Clutch ?'s
 

I'm looking at upgrading my clutch hopefully the first of next year :argh: and Im in need of some help. I currently have the juice w/attitude and was thanking about getting the smarty and stacking the two but Im not sure what clutch to go with. Im looking for around 400hp to 450hp give or take, the truck is my daily driven truck and some ocassional towing. No sled pullen or anything like that maybe a little racin from time to time :w2:. Also would it be a good idea to go ahead and upgrade to the 1 3/8 input shaft? Thanks for all the help in advance :pals:

Andrew

If you arent going to be towin a whole heck of a lot, then i would run a full ceramic because you wont really ever out grow it and u can do jsut about everything you want and occasionally pull a trailer. It wont be the smoothest clutch in the world but it will be extremely hardy. If you want a smooth clutch then an OFE is the way to go. Just be careful with the amount you slip the OFE. As far as the upgrading to a 1.375 shaft you wont need to do it. They are usually more for the people running dual discs and pulling or abusin the heck out of the input shaft. I personally would run a ceramic buti dont mind the grabby aspect of it.

Nick

You could also try the Ceramic & Kevlar Buttons Single Disc. Rated at 500hp with a 3800# Pressure Plate. Not quiet as grabby as the Full Ceramic.







Luke

southbend con ofe good to 450hp and will not eat the flywheel. the input will be fine

this is just my opinion,

if you plan on doing any sled pulling or boost launching in 3rd/4hi on a drag strip, then upgrade the shaft, if you know for a fact that youll never do any of the above, then the stock shaft will be fine

Thanks for all the replys and info guys :rocking:. Now for a quick question about the stock clutch, I have the juice set at 3x4 and was wondering if this is alright to run with the stock clutch or should I have it set lower. I just dont want to fry my clutch until I get the money for a new one.

If you don't beat on it and drive smarty your stock clutch will last for a while. Mine slipped once and I drove with it for 6 months.



Luke

yeah lukes right, the stock clutches can handle up to 350 ft lbs, what happened with mine before upgrading to a OFE from southbend and eventually a dual disc is that i tore the center out of the clutch, that was just by adding injectors and nothing else

Ok guys just couple more questions on this subject.
? 1- Duke, do you mean that the stock clutches can handle up to an extra 350 ft lbs before they start to fall apart.

? 2- Luke when you say drive smartly do you mean not over reaving and bogging it down in a certain gear? The reason I ask is b/c I asked a guy at Advance and he said as long as I didnt hit high rpms I should be alright. The highest rpm I hit is around 2500 rpm 3rd gear.

? 3- When upgrading the clutch should I upgrade to the 13'' conversion kit or just have the flywheel resurfaced and get the 12.25 clutch set?

Ok hopefully this well be the last of my questions, but how can you tell if your clutch is slipping :humm:? I dont think mine is slipping right now cause as the rpms go up the speed goes up, I just need to know what to be on the look out for.

Again thanks for all the help.

This is how I was told on how to tell if a clutch is slippin' go out on the highway and get it up to about40-50 or so and put it to the floor and if the engine revs alot and your speed does increase accordingly then your clutch is fine, however if your engine revs alot and your speed don't increase then your clutch is slippin'.

Before I put in my Valair Clutch my stocker was slipping bad in 5th and 6th gear with my Adrenaline on Level 4+ anything over 3/4 throttle. Now If I turned the Adrenaline off it would never slip unless I made it slip. Remember the higher the gear the more stress your putting on the clutch. Ive only had this clutch in for less than 1 week and its the most fun ive had in this truck since I bought it. Get a clutch turn up the juice have fun and be safe.




Luke

Ok guys I lied about not having any more questions. Will the full ceramic clutch will suitibale for towing such as a couple of 4 wheelers and would it be alright to use to pull a fifth wheel such as a camper? Parents have talked about getting one but not shure if they are or not.


Andrew

IMHO the Full Ceramic Clutch is a little grabby to be a towing clutch. If you tow once in a while then you would be ok. But if you tow often then id get something like a Organic/Feramic or Ceramic/Kevlar.


Luke

Ok guys just couple more questions on this subject.
? 1- Duke, do you mean that the stock clutches can handle up to an extra 350 ft lbs before they start to fall apart.
No, they stock clutches will handle up to 350 HP( i made a typo)
? 2- Luke when you say drive smartly do you mean not over reaving and bogging it down in a certain gear? The reason I ask is b/c I asked a guy at Advance and he said as long as I didnt hit high rpms I should be alright. The highest rpm I hit is around 2500 rpm 3rd gear.
That guy is wrong, many people think that the cummins cant rev, the 24 valves are fine with reving, ive had mine up to 3200 several times and im pushing 250k miles on the motor. i like to shift about 2100-2500 depending on what situation im in. the big thing is not to bog it below 1500 in 5th gear(if you have a 5 spd esepcially) or 6th gear if its a 6 speed.
? 3- When upgrading the clutch should I upgrade to the 13'' conversion kit or just have the flywheel resurfaced and get the 12.25 clutch set?
Go with the 13, they are stronger and will hold better.
Ok hopefully this well be the last of my questions, but how can you tell if your clutch is slipping :humm:? I dont think mine is slipping right now cause as the rpms go up the speed goes up, I just need to know what to be on the look out for.
Luke said it best, no need to repeat it
Again thanks for all the help.

answers are in bold

for the clutch type, get a Con OFE from southbend. itll be great for you

Duke, the 13 inch clutches actually dont have as much of a load as the 12.25 or the surface area of the 12.25. The 13s dont hold better than the 12.25s, since there is 22% more friction material on the 12.25 over the 13. Also the 3800 Lbs pressure plate on the smaller surface area compared to the 34/3600 pressure plate load rating on the larger 13 inch would imply that the 12.25 has more force per square inch. I personally would stay with a 12.25 of go to a dual disc. The best clutch to tow with in your case would be a Organci Feramic will be the smoothest and hold what you want to do. The ceramic will be too grabby and jumpy. you'll only end up hating the truck if you tow alot. I would get a ValAir OFE because of the price personally.

hmmm, thats way different then i was told by dan over at valair in january before getting my new clutch. he told me the 13s would hold more and not slip as easy. said something bout the flywheel strength too, oh well, yet another reason i stayed with southbend and went dual disc, also, if you get on to both southbends and valair sites. the prices are actually pretty similar. Give southbend a call there man, talk to Peter and ask him these questions and see what he says. Peter is the best and most knowledgable in my opinion. if one of his clutches wont do the job, he'll either build you one or tell you whos will and even give their phone number.

I don't know were your seeing prices but Valair has better prices.

Peter and Dan are EXTREMELY knowledgable about clutches. South Bend is generally $150 MORE when it comes to single disc clutches. You can visually see the differences in the 12.25 and the 13 inch clutches. We have beta tested some bad ass 12.25s and they have handled the abuse we give them. You can call Dan OR Peter or myself about these clutches. You'll get the same answers most of the time but the opinions will be different. I stick with the 12.25s because of the things i learned while building them, as well as the physics behind the clutches.

When using the valair do you have to have the flywheel bored out:humm:? On their website they have a picture http://www.valairinc.com/performance...s/min-bore.jpg, do you have to do this on the 24 valve to?

only if its a 12v flywheel, the 12v fw's were like 6 7/8 in.

I have ran a Valair SD & now running a Valair DD. Never tried a southbend clutch. A buddy of mine is running one, so we have done some comparison with no difference.(except price)

For me - it will be a Valair, Dan & Kevin have went out of their why to help with any and all clutch questions before , during and after purchase. :U: JMO!!!!

Kevin is very very helpful. :U:

i pull trailers with my full ceramic constanly, just put it in 4x4 low and hit the 2low switch throw it in secound or reverse and it does good

Valair full ceramic clutch
 

When upgrading to the full ceramic should you upgrade the Hydraulic upgrades when installed? Also Valair says that the drive train should also be upgraded, is this neccessary and if so what should be upgraded?


Andrew

you do not need any hydro upgrades with this cltuch only the big dual disks, with the drive train not much to upgrade, depends on the amount of power, really all there is is:Input shaft which if you have a nv5600 no proble, internal gears, t-case or rear end.

Alright fellos Im ready to purchase a clutch and have a question. Valair's 13" x 1.25" Performance Replacement Organic / Feramic Facings, will be able to handle the juice and maybe a smarty stack with some fireball pro 40 horse injectors? Its rated @ 500HP / 1000 ft lbs Torque, just want to make sure before purchasing.

With what you want to do with your truck you will be fine. I'll have your quote in the morning.



Luke

Hey thanks Luke:U: I tried calling ya today but didnt get no answer I figured yall didnt work weekends. But Ill be in touch with ya man.

I usually answer the phone when im there..... I was probably gone


I'll give ya a call tomorrow. :U:



Luke

:ok1::U:

New clutch
 

Been meaning to post this but kept forgetting to :argh: and I hope Im not out a line. I received my new Valair 13inch conversion clutch about a week ago from Luke at Diesel Dawgs Performance and had it installed last thursday and wow. The pedal pressure from this clutch is about the same as stock but less peddle pressure, its alittle bit more grabby than what I had and the engagement is smooth as butter. And as for Luke, great customer service he contacted me on a sunday and took my order which was awesome cause I know alot of people would wait till the start of the week to contact u. The clutch was shipped fast and when I contacted Luke about the status of the shipment he was quick to respone. All in all excellent customer service and I will foreshore do business with Luke again. Thanks again man:5:

Thanks for the kinda words. Hope you enjoy your new clutch. :pals: