richieg

iTrader: (1)

The day I bought my 2001 TA I drove it to a friends shop where I had a centerforce dual friction clutch ready to be installed. My car had 27 miles on it, stock flywheel, I do not believe it was resurfaced when the clutch was installed. at 50,112 miles, my hydraulics started to get weak and it got hard at times to get in gear. Once in gear the clutch was still as strong as ever. My hydraulics have always been on the weak side. Anytime I rev the engine above 4000 with the clutch pedal down, my clutch will actually grip and move the car forward a little.

So I figured time to replace and/or upgrade the hydraulics. While doing that, I might as well replace the clutch to. I've always had great luck with centerforce, so I ordered another dual friction clutch. I also purchased a ram adjustable master and ram high flow slave, I'll post later on how those work out. While I'm at it, (shameless plug) I ordered all of the above parts from new era performance; I ordered online and everything arrived at my house quicker than I'd expected. So thanks to New Era Performance for being on time with a good price.

After I got the car in the air and did a timely inspection, I found out why my hydraulics were starting to fail. The weld on the catylitic at the flange went bad and was boiling my hydraulic line between the master and slave. Oh well, That sure could have been an easy fix, But I already ordered all of this new stuff.

So here's my first look at my clutch after 50k mile. It makes you wonder why clutch manufactures bother painting the pressure plate. No broken counterweights, dowels in the flywheel fine, looks good to me.


And just because it was there, and somebody may be curious, here's my bellhousing


Front of the tranny


I'm still trying to figure out if I want to resurface this thing or just buy a new one. Here's my very hot-spotted flywheel


And the very important part, the actual clutch disc. Well I have to say it looks great. I bet this thing would have lasted another 50k miles.


and the other side


The pressure plate, also enjoying the thrills of slipping


Just incase anybody wanted to see it, the backside of the flywheel


And if you didn't catch it in any of the pther pics, here's a close up. Don't see anything? That's because that's where my pilot bearing is supposed to be. The damn thing desinegrated, only the outer shell and a few needles were left. Luckily the input shaft on the tranny didn't get messed up in the process.


in sum; The only time my clutch slipped was when The hydraulics weren't holding at high revs. When my foot was not on the clutch pedal, the clutch had always held perfect. Pilot bearings are the devil, especially when there's hardley any material left to get a puller on. The clutch had many more miles left in it. And as for the whole reason I did all of this typing, with all of the "which clutch" threads I see, hopefully this will answer some quesitons.

And if you made it this far, should I resurface or buy a new one?

minesfaster

iTrader: (24)

This is a pretty good diagram and setup i must say ! Also where is the cheapest place to buy the centerforce ?

richieg

iTrader: (1)

I found the best price at new era, I was happy enough to go back to them for a new flywheel. After waking up today & looking at my flywheel, I realized it's not worth it to try and use the old one.

FRDnemesis

iTrader: (19)

Thats why I NEVER use a pilot bearing. I use a pilot bushing and problem solved.

Bo White

iTrader: (59)

I am a Centerforce fan myself through and through . I had a 95 Mustang GT that I put a CFII in with a tr3550 and put 30k miles on it or so and the new owner is still on the same clutch- reportedly another 30k. I have seen Centerforce threads on here that werent good but I have never had a lick of trouble with em

Sgt. Spuds

iTrader: (1)

How much will one of these babys run me? Hows the pedel feel?? To stiff = nono for my weak *** self.

richieg

iTrader: (1)

Check the sponsors here for pricing. I can't remember if I even stated it earlier, but this is the dual friciton clutch. The pedal pressure is heavier than stock. But it has never been stiff enough that I've ever thought about it while driving. Another thought on the subject is to consider that my hydraulics were never really that good. After I get my new one in with better hydraulics, I'l post more on pedal pressure.

RICEBURNER

iTrader: (4)

i have been driving the CF DF for about 5k now...and i am very pleased...i picked mine up for 380 through summit....(if not a sponsor feel free to delete)...i love the thing to death...a bit heavier pedal than stock...but not bad at all for a DD! i would def. suggest it!!!!

flyin ryan

iTrader: (1)

Good post intresting pics.

I have over 15k on my Centerforce D/F with a lot of track time, never had any problems with it.
I did install new flywheel, slave and did the drill mod at the same time.

Ryan