wilwood slave cylinder

[505stang]

Have a wilwood slave cylinder, pn 260-1333, pull type that lasted less than 300 miles. It is leaking and after taking it apart it is evident that the piston has scarred up the cylinder wall, any body have any suggestions on a different brand. I have a B&B with a 408ci cleveland with a tko 600 trans. After reading reviews on the wilwood a lot of people have had the same issue. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks Dan.

[TexasSnake]

I also have a B&B car that experienced a Wilwood clutch slave cylinder failure. Although I have a FE motor I think our clutch activation setup is very similar if not identical. What I observed on my car was that when the slave cylinder was connected to the clutch it was at a slight side angle which was placing a side load on the Wilwood slave cylinder. Side load on the Wilwood 260-1333 will definitely cause the problems that you have experienced To correct the problem I built a new mounting bracket that placed the slave cylinder in correct alignment with the clutch assembly. Fortunately on a B&B car the slave cylinder mount bolts to the main frame rail. I removed the one that was on the car and installed the new mount that placed the slave cylinder in correct alignment with the clutch. I made this modification two years ago and I have not had any more slave cylinder problems.

[Tim7139]

The NAPA slave used on a lot of the SPF cars bolt up to a bracket on most blow proof bellhousings, line up well amd work as well as anything for about $25.

[DanEC]

I had the same issue with a Tilton master cylinder in my brake system on my ERA. I don't think it made it even 50 miles. The walls were scuffed up in it too. About all you can do is align everything as best as possible so that it has the straightest stroke possible and then hold your tongue just right and hope. Since I replaced it, I haven't had any further problems.

Strange that some scuff and some don't seem to. I did notice that the piston was a bit rough on the ends when I took it apart. I put a rebuild kit in it and held on to it as a spare. I smoothed the edges of the piston and honed the cylinder walls. My suspicion is that all pistons scuff a little in these masters and only the extra rough ones scar up the cylinder walls enough to leak.

[Grubby]

I had the same problem on an ERA with about 1000 miles. The slave cylinder had a side load.

Fixed the side load issue and replaced the slave cylinder. No further problems at nearly more than 15k miles.

John

[jwd]

I had no problem with my Wilwood slave BUT, I installed it correctly. The above posts show that they don't last when installed wrong.

[Dirty Harry]

I had the same issues with the Wilwood slave. Even after I fabricated a new mounting bracket to eliminate any side loading, I couldn't get one to last an entire summer. I went through about 4 of them before I went to an entirely different arrangement with a different slave. Big improvement.

[RallySnake]

The alignment is difficult to get right because the throw out arm moves through an arc. I bought a slave cylinder for a Nissan pickup truck for about $25 and got a second one as a spare. If you have someone push the pedal in while you watch under the car, you can see that the shaft swings sideways as the arm moves back. The best you can do is line the slave cylinder shaft up with the center of the arc.

[DanEC]

Originally Posted by RallySnake

The alignment is difficult to get right because the throw out arm moves through an arc. I bought a slave cylinder for a Nissan pickup truck for about $25 and got a second one as a spare. If you have someone push the pedal in while you watch under the car, you can see that the shaft swings sideways as the arm moves back. The best you can do is line the slave cylinder shaft up with the center of the arc.

I agree - virtually all of these hydraulic cylinders move a lever on an arc pattern - the best you can do is some compromise. I think it's rough machining of the piston ends that causes the problems. No matter how careful you try to align, at some point the piston probably contacts the bore.

[rodneym]

My experience with push types:
Some angle is inevitable.
Aside from compromising the angles, make sure the push rod contact to the slave's 'cup' has as much contact as possible and as much of that contact as possible should be at the bottom (center) of the cup.
If you start Mickey Mousing and miss-matching rods and slaves, you'll be more inclined to missalignment in the slave bore.

[505stang]

Thanks for all the replies, i agree with the arc movement, i did hone the slave and sand the piston with 1500 grit and put it back together, no leaks (yet), the scratches were on the side as was said in some of the replies, the slave is inline with the fork and there is a little side movement due to the arc. going to drive close to the house to see what happens, if this does not work i'll try some of the other replies! Thanks for all the help!

[ICBomber90]

I had a Wilwood pull slave when I first built my Cobra, I too rebuilt mine after it failed very early on. Do yourself a favor, replace it ith a push type slave BEFORE it fails again. I didn't and it almost cost me a transmission.

I used Modern Drivetrain for my parts. A little costly but has been 100% since I replaced it.

Pat

[sn8ke2]

I am the original owner of a 2005 SPF Mklll, which came with Willwood brakes; I'll assume it was built with a matching Willwood system. First slave cylinder lasted approx 8 years. Since then, I've replaced it 3 times. Last mechanic who replaced it said it was mounted at a bad angle, and that because the clutch pedal was difficult to depress, it was probably a finger type clutch, stressing the slave even more, which in total was contributing to the failures of the slave.
Any thought on the finger clutch issue?

[Mark IV]

Here is what we fab to reduce the side pressure on the slave. As the arm does arc the base position is set slightly "outboard" and as it pushes and the system arcs it goes to neutral and then slightly inboard.
https://www.facebook.com/TimeMachine...2011247529779/

[MKS427]

Originally Posted by 505stang

Have a wilwood slave cylinder, pn 260-1333, pull type that lasted less than 300 miles. It is leaking and after taking it apart it is evident that the piston has scarred up the cylinder wall, any body have any suggestions on a different brand. I have a B&B with a 408ci cleveland with a tko 600 trans. After reading reviews on the wilwood a lot of people have had the same issue. Any suggestions would be great. Thanks Dan.

If it is a problem again, I'd recommend Mike Forte's hydraulic clutch kit. It's been working great for 12K+.

[sn8ke2]

Thanks for the reply gentlemen.

[twobjshelbys]

I can second the Forte setup. After two rebuilds of the HTOB I ditched it for Mike's system and it worked great and was a much-improved clutch to boot.