel as well?

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With that many miles I would probably replace the flywheel. I think the flywheel is recommended to be replaced anytime you do the clutch anyway. I didnt have the extra cash laying around for a new flywheel when I did mine, coupled with the fact that I grind flywheels at the parts store I manage so it worked out for me. Otherwise I would have definitely replaced mine too.

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  • Owner

All depends on the flywheel thickness and the how ate up the face is. I've seen some flywheels take a just a bit of surface work and good to go. Then I've seen other that are way to far gone and need to be replaced. I did a clutch on 2005 Cummins and was shocked the friction disc was completely gone and chewed up and flywheel was virtually untouched how that happened I don't know but even with a straight edge it was in good shape.

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