new clutch

[rlittle]

My 03 SO with 14. 000 miles on it decided to have its clutch start to chatter. It started at about 10,000 miles and the dealer could not find the problem because it only happened when it was a hot day and I had driven it a lot in stop and go traffic or pulled my small trailer. When the truck was cold or on a cold day the clutch was smooth as glass. The dealer tested it twice and could not get it to chatter. I finally got it to chatter and again took it into the dealer. Their Service director took a drive with me and after going only about 100 feet he said they would change the clutch assembly for me under warrentee on a one time basis.

It took them a couple of weeks to convince Dodge to pay the $2500 bill and to find a flywheel for the truck.

They had no explaination as to why the chatter happened as the clutch assembly showed very little wear and the flywheel looked perfect when they removed it. My clutch was the first one they had done on a type 3 so they were very interested in what had happened and will send it back to Dodge for their look see.

Well I have another clutch and was wondering if anyone else has had a problem with their clutch also any recommendations on breaking the new clutch in.

Rollie

 

[jelag]

There is no break for the clutch... . I pull a trailer with my 01 with a 3. 73 rear end. . and can't get rid of the chatter... ... and its really bad as you try and back up... the ratio in the trans and the high rear end ratio just cause problems... and if you turned up the HP it makes it worse... .



On my 04 with the 4. 10 its never been a problem... remember also that its not the same clutch... . the 04 now has 67K miles pulling a 20K lb trailer... .



Its my personal feeling that they(DC) have used a friction on the disc that's of the wrong design... . too hard... and wants to glaze up... .



Hope this helps...



JIm

 

[SRadke]

Overall very impressed with the stock clutch in my SO 03. Very smooth, even when hot (that's a long story) and holds power very well. I had it on a dyno putting 800 ft/lbs to the rollers with no slippage.



-Scott

 

[rlittle]

Thanks for the reply. I just found out that Dodge changed the flywheel design in 03. The new design has a 2 degree angle ground into it to "fix" the chatter problem. In my case it appears as if it did not fix the problem. The new flywheel costs $1000 and that is just the flywheel not the whole clutch. . I sure hope that I just had a bad clutch as I am not looking forward to having to replace the thing on my own dime if it starts to chatter again.

Rollie

 

[CAKUZ]

Originally posted by rlittle

[/B]

I had my clutch replaced on my 03 HO by Moses Dodge in Scottsdale last year per a TSB on early 03's because of the 'rattle/knocking noise. It did not chatter but slipped pretty bad when pulling my heavy RV out of a steep dip out there in the desert. The new clutch will slip under heavy load too, backing up steep hill w/load, etc. The clutch seems too weak. I do not ride or mistreat the clutch or truck. Just wondering if others are having this problem with truck stock.

Kuz

 

[jelag]

My 04 with the 4. 10 rear end with a very heavy trailer on the back won't slip going forward or backwards... . No HP improvments on the 04 however on the 01 with the higher gear. . and the HP turned up about 100 its easy to slip... . again a stock clutch... .



We keep 2 different pressure plates on the shelf for the 2nd gen trucks. . and 2 different pressure plates on the shelf for the 3rd gen trucks... . the first is stock plate load and the second has additional plate load... . with a mix and match 3 different disc's for each... . we have a combination of 6 different clutches.....



HOWEVER, once you go over stock HP and TORQUE and try to use one of these upgrades..... you more or less end up with something that will chatter..... and either be engaged or dis-engaged... ... .



Remember that a 8. 4 Cummins used in a larger truck has the same HP yet the clutch is a 14" and a twin disc to handle the 350 HP and 800 or 1000 ft lbs of torque..... The 13"'s that we have in our 04. 5's is at the edge of not being large enough to do the job... . but its about 1/4 the price... . and the flywheel is a fraction of the cost of that 14"... .



I'm betting that the 13" flywheel that's in our trucks is the same flywheel that I purchase for a Cummins industrial engine with a 13" that we sell for under 225. 00 so from the statements above about the flywheels from the dealer... is that they make a large amount of money on them... . One last thought... anyone who grinds flywheels can put that 2* slant in the surface..... but personally I don't recommend it... .



Jim

 

[rlittle]

Thanks Jim for the good info on the clutches. My truck is a SO five speed version which I think has a 12 in clutch. I think that the HO version with the six speed has a13 inch clutch. The dealer told me that they had to get the clutch from Cummins so I think that you are right regarding the cost ripoff the dealer is doing. My job was under warrentee so I did not care but if I have to do it again later I sure will be looking for some thing that is a lot better than the Dodge version of my clutch. My last clutch in my old Dodge lasted 110,000 miles I sure hople that this one lasts that long.

I understand the LUK is bringing out an upgrade clutch that converts the 12 inch clutch to a 13 inch and has a ceramic faced disk. The best quote I got for the whole package including the flywheel was under a grand. I suspect that there will be lots of aftermarket clutchs coming on the market so there should be a little more selection.

Rollie