CentralCoaster

I purchased 3 clutch sets from Napa for my 89 ZF this week. 2 of them were misboxed, and one was defective.

The 89-94 clutch sets use a larger I.D. throwout bearing with just a steel inner sleeve. This fits black tag ZFs with the larger input shaft retainer.

The 95-96 clutch sets use a smaller I.D. throwout bearing with a plastic sleeve added. This fits blue tag ZFs with the smaller input shaft retainer.

Also, it seems that all the oem replacement clutch sets use a valeo pressure plate, with a Chinese clutch and a Chinese throwout bearing.

The throwout bearing is some steel pieces stacked together, with the inner metal sleeve folded over the end. This is a ****-poor design and tends to crack during manufacture. This little folded piece of steel is the only thing resisting the pressure plate spring force, and will leave you stranded when it breaks.




Inspect the throwout bearing for the proper application. I was 1 for 3. The chinese box packers clearly don't know the difference. You'll probably have to cut the shrink wrap open.

Inspect the throwout bearing for cracks in the metal flange. I suspect the autozone one I installed was probably cracked too, it only lasted 8 months.

Here's a picture of someone else's that failed when the thin metal flange seperated:



I'll put up some pics of mine later.


When your throwout bearing fails, you'll feel the clutch let loose halfway down then go to the floor. If you try to pump it up, it'll get rock solid when it bottoms out the slave cylinder. If this happens to you, just keep it in gear and drive until you find a good place to pull over, because once you stop, you'll need a tow truck to get any further.


Does anyone know of a better t/o bearing that is one solid piece on the fork side, similar to the push type ones?

bent

I saw this in ecklers

http://www.ecklers.com/product.asp?p...dept%5Fid=2028

and was wondering if anyone has had any experience with this particular kit.....I have no idea what the brand is but am hoping that it is better than the ones that our communist "buddies" are making.

I'm not trying to fire up the whole lightweight debate again...

I have just purchased a 96 CE lt4 and was hoping to improve performance when changing out c/pp/fw/tob

Surely there have to be some high quality aftermarket parts that work like they claim without the nasty side-effects

TIMSPEED

I concur, that those throw-out bearings are a stupid design, and I'm not even an engineer!
Also, Kevin suffered much anguish this past week.
Glad to see you made it home OK.

tjwong

If you want a good clutch get a Mcleod replacement, especially if you are thinking about removing the dual mass flywhee. One thing about doing that, and that is be prepared for the ZF gear clatter once you replace that dual mass with a single mass. Personally on a stock car its not really worth it. Either way, you will get a valeo pressure plate from either vendor. Valeo is the only OE supplier that makes that pull type pressure plate. Even if you order a SPEC or a Centerforce clutch you will get a Valeo pressure plate.

bogus

I hate the aluminum SMFW. It just ain't worth it.

DieL

woah... Mind going off topic to my situation for a sec? I have a mcled street twin originally bought for my 93 black tag. Since then I've installed a rebult new blue tag. I hav e MAJOR gear whine at all speeds clutch in and out. Could there be a mismatch in input shaft sizes that might be causing this ?

-=Jeff=-

OR convert to a push type clutch and not worry about the load pulling on the TO Bearing

Scooter 94

ATTENTION ENTREPRENEURS: Start a company that produces premium quality aftermarket Corvette mechanical parts, and the entire C4 forum will beat path to your door...despite the higher price.

We're waiting.

CentralCoaster

No they won't. In my experience, car owners, including Corvette owners are cheapasses and won't pay more for better parts. Even on the forum, where we should know better, it is a minority that are willing to pay the premium.

Cheap parts are made because people are cheap.

Those aftermarket clutch sets look like they have the same pressure plate and throwout bearing. Maybe the guys adding weights to the pressure plate would know better and make their own bearing.

I could be wrong though, I can't really see **** since I have metal shards in my eye.

cv67

So true. Buy the cheapest part out there and bitch because it failed. On a Corvette no less

-=Jeff=-

[QUOTE=CentralCoaster]No they won't. In my experience, car owners, including Corvette owners are cheapasses and won't pay more for better parts. Even on the forum, where we should know better, it is a minority that are willing to pay the premium.

Cheap parts are made because people are cheap.

Those aftermarket clutch sets look like they have the same pressure plate and throwout bearing. Maybe the guys adding weights to the pressure plate would know better and make their own bearing.
QUOTE]


Yes they are cheap, I admit that I even look for a deal on parts.

Ram has a nice Clutch set-up using the push type clutch but it is $900+ for the complete kti as it will not work with our current flywheels since it is a smaller DIA clutch.

LD85

If there is one thing Ihate, it is debugging production auto parts and first year/model cars.

These companies rush to market with little or no testing and the knocks offs are just cheaper corner cutting facsimiles,

but there is a place in the wrold for cheap product, you just need to decide what you can and cant/refuse to live with.

Scooter 94

The only reason I buy cheap parts is because higher priced ones suck too. Why pay $50 for a part when it'll crap out as fast as a $40 part? What I'm saying is, charge $80 for a great part that works properly and lasts, and I'll buy that part every time.

That's why I paid $600 for a Gen 1 Dynaspark rather than $350 for OEM. Hell, you can get rebuilt optis for $160 at Autozone, if cheap is all you're after.

(btw..sorry to hijack the thread)

PacWest

What clutch can we get for the DMFW besides factory? Is it absolutely necesarry to convert to a SMFW in order to run a Mcleod?

I've got a '96 LT4

CentralCoaster

I presume you're talking about Mcleod's hydraulic throwout bearing.

It's $450 and will not work on a 2pc rear-main-seal car with the ZF according to Red. Actually, it might work, if you use an 85 corvette clutch and a dodge dakota pressure plate.

Might work.

LD85

RAM now makes a C4 Push type conversion.

I spoke with them, it costs $950

EDIT: Notice it does not use the McLeod TOB ?

http://www.ramclutches.com/zr1%20net.pdf

j3studio

Still pissed (no, livid) from this weekend's adventures with supposedly higher end product...

CentralCoaster

Yup. High price does not always equal quality either.