Smoked clutch?

[DPelletier]

I picked up my truck and trailer from a local trailer repair shop yesterday and whilst I paid the bill, the guy at the counter said "Oh, our tech said you need a new clutch". When I got into the truck, the smell of burnt clutch was overwhelming. I drove it home and it seemed fine, but I'm supposed to take the rig to the coast tomorrow and now I'm worried.



Truck is the '03 with approximately 50,000 miles on it. Bone stock. I have a slide-in camper and a 16' cargo trailer. GCVW is around 19,000 lbs.



I'm assuming that while they were adjusting and testing the trailer brakes they slipped the clutch. It's not clear if it was slipped letting it out the clutch (maybe in the wrong gear) or if it slipped while it was fully let out, perhaps when they were trying to drag the trailer with the brakes fully locked.



Anyway, my dilema is whether or not to proceed with my trip tomorrow or cancel it. Anyone have an opinion on the usual life span for a clutch in a stock truck (yes, I know it varies) and whether or not slipping it to the point of making smoke is generally fatal?



In the meantime, I'll give Peter a call and see if I can scare up a replacement.



Thanks

Dave

 

[JCasper]

My truck is stock and I smoked mine real bad trying to do a burnout a few weeks ago. The clutch smelled for three days. It is still holding good now. I will see how it does when I put on my 35" toyos next week.

 

[DPelletier]

Thanks for the reply. I talked to Peter and his opinion was that smoked does not necessarily mean destroyed. I'm gonna try to make the trip this weekend. Ordered a new Con OFE anyway.



Cheers,

Dave

 

[jelag]

Clutch disc's are molded with resins... and those resins usually cook out before the friction fails do to heat... . as those resins cook out... the smoke they produce is what your usually smelling..... if the resin gets very hot, it will allow the friction material in the disc to come apart and than you total failure... .



We have several 3500 duallys, and I often post in the towing area about how we pull a 20K lb trailer with our 04, it now has 213K miles... . we changed the factory clutch at 110K miles and put one of our HD units in... . note that this truck has never seen a full tank full of fuel without the trailer.....



Hope this helps...



Jim

 

[DPelletier]

Thanks Jim



Dave

 

[RobertP]

ive smoked my stocker a few times. it still holds ok with stock power but anything more it wont hold. im holding off till i get my con fe to add any more power. keep in mind this is my second stock clutch that has lasted another 13,000 miles and about 4,000 is after it had been smoked a few times. i think you should be ok for the trip just dont do to much full throttle runs.

 

[johncameron]

If you notice it slipping at all just drop down a gear and lessen the torque on it. You shouldn't have any problems.