New 6-speed clutch for 2001 ETH

[drawson]

I am going to be pulling my transmission on Friday night March 9th and reinstalling it on saturday the 10th. I am also going to be putting on a new 5th gear nut at the same time.

Bart you are right about the friction material there is less than Joe's. Thethings that sold me on this clutch from South bend is the following.....

1) The clutch disc where the pucks are on is much heavier (thicker).

2) It was 200 bones less than Joes's with a throw out bearing. The sach's that joe has doesn't come with a throw bearing.

3) I kind of like being unique. The very first time I saw South Bends advertisement and their tri disc, I want to try one.

4) I have desided to stop bombing this truck after I get to 1000 foot pounds of torque.

5) Finially ease of payment(Credit Card) I didn't have to wait for my tax return.

Like you Bart and alot of others I owe Joe alot and I hope he doesn't feel hurt or #ad
because of this.

Bart your help will always be welcome, I am going to be doing this in my auto shop at the Davis Applied Technology Center.

It would be great to hook up!!!!!

It has been hard to be running arounded detuned and now if this snow would stop I'll be really happy #ad
#ad
#ad

 

[Joseph Donnelly]

Dee, that looks like a fine clutch. I'm glad that a number of clutch suppliers have become interested in our Rams. It has been a long hard road to get good clutches for our Rams. It seems Peter at South Bend is working hard to produce good clutches for Rammers. We now have a number of good choices varying in cost and torque capacity, and that is as it should be. #ad

 

[South Bend Clutch]

HeberRam, I sent a clutch to one of your friend's like the one you installed. He ordered it Monday red label so he could install it on Tuesday. Did you here from him yet? Please let me know if he was as happy as you. By the way, how is yours doing? Thanks Peter

 

[HeberRam]

South Bend Clutch... Peter, Haven't heard from anyone yet! Did you give them my mobile # ??
Peter, I going to try to get my truck re-dynoed tommorrow( friday) at performance Edge's new Mustang Dyno. I'll fax you results when I recieve them. By the way, I have not experienced any problems whatsoever, and have about 500 "hard" miles on the new clutch. I'm totally, pleased and I believe you have developed a true "winner". Thanks again Peter.

 

[Bart Timothy]

More clutch choices is a very good thing and the Southbend ETH clutch has some features I really like. If I'm understanding what HeberRam has said, the full 360 degree ceramic lining sounds very good. I never understood why, in the face of a shortage of lining area, a manufacturer would opt to use "pads" or "pucks" and loose all the surface area between them. The ETH/DEE clutch suffers from lack of surface area, among other things, and needs all it can get. However, the Southbend clutch is still a Luk.

The Mcleod over comes the lining area issue by adding another disk and pressure plate. In theory it should hold more torque than others because of this increase in lining area, and real world tests appear to bear that out. Problem is there's simply not enough room inside the bell housing to have all that machinery along with a sprung hub, let alone enough space for disengagement. So Mcleod users can suffer from "neutral grind noise" (which wouldn't bother me), with the possible main shaft breakage because of an unsprung hub. Disengagement and problems getting into gear caused by warpage of the center pressure plate, among other things, along with the possible resulting wear and tear on syncros can be a problem.

The DRE Sachs increases lining area if the flywheel is changed to a pre '93, as Joe suggests. An increase of almost a half inch in diameter of area, or around 30%, can be added this way. Joe offers a choice of brass or organic linings, and three clamp pressure rates above stock The organic lining along with the lowest spring weight will be a vast improvement over stock. With a 50% increase in clamping force, the pedal effort on my clutch is greater than stock, but not at all objectionable. Best of all it's a Sachs. Look at drawson's pictures of the Southbend 5 speed Sachs clutch and compare that with a Luk and you can see there's a big difference in quality and heft. The disk in the DRE is out of some medium duty truck application, well sprung, quite heavy duty, and takes advantage of every suare inch of surface area avialable, although I can't tell how it compares in heft to drawson's 5 speed Southbend disk by looking at the pictures. Centering the pressure plate on the flywheel during installation is a non issue, I think.

In the final analysis, it's probably "different clutches for different folks", and who chooses what clutch probably boils down to total cost, payment terms, support, marketing hype, personalities, etc. , as much as any other reason. I really like my DRE Sachs, even though it's over kill for my truck, and I'm certainly not "eating my heart out" for not having a Southbend. The folks at Southbend were very friendly and knowledgeable but they had nothing to offer at the time I purchased. Had they had this new clutch available, especially with a Sachs pressure plate, my choice would have been lot tougher, but I'd still have went with the DRE because of Joe's support and installation.

Bart

 

[HeberRam]

Bart... Good post. You and I and others are always willing to R&D products, be it injectors, fueling boxes, clutches, propane etc. We may agree on some things and disagree on others. That's whats great about the TDR forum. We can share our own personal experiences with other members so they can decide which route to go. I will continue to ( as long as the wife doesn't know how much I'm spending) to keep R&D new products as they come available. I'm no expert but I demand performance. If you can come up to Ogden this friday at 2:00 at performance Edge, We're going to see what the stage 3 Bully Dogs do on the Dyno.

 

[South Bend Clutch]

Bart, clutch manufactures all have their own theories. Luk's is sound mathematically. When understanding where the most torque is created on two castings with the same outside diameter the mathematical formula goes like this. You measure from the inside diameter 2/3 towards the outside and then measure the surcomfrance from that point, this gives you the "means" or where the most torque is given. The larger the means the more toque that can be created. This is what Luk has done with many of their clutch's not just the Dodge. The clutch is perfact for stock units, all we did was add a much higher quality material, alter the pressure plate a little and we feel that we have a setup that will take care of 90% of the rammers without lots of $$$$ out of pocket.

 

[Arcticat]

Like Bart, I couldn't be happier with my DRE sachs. I feel more comfortable knowing that the guy who developed the unit actuall uses the product in his own CTD ram with over 500hp at the rearwheels. THATS what I call R&D. Price was not an object on my decision. I have well over $30,000 in the truck, it seems like a pretty stupid time to start worrying about $200. I chose what I felt was the best option FOR ME at the time.

As a side note, I don't know anything about clutch construction, but the OEM LUK disk seems incredibly underbuilt in the way the hub is attached to the rest of it. It looks to me like the friction material and the metal it is riveted to would just be sheared right off the disk hub by the torque some people are making! I would be nervous about using it as a high performance unit, no matter what facing was put on it.

 

[South Bend Clutch]

Arcticat. if you look at the top of the page the clutch assy. we are speaking of is a 2001. I don't think you have a 2001? In order to use the Sach unit on the 2001 the flywheel must be changed $$. I do offer the Sach unit for the 5sp as illustrated. Joe has done a Great Job and between all of us clutch suppliers, with hard work, we hope to help the rammers get what they need. Lets try to not make it a compotition. Try to remember that there are alot of differant views pic the one that works for you and go with it "FEELING GOOD ABOUT YOUR CHOICE". Peter

 

[South Bend Clutch]

HeberRam, please e-mail me your cell phone number. I am at home and I don't have it with me. I would like to hear how the dyno test came out today. Peter

 

[BPINE]

Hey Peter, JP is on his way over so I can check his new clutch out I will let you know what I think. Only problem it's an 01 and mine is a 96 so the info won't do me much good.

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1996 4x4 3500 4. 10 5spd, Diesel Dynamics stage 2 injectors, #5 TST plate, Govoner spring kit, Ported Head, ATS manifold Jet-Hot coated, 16cm2 housing Jet-hot coated with 4" exhaust, Cummins exhaust brake, US Gear overdrive, Grover air horns and Mag-Hytec rearend cover.

 

[South Bend Clutch]

BPINE, I have a clutch for you that should be comporable. I would like to make you an offer! We designed a kit that has not been tested before. It consist of a 13" Sach cover with a full feramic lining. What makes this special is that the linings are rivited to a marcelled or waved fin as well as a solid plate. This is what creates the cushion that is needed for smooth engagement. It should have all the torque that is needed "we hope". The feramic material is the same as we are useing on the 2001 clutch assy. as well as the waved fin with great results. SO, back to the offer. I will give you this clutch assy. which includes a throughout brg. and kevlar pilot brg. as do all of our kits include, at no charge! If you love it, pay us $900 and tell your friends. If you don't, return it and tell your friends and I will pay you $400 for the effort. Think about it and let me know. Peter

 

[South Bend Clutch]

Sorry about the word will I ment we'll

 

[Cliffman]

Holy freebies Pinestien #ad
, That's sound like an offer that I can't refuse #ad
. I'll even help with the installation. I'm a real good wrench fetcher #ad
. I'll even drink some beer for ya #ad
.

Any body want to buy a slightly used McLeod #ad



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2001 Driftwood 3500 Quad Cab 4x4, Long Bed, 5. 9L HO Cummins Diesel (ETH), 6-Speed HD Manual (DEE) Loven the shift thing (Arrrrrh), 3:54, SLT+, 3. 54 Anti-Spin Axle, Camper Special Group, Trailer Tow Group, 18,000 LB 5th Wheel Hitch, Leather, Sliding Rear Window, BDs E-Brake, Rhino Liner (gray), Velvet ride shackles, cup smoothy, Power Edge box / EZ Box w/elbo, DD Stage III injectors, McLeod Dual Disk Clutch, K&N, SPA Gauges, Jardine Exhaust, 16cm turbo housing. Love the smell of diesel in the morning. Hope your watchen DC cuz every thing you see here is a big lie, Hehe.

 

[BPINE]

Well, well this is getting interesting isn't it. Peter, I could be interested, I am always open for something new and different. I took JP's truck for a ride last night and all though it is only at 320 HP there was no slippage at all, pedal feel was very good but there was a small bit of chatter. Not to panic though it only had a few hundred miles on it. There could also be a couple of variables as well, the flywheel was not surfaced (we think) the stock clutch only had 500 miles on it but it was slipping. Peter I will give you a call and thanks for the offer.

 

[South Bend Clutch]

BPINE, it would be a shame if they did not take the time to resurface the flywheel. The cost and time to complete the job properly is so little. Hopefully it will drive out, it should. Tell him to try hotroding a little, maybe this will help to mate the surfaces quicker. Peter

 

[HVAC]

In hindsight I would have recommended that JP get his flywheel resurfaced with a course grained cross hatched pattern to help seat the new disc. The kevlar and ceramic discs don't seat without a reason. The other option is to stick the front end against a bridge and burn the disc till it mates proberly with the flywheel.

JMHO
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Nowel/Performance Diesel

 

[South Bend Clutch]

WE use a mirror finish on our pressure plate and flywheel surfaces to try and help with smoothness of engagement. I like the idea of the cross groove rough grind though. I would like to try that in the lock and go applications. Anything would be better than HOT SPOTS~~~~~~

 

[Brandon]

well cliff I am interested, just need something to hold ez, ddIII and thats all he he he


B... ... ... ... ... .....

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END THE OPPRESSION FREE HVAC NOW
Danelle's Dodge

 

[mbrolin]

So far evryone is talking about a clutch combination for high HP trucks. How about us stockers who use our ETHs for pulling heavy 5ers?After reading the last issue of TDR and seeing the picture of the stock clutch im a little leery about longevity. I agree that more spring dampening is needed along with a larger surface area. Pressure plate resistance and chattering/grabbing would need to be as low and smooth as possible for driveability and longevity of the slave cylinder. Any comments?

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2001 HO 6spd,Quad cab,LWB,4x4,Flame Red,all options except for leather,Westin Brushguard/Push bar,Painless wiring,Radio Shack CB,my own design CB mount,Smittybuilt nerf bars,NW Custom rocker covers,Custom built stainless rocker light bars,DeeZee bedrails,Isspro pyro and boost gauges(more to come)