Spec Clutches are a SCAM!!!

01'WS6 · 05-04-2005, 02:09 PM

I recently had a well known VERY trustworthy performance shop put in my Spec Stage III clutch and 3,000 miles later it has completey been shot. No track time, no hard launches just weekend cruising. So i called spec to see what they could do for me on the situation and they told me absolutley nothing because their warranty is only 120 days!! Not how many miles you have put on the car but the number of days that it has been installed on the car. I guess clutches magically wear while they are sitting in a driveway or it just may be specs clutches that do that. They also told me that it couldnt be their clutch that was defective because they have such a good reputaion but insisted on it being a installation fault by which i had it inspected by a transmission shop and a performance shop (not the same shop that installed it either) and they both said it was a defective clutch. But just a look out for everybody else just stear clear from spec because not only are they VERY POOR QUALITY clutches but their customer service is even worse!! And i wouldnt wish this greif and headache upon anybody!!

Turo · 05-04-2005, 02:19 PM

Sorry to hear that. Stg3's really seem to be a hit-or-miss experience.

mike c. · 05-04-2005, 04:10 PM

well....i've had two ram clutches go out in 1.5 years(980and910) and that includes sitting in storage for 5 months out of the year. ram did say they will provide me with a new unit for free. so,if it goes again i'll give up on ram totally. sorry bro,i really do feel your pain.

SSpeedracer · 05-04-2005, 04:10 PM

Yep, Spec sent me a defective stage II that was only determined after mulitple installs. They denied it could even possible be their fault 'cause they've got such a good QC department and blamed my mechanic. BS, the clutch defect occured during clutch assembly. Spec..... never 'ever again.
I wanted something less expensive and went with Spec, forgot to cross my fingers.

02SOMWS6 · 05-04-2005, 05:11 PM

I have pulled some 1.56 60ft.s at the track and countless 60ft. in the 1.64 range. Mine is holding up fine.My car is not driven on the street--it's a track only car with a ton of hard passes.Did the shop that installed the spec sell you the spec? Sometimes these shops get stuck sitting on old units. Was it just a stage 3 or was it a 3I or anyother letter? All the newer stage 3 have a letter that follows.It might have been a old...new unit off the shelf. I brought my clutch from thunder and installed it myself so I know my parts made it onto my car

JacobK · 05-04-2005, 05:27 PM

my clutch and my flywheel are on there way to Spec right now. My clutch is supposeodly toasted, and the flywheel is completely glazed over, i am hoping they will replace mine. I have e-mails saying they will warrantee there clutches. NO where does it say for a certain amount of time or anything. All i know is either them or the place that did my trans, someone BETTER fix my car, and i am not paying another $1000 to fix everything, or else it looks like i will be going to court then soon.

88monte · 05-04-2005, 05:47 PM

ive had a spec stage 3 clutch in my car for about a year now, no problems at all, i daily drive it on the nice days and its been to the track a couple dozen times...

JacobK · 05-04-2005, 05:52 PM

Ya well Rich ur lucky. Did u ever find out what was wrong with ur ride?

NoOne · 05-04-2005, 08:03 PM

I read all of these posts and its tough not to wonder where all the problems are.

I've had a Mcleod, Spec, Ram, and some other clutch I forget. All of them were the units that others had problems with. My Spec was the most driveable and held fine on my Incon TT setup, over 600ftlbs. The Ram was chattery but I expected it to be, also held upto a ton of abuse. The Mcleod was the same way.

All of these were with stock hydraulics no less, all of them lasted to what I considered a decent amount of time considering the power output.

The only clutch to give me real problems was the Centerforce and I had one of their first units back in 98.

It would be a good experiment for someone who has had zero clutch problems detail their exact procedure and have someone who had a problem follow that procedure to the letter.

Not saying someone is right or someone is wrong, but the only way to see where the problem really lies is to follow a set procedure, and if the basic procedure is the same, like directions layed out on a website then maybe it needs to be more specific. Complete step by step, follow the same order, same procedure even down to the order things were disassembled and assembled.

A bit of work by 4-5 people will solve alot of these problems, there has to be a common denominator and its easy to blame the end user because you did not follow and document the steps.

This is how we develope processes at work and the difference between a good car and a bad car out of the factory alot of times is following the set process.

Just my opinion...

ldickson · 05-04-2005, 08:06 PM

Well I will never buy another one. Last week my spec stage 3 clutch locked to the flywheel and would not disengage.when I took it out the spring had fell out of the disk.I had about 15k miles on it. they told me that it had a 120 day warranty.I had already bought another one when they told me that they wont do anything.

Also there customer service sucks

I was told that they have been having this problem with there clutches and that they will most likely replace it. but they made out like they never heard of this.

mike c. · 05-04-2005, 08:53 PM

when i replaced my ram after the first one died i replaced my slave and added an adj master,we also did the drill mod. my newer ram lasted 2,500 maybe less and it had 20-25 track passes. i still think for the money they should last atleast two full seasons of streer driving 6,000-8,000mi and take 60ish track passes. hay,maybe i'm asking too much. but ,as i said ram(mike)is being totally awsome about this and really want to solve the problem.

JacobK · 05-04-2005, 09:03 PM

I wonder since for me, my car is completely daily driven, If i should just try to get me another stock clutch or Z06 clutch or something like that. Cause i do not wanna be replacing clutches every 2-4,000 miles.

01_SuperSlow · 05-05-2005, 01:57 AM

I have read countless horror stories about Spec clutches here, yet people keep buying them. Why someone would take a chance with a clutch that has such a high rate of failures is beyond my comprehension. Maybe it's because of the low price, but in the end these Spec clutches end up costing much more then the higher priced units.
My clutch cost me twice as much as a Spec does, yet it has 19k daily driver miles on it with mods in sig and it's still hasn't given me any problems. At first I thought I screwed up by paying so much for a clutch, but now I am glad I did. The phrase "You get what you pay for" applies here perfectly.

Y2K SS · 05-05-2005, 03:39 AM

I had a SPEC 3 that lasted 12k miles and that car had never seen the strip either. I have a Ram clutch now for about 3k and going good so far. I learned from that mistake.

LSs1Power · 05-05-2005, 06:46 AM

I had two SPEC 3 that were shot around 1000 miles of usage. Got Mcloed after that and its still running after all the abuse and hard miles now for more than a year, but it just cant hold the extra power i have now. Most likely im going with Textrilla next, but i need to hear more about it.

NHRATA01 · 05-05-2005, 04:18 PM

I've had my spec stage 3 X pad in since Oct '03 and about 6k miles, no problems so far. Drive it pretty regularly in good weather. Probably about 50 strip passes on it. Doesn't chatter at all when slipping it. Engagement feels like its starting to get high, so I'll keep an eye on it. The exploding clutch thread caught my attention though. We'll see how long this spec lasts. I know a guy who put 30k miles on his spec 3 before it started to slip.

Honestly I've read bad things on this board about just about every clutch manufacturer. Centerforce seems to be the most universally troublesome one. This Textrailia one seems to be the most promising, time will tell.

hugger1975 · 05-05-2005, 04:56 PM

I have a centerforce with 30,000 miles.

when countless others have had ssues.
guess its hit and miss these days with clutches

JacobK · 05-05-2005, 04:58 PM

I think everyone who has had problems with Spec needs to call e-mail or write Spec and tell them. My clutch and flywheel is there right now, and if they do not replace it, i will be either taking them to small claims court i will report them to the better business bureau. Cause i do have e-mails from them saying they will replace the clutch, and they do warrantee them, and i was neevr told a certain mileage, or certain length of time they warrantee it. Im just fed up with Spec and there clutches. Sorry for the rant guys, im just upset with the whole situation, since my car is down now, and this is my only car, so it sucks.

LS1LT1 · 05-05-2005, 05:22 PM

My brother LOVES his Cartek clutch (as do the 16 other people I know of with them), give them a try maybe.
www.cartek.net

01'WS6 · 05-05-2005, 06:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacobK

I think everyone who has had problems with Spec needs to call e-mail or write Spec and tell them. My clutch and flywheel is there right now, and if they do not replace it, i will be either taking them to small claims court i will report them to the better business bureau. Cause i do have e-mails from them saying they will replace the clutch, and they do warrantee them, and i was neevr told a certain mileage, or certain length of time they warrantee it. Im just fed up with Spec and there clutches. Sorry for the rant guys, im just upset with the whole situation, since my car is down now, and this is my only car, so it sucks.

I have already called spec and told them that they werent worth a damn because they wouldnt even look at my clutch cause it had been on the car for 120 days! I tried to talk to the manager or the leading piece of shit running their circus and he was just magically not there at the time and i got his voice mail. Its understandable if you get a defective clutch but its not understandable when you get shitty customer service that dont even want to try and help you out on their piece of shit product!!