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Kevlar Clutches
Is anyone using a Kevlar Clutch and if so what are your thoughts about the pro's and con's?
I have the opportunity to change mine out next week while I have my transmission out of the car. Clois |
I would love to see some feedback on this one. The whitepapers (for lack of a better term) on clutches indicates that they are far superior to organic clutches in terms of friction under extreme heat, but typically have a lot more chatter. Is the lack of chatter due to a lack of marcel layer? Or an inherent nature of the kevlar itself?
This winter I may be replacing my clutch and am pretty curious on this!! |
I think Trularin's running a Kevlar clutch. He doesn't like it.
I put one in a buddy's 2003 Mustang Cobra. It chatters....but it grabs. Wouldn't bother me to drive it around all day long. You just have to get used to it. |
I think Trularin hosed up his kevlar clutch in London. :)
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I have had a SPEC Kevlar clutch in mine for a little over 2 years now and have been very happy with it. I did have a RAM HD clutch in there but I drove through the RAM clutch in 3rd gear, (once the tires hooked up). The SPEC clutch is very smooth for a Kevlar clutch but does need some practice to find the sweet spot to pull away smoothly without stalling. Some of that could be that I changed to an aluminum flywheel at the same time as I did the clutch. SPEC also do a carbon clutch which has a much higher torque capacity but is quite grabby for street use. Look here. http://www.speclutches.com/specMain.html
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I've been running a SPEC Stage III ceramic clutch for about two years. It chatters a little when cold and takes a little getting used to. But most of the time, I don't even notice the difference. Of course it's flat as a pancake here in Florida, so I don't use the clutch to hold the car on any hills while waiting for the light to change.
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Well the verdict is still out. I am dropping off my Alum flywheel at noon today to get it resurfaced (leaky rear main) and I thought I would find out as much as I could about the Kevlar clutches.
Dave why not give us your take on your experience with your kevlar clutch? Clois |
Clutch
It's not so much the kevlar as it is the clutch design.
I have a local clutch builder that built mine; it's a custom 12" Viper clutch (I have a Viper 6spd). The pedal effort is zilch, the throwout bearing total travel is about 3/8", and the clamping force is enough to hold 1000rwhp. It can be done. Sadly, many of the aftermarket clutch solutions are not well engineered. The materials they use and/or the pressure plate pressures are improper for the friction materials used; the result is a grabby/undesirable clutch. Contact Robyn at Superior Friction in San Jose, CA if you want a Clutchologist to do the impossible. Byron Reynolds RACE Systems San Jose, CA |
I'm running the 12 in McCleod clutch. Its uses a dual friction disk which means it is organic on one side and Kevlar on the other. It works well on an engine that is suppose to have almost 700 HP at the flywheel. I notice no difference in my clutch than in any passenger car other than the pedal effort is much higher. I'm using an external slave and an aluminum flywheel. I don't notice a lot of chatter, but the Cobra is a tab louder than a normal passenger car as well.
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I have been using a McLeod Kevlar clutch for the past two years. Absolutely no complaints. Take up is smooth, no grabbing or chatter. Even after a few Saturday afternoon street drags, it still performed flawlessly. I just had my tranny replaced with a TKO-600 and I replaced the clutch with the same since it was already all but out of the car. New clutch works as good as the original.
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Well I am picking mine up today from Friction Builders here in Tulsa. Had them re-surface my aluminium flywheel too. Total cost for everything $110.00 ($85 and $25). I did notice the Kevlar clutch is 1/8th " thinner than normal clutch material.
Clois |
Can you tell what the total thickness is new?
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I will mic the disc when I get home tonight if I get by in time to pick up my parts before they close. Otherwise I will get them tomorrow at noon. My guess is that the disc may be as much as .050-.100 thinner.
Clois |
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