Bad Blue WS6

iTrader: (41)

I love mine,,hooks like a freak!!!

Most folks are quick to blame the Co,,when its usually the installer, or driving methods that screw them up. Not saying that is your case,,but I've had my Spec 3 for quite a while,,installed by Nasty Performance,,,,other than some chatter when cold, when i first take off in the morning,,its golden. And i am not gentle with my clutch sometimes.

BTW,,i think most clutch parts are made by the same folks.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

Thats why the big power makers switch to Th400's

Sprayed1998

iTrader: (10)

How do I measure the disk.

kcmags

iTrader: (5)

I,ve got around 9000 miles & 100+ passes on mine. Procharged Zo6 ..runs 10.80s. NO PROBLEMS!!!!!

LrngCrv

One of my friends has the spec stage 3 puck on a 297 rwhp bolt-on hobby LT1. It runs him some good times and he had it for awhile, took it out not long ago and it looked fine after a lot of use. I run a spec 3+ on my 419rwhp DD. Gone 3k miles and haven't had a problem yet. Babied it pretty good on the break in which was pretty hard

I have heard a bit about the puck stage 3s going out fast but maybe it is because they are used in the wrong situations? I can't respond on the bad batch idea though because I have no info outside of the 2 that I know of in use.

Always sucks to have a clutch problem though...

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

You measure the disk width with a dial caliper.

ErikElvis

iTrader: (1)

I honestly believe the installers have A LOT to do with these things wearin out quick. And I mean any aftermarket high performance clutch. They seem to be much more finicky than stock stuff.

98SS2836

iTrader: (6)

People think it's the miles you have to get on the clutch for break in. If you drive it on the highway all those miles its going to be junk you have to slip and drive it in stop and go to get it to seat.

Sprayed1998

iTrader: (10)

I drove mine for over 1,000 miles in almost nothing but city driving. I understand that Spec has made clutches that worked in the past. I am not here saying that every single Spec clutch is a POS, but for everybody to sit here and ignore the fact that there are new guys poping up EVERYDAY with damn near the exact same problem is just ignorant. We are talking about Stage 3's, not Stage 3+, not Stage 2, just the Stage 3. Anyhow I will see about getting it measured this weekend although looking at the pics you can clearly see the clutch is toast reguardless of how much "wear" there is. Seems like something you guys would do when I sent ot back to be "looked" at.

Jon5212

iTrader: (2)

I've heard these stories now about Ram clutches, Tex clutches, any aftermarket clutch. Its not just SPEC people, and I agree also i believe the inherent problem lies with installation/break in, and I believe the biggest part is Hydraulics. I personally have a Spec 3 in my DD over 6K miles on it now, not one problem and I do quite a bit of city driving... i just don't ride the crap out of it.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

You make a good point. Its not just the SPEC units, there are lots of failures from all the different brands of clutches and the majority of failures I would chalk up to improper prep/install, bad breakin, and the driver thinking their performance clutches are supposed to be driven like a stock organic clutch. I hear a lot of talk about the stage 3 theat SPEC makes but I have yet to have any solid proof that the defect is in the product. Usually what i see is clutches that look like they had the **** slipped out of them and overheated.

Jon5212

iTrader: (2)

^^^ In my world I'd rather have a 400 dollar clutch go out instead of a 1000+ clutch IE Textralia. I plan on replacing my 3 with a 3+ sometime in the future and going to throw all new hydraulics in again when I replace it.

Sprayed1998

iTrader: (10)

Man it is getting to the point where I am gonna have to do a list of every name on this site who has had problems with their stage 3's. I really don't want to because it would take a LOOONNNNGGGGG time. The clutch was broken in well for over 1,000 miles. It was installed by a well know shop who also happens to be a sponser of this site. And on top of that I have been driving standard mustangs/camaros for 7 years and have yet to have ANY clutch last less than 40k miles. What else do you need to hear to realize that I did nothing to provoke this POS clutch to wear down. I know alot of the time it can be the installer or the driver but it seems like some of you guys seem to think that every single clutch ever made is 100% perfect and god forbid if it wears out that it has anything to do with the clutch itself.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

I know the amount of people that had bad experiences with stage3's, and I also know a bunch of people that have fine stage3's recently, so I doubt it is a bad batch issue like some think. I know a guy running a 600HP turbo Z06 that runs a stage 3 and its fine and it sees track time and a lot of street racing. Could there be bad clutches out there, yes, but most of the pics I have seen look like slippage/overheating and I have also have had people with these so called bad clutches tell me that when they installed them they did not torque the flywheel or pressure plate bolts to proper value, they just tightented them until they were tight, lol. Then some people reuse all the old *** stock hydro pieces instead of buying new hydros like they should. I have also seen a few where the stock flywheel was reused with the new clutch and was not resurfaced or balanced. My point is that many of these so called bad clutches have other reasons for failure and i am just hesitant to blame the clutch unless of course it has obvious damage such as rivets that came out.

Sprayed1998

iTrader: (10)

I never denied that people did not have luck with stage 3's. That is part of the reason why I bought it in the 1st place. But I didn't, and it just so happens that at the same time mine failed there is about 20 other people with the same story. So call it what you want, but I sure as **** don't see the same amount of people complaining about the Tex, Mcloud, Ram, LS6, LS7, in fact I see slim to none, where on the otherhand it seems like someone is posting pics of their burnt up Spec3 on a daily basis. You can blame it on the installer, blame it on the driver, but if you wanna sit here and tell me that you don't find the sheer amount of spec 3's going bad lately a bit odd then you either work for the company or your ignorant, lol.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

You are right I dont see as many of those other clutches failing, part of that might be that the SPEC 3 is like the most popular clutch out there, so obviously there will be more failures. If you sell lots of a product you will have more failures.

Obviously you havent read much about all the broke TEX's yet, plus the LS6/LS7 clutchs dont break as easily since thery are stock organic pieces which are very forgiving. I wouldnt even consider them performance clutches.

All i can go by are the pics that are posted of these so called **** clutches and I also go by what people tell me when i pry into their install/prep of the clutch. Most of the time I find faults somewhere.

What shop installed your clutch?

Heres what Ranger (one of the more respected clutch guys) says of the LS7 clutch.
So i guess the LS7 isnt even a great clutch if you plan of drag racing.

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

The stage 3 failure thing isnt just a lately thing. And no i dont work for any performance company, I would hate to work in that business. As for me being ignorant, maybe so, you be the judge on that.

PAGregSS

iTrader: (10)

I've got 50K miles on my Spec 3. It's seen 150 shot of nitrous with no problems.

Dip Stick

iTrader: (1)

hehe still on my stock clutch original clutch

But have a ls7 sitting in my garage

brad8266

iTrader: (23)

Hell yeah, I ran my stocker with 465HP, the only reason i replaced it is cause I swapped motors, figured may as well replace the clutch while im at it.