Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
JKosten
TDR MEMBER
I put this clutch in a few weeks ago and now have about 1500 miles on it.
I want to first say that I seen the write ups in TDR and when it came down to selecting between Southbend and Valair, the final deciding point was the noise reduction and chatter. I have a good freind, who is also a member, who has a southbend DD, but he has the billet flywheel and is SFI certified. Why he has that one is a long story and involves a valet destroying his factory clutch in one night, but I digress. The other factor was with a 96 truck and the smaller input shaft on my NV4500 I wanted to not have to pull the transmission twice because I snapped the input.
So I ended up installing the Southbend SDD3250 with 1. 375" input shaft, transmission overhaul (bearing, synchros and seals) new updated main shaft with new style 5th retaining nut, transfer reseal, new starter,, rear main and the two oil plugs above it.
The entire job from start to finish including hot tanking the cases and steam cleaning the parts took about 25-30 hours, but I did not want to rush it.
The main reason I am writing this to report on the drive-ability of the SDD3250. After I got it all back together with the help of my fiend, he jumped in the cab to check the pedal to make sure it was disengaging properly. At first he thought we did not put it together right as the pedal was soft and smooth, unlike his truck which is like going to the gym. We then started the truck and could feel the clutch engage and disengage, but we could NOT hear the typical rattle that is connected to the center plate of a double disk truck. That noise is how I know when his truck is at my house.
After driving it for over two weeks to include a 1k road trip to LA and back, i am very happy I chose this clutch. It holds whatever I throw at it and will bark tires in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. To anyone else that drives it, they did not know is was a DD until I told them and if I had not put it in myself it I would not know either.
So what it all boils down to: If you are looking at the different high performance clutches and do not plan on sled pulling (not SFI certified) and want a great daily driver clutch that can still handle higher horse power and torque, consider the SouthBend SDD2350.
And please ask me any questions about this clutch or the job to R/I it.
I want to first say that I seen the write ups in TDR and when it came down to selecting between Southbend and Valair, the final deciding point was the noise reduction and chatter. I have a good freind, who is also a member, who has a southbend DD, but he has the billet flywheel and is SFI certified. Why he has that one is a long story and involves a valet destroying his factory clutch in one night, but I digress. The other factor was with a 96 truck and the smaller input shaft on my NV4500 I wanted to not have to pull the transmission twice because I snapped the input.
So I ended up installing the Southbend SDD3250 with 1. 375" input shaft, transmission overhaul (bearing, synchros and seals) new updated main shaft with new style 5th retaining nut, transfer reseal, new starter,, rear main and the two oil plugs above it.
The entire job from start to finish including hot tanking the cases and steam cleaning the parts took about 25-30 hours, but I did not want to rush it.
The main reason I am writing this to report on the drive-ability of the SDD3250. After I got it all back together with the help of my fiend, he jumped in the cab to check the pedal to make sure it was disengaging properly. At first he thought we did not put it together right as the pedal was soft and smooth, unlike his truck which is like going to the gym. We then started the truck and could feel the clutch engage and disengage, but we could NOT hear the typical rattle that is connected to the center plate of a double disk truck. That noise is how I know when his truck is at my house.
After driving it for over two weeks to include a 1k road trip to LA and back, i am very happy I chose this clutch. It holds whatever I throw at it and will bark tires in 1st, 2nd and 3rd. To anyone else that drives it, they did not know is was a DD until I told them and if I had not put it in myself it I would not know either.
So what it all boils down to: If you are looking at the different high performance clutches and do not plan on sled pulling (not SFI certified) and want a great daily driver clutch that can still handle higher horse power and torque, consider the SouthBend SDD2350.
And please ask me any questions about this clutch or the job to R/I it.
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