spec 3+ review.
spec 3+ review. I gave it 1200 miles as of today its officaly coming out. Installed it with an aluminum flywheel, first time it engaged it was fairly normal, 2nd time it started to chatter. By the 4th time it chattered so badly the entire car would shake violently, and the tranny would hit the tunnel. This resulted in....
Pulled washers and nut of poly tranny mount partialy through crossmember, and then bent the stud about 5-6*, I was pretty impressed. Thats a big *** stud.
Broke stock replacment tranny mount. Didn't see that coming.
Destroyed both motor mounts.
Rear end started rattling and whinning. removed cover magnet gathered more metal in 1200 miles than it did in the previous 70k = A LOT.
Both rear ties chewed to pieces by wheel hop, that this clutch induced.
its now going to cost me a 1K to get back to where my car was a month ago.
On the plus side I love the way it engages once your rolling, and the pedal feel is absolutly awsome, and it did calm down a lot in the last 600 miles, but it still chattered somewhat on 5 of 6 takeoffs.
Time for the LS7 I guess.
Can I use the spacer from the spec kit with the LS7 to keep the engagement point near the top?
Pulled washers and nut of poly tranny mount partialy through crossmember, and then bent the stud about 5-6*, I was pretty impressed. Thats a big *** stud.
Broke stock replacment tranny mount. Didn't see that coming.
Destroyed both motor mounts.
Rear end started rattling and whinning. removed cover magnet gathered more metal in 1200 miles than it did in the previous 70k = A LOT.
Both rear ties chewed to pieces by wheel hop, that this clutch induced.
its now going to cost me a 1K to get back to where my car was a month ago.
On the plus side I love the way it engages once your rolling, and the pedal feel is absolutly awsome, and it did calm down a lot in the last 600 miles, but it still chattered somewhat on 5 of 6 takeoffs.
Time for the LS7 I guess.
Can I use the spacer from the spec kit with the LS7 to keep the engagement point near the top?
Wow, that's unfortunate. Possibly a defective clutch, or install error? I've never heard of them causing that kind of damage, even my Spec 5 which has a solid disc hasn't been that hard on equipment.
My 3I is still holding strong for 3 years now. 1.47 60ft and the cars weight is 3604 with me in it. The LS7 clutch will not hold any real power and traction.
Click video below to see that not all spec clutches are bad
Click video below to see that not all spec clutches are bad
Last edited by 02SOMWS6; Dec 6, 2006 at 05:30 PM.
i have noticed something...
everyone who has problems with the SPEC stuff is using the aluminum flywheel..
I have a stock GM piece.. installed everything according to SPEC and GM manual correctly.. and I LOVE my SPEC 3+.. i dont see how so many people are having issues.. It almost sounds like you didnt use the spacer.. or didnt have the trans bolted all the way in to the bellhousing, or you didnt torque the clutch to the flywheel correctly..
have you pulled it apart yet? did you check the pilot bearing? did you replace it when you changed the clutch?
everyone who has problems with the SPEC stuff is using the aluminum flywheel..
I have a stock GM piece.. installed everything according to SPEC and GM manual correctly.. and I LOVE my SPEC 3+.. i dont see how so many people are having issues.. It almost sounds like you didnt use the spacer.. or didnt have the trans bolted all the way in to the bellhousing, or you didnt torque the clutch to the flywheel correctly..
have you pulled it apart yet? did you check the pilot bearing? did you replace it when you changed the clutch?
Spec 3+ here and I love it! 11000+ miles and a bunch of track and street launches and slips and It is still holding strong! I will definitely be going back with a Spec come clutch time! I have the Spec billet steel flywheel and used the stock hydralics. 
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Originally Posted by Phoenix64
I had the flywheel balanced on its own, as well as having the assembly balanced.
Are there people that have this clutch with absolutly no chatter?
Are there people that have this clutch with absolutly no chatter?
I know textrailia recommends "burning in" their clutch if chatter develops. A few 5000rpm clutch dumps in 2nd gear on a C5 is what they say. Before you yank the clutch, try something similar like 3000+ rpm or whatever in 2nd or 3rd. It heats up the clutch significantly and mates the surface better. You might just need to break it in correctly if it got glazed or some funky wear spots early on during your break in. Since you're yanking it anyway, it can't hurt.
I also had chatter with my Spec stage 3+. My y-pipe would smack the floor rapidly, but is starting to go go away somewhat. I've now only got 200 miles on is so its not broke-in yet. Now that is winter here I won't find out till spring time it it will fully go away. I installed a poly trans mount and that helped a ton, but it makes everything shake too much in the 2500-3500 rpm range. So I ordered a 1LE mount that many said they were using and it ended up being the same part as was in the car from factory. 
My Spec 3 chattered a bit when I first installed it. It lasted 10k miles and then slipped (I think my 3.73's may have been part of the problem along with getting stuck in traffic jams. Just installed a Spec 3+ and even with only 65 miles on it, it hasn't chattered once.