Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

It's time to put a new clutch in my '01 SS again. When I first bought it back in '08 it had an LS6 clutch in it but it was slipping. I was on a tight budget, just bought a house, so I got a clutch kit from KY Clutch for $130. I was never happy with the clutch- it chattered a lot at take off, didn't hold the power my car made very well and the pedal effort was more than the LS6 clutch I took out.

My car made 350RWHP/370RWTQ. In the summer it is my daily driver. To work and back my route is stop and go traffic so I'm looking for something with a softer clutch pedal, maybe near stock. I only "get on" it maybe once a week. I haven't had it to the drag strip in years, but wouldn't mind going again. I would only race it on street tires since it still has the stock rearend.

I did a little research and a lot of people recommend a LS7 clutch kit or I also saw people mention the Diamond Stage 1. The only downfall to the LS7 seems to be I would have to put a LS7 flywheel on it, which I'm not opposed to, but I did just replace the flywheel on the last clutch job and planned on getting it turned.

I'm not on as big of a budget as I was last time, but I'm not sure how much longer I will keep the car so I don't want to spend big money on a clutch kit.

Let me know what you guys think a good clutch would be for my setup/driving style.

Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

Forgot to ask. Should I replace the clutch master cylinder? I see people talk about an adjustable master cylinder. Mine seems to work fine. What is the advantage of going to a an adjustable and would it be recommended as something I should do?

whatsa347

iTrader: (6)

LS7 is a great clutch if your car is a driver, but yeah I'd upgrade the hydraulics if I were you,they do get old. Buddy has an LS7 in his car and it's almost too easy to drive and he's a cam only car that goes to the strip occasionally and it's help up for almost two years now, just don't hot lap the car, on the street it shouldn't give you any problems really.

Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

Cool! Thanks for the feedback on the LS7 clutch. I guess he had to put the LS2 flywheel in it? Do you know where he got it or where is a good place to get them and approx cost? Should I just replace the master cylinder? The previous owner replaced the slave cylinder, not sure or mileage when changed, but I would guess 60k or more miles ago.

murphinator

iTrader: (2)

do your self a favor and search ls7 clutch in this section before you go that route , there are many of us that dislike our ls7 clutch due to it locking you out of shifts above 5000 rpm , lasts great , drives like butter but it works better with corvette hydraulics than f body hydraulics.....

whatsa347

iTrader: (6)

New hydraulics and a drill mod are a must, C5 hydraulics are worse than Fbody hydraulics, but the C6 stuff is a step above for sure. I know some have experienced problems with the LS7 clutch but with his power level and his driving style I don't think he'd have any problems. We've had none with ours over here and quite a few people run them around here, but we have seen the lockouts at high RPM's at the track when we hot lap them, but after a cool down there's no lockouts. Even the heads/cam 5th gen guys around here have no problems really, or at least none I can remember them mentioning at meets and stuff.

zachm89

iTrader: (14)

LUK 04-905 and LUK LSC265B are what I just ordered for my car. I would have liked to go with something rated for a bit more power but my budget was already tight so the LS7 clutch and flywheel will have to get me by for now. Google those part numbers for the best prices. Amazon has both in stock but are a bit higher priced. I got the clutch kit for about 25 bucks less than amazon with free shipping and the MC i ordered from amazon. At your power level and driving style, you should be fine for a long time with the LS7. But definitely replace the master cylinder and pilot bearing while youve got it all torn apart.

gongshow71

iTrader: (1)

I've personally run the Monster stage 2 w/ 28lb flywheel and now a Diamond stage 2 w/ 15lb flywheel. Extremely happy with both.

I ran the Monster set up for 30k miles and did quite a few launches and burn outs with no problems. Only reason I went to a Diamond clutch is because I was having clutch alignment problems but it was due to mistakes on my end.

Ive had the Diamond stage 2 w/ 15lb flywheel now for about 1000 miles and havent had any issues. Took a few days to get used to the light weight flywheel though.

Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

whatsa347 found me a LS7 package all new genuine GM parts including: flywheel, clutch disc, pressure plate, slave cylinder, master cylinder, throwout bearing, clutch alignment tool and roller bearing for $525. Seems like a pretty good deal.

I was told that these clutches are fragile and that if they get dropped it will knock the adjusters out of adjustment and cause problems. He did open these items to take pictures. Is there a way to tell from pictures if the adjusters are in the correct position?

murphinator

iTrader: (2)

mine locks out street driving , quickly fills the fluid with clutch material , I change fluid frequently to help it shift , stock internal car, far from full bolt ons. If its how you want to go fine I was just saying there are countless threads discussing the shortcomings of the ls7 clutch right in this section before spending the money and effort is the time to do the research. I have never had a problem with it slipping or driving normally- if it was a non performance car I never drove hard I would be happy but its not. It is also considerably heavier than ls1 or ls6 clutch.

Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

did you do the drill mod, replace the master cylinder, and upgrade to the latest slave cylinder? I did talk to a few people and it seems doing those and making sure the adjusters or whatever they are called on the clutch don't get out of adjustment is key to preventing lock outs and buying GM parts. I definitely appreciate your input and opinion. I probably should do a little more research and talk to more people, but I do need a clutch pretty soon.

whatsa347

iTrader: (6)

There's threads because people only come on here to bitch that something's not working right and diagnose the problem. It sucks that your LS7 setup is out of whack, but a lot more people have had more success than hardships with the LS7 clutch, do some people have hydraulic problems? Sure, anyone can really. Hell I had problems with my monster stage 2 lockouts WITH a tick master and bleeder, it can happen to any setup. The LS7 clutch cars I've been around have been flawless and bled properly (not saying yours isn't) and installed perfectly. The only other clutch I'd go for if it's a 100% street car is the LT1-S clutch since it is an OEM clutch designed for comfort and just happens to hold about 800 RWHP.

Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

Is this a good master cylinder or is there another brand/part # recommended?

Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

Also I hear people talk about Tick bleeder lines, I'm not familiar with it, but found this on Amazon, I'm guessing this is what I need and people are talking about:

Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

Thanks for the part numbers! Where did you get your clutch kit? It's $240 at Amazon and I have Amazon Prime for free shipping. I think someone said on the Amazon review that LUK is the OEM clutch provider for GM so essentially this a genuine OEM part, sound good to me!

Do you have the MC part #?

Did you have to space your transmission or bellhousing or anything or did it bolt right on?

VincesSS

iTrader: (1)

I would go with a diamond stage 1 with a lightweight flywheel. I ran The diamond stage 2 and it was maybe 10-20% more pedal effort than the ls6 that came out. Do not run the tick master if pedal effort is a concern, it will make the clutch noticably stiffer. I suggest the lightweight flywheel only because I can't imagine going through all the trouble of a clutch swap without improving the setup in some way.

The ls7 has had far too much negative feedback for it to all be user error. It's heavy as can be and will make the car slower, albeit not much, but any is too much for me.

BrntWS6

iTrader: (7)

Im still on stock hydrolics with 0 problems. I suck out the clutch resevoir very often and it has kept everything healthy. I got my diamond stage 2 kit with lightweight flywheel on sale for about $100 more than an LS7 and it drives like stock. Stage 1 would obviously be less. Call them up and ask when there next sale is.

zachm89

iTrader: (14)

Yes, LUK is the OEM supplier for clutches for GM. So anything you get from them, will be exactly what you'd get if you walked into a GM dealer and got one. I didn't order a new MC at this time because my factory one wasnt causing me any issues before and I plan to get a Tick master eventually, I just couldnt swing it right now. I haven't installed anything yet but I doubt there will be any issues. I also ordered the speed bleeder line from Tick on Amazon as well along with ARP PP and Flywheel bolts and a new pilot bearing. If the clutch kit is $240 right now on there then get everything from Amazon, it was a bit higher when I ordered a few weeks ago.

zachm89

iTrader: (14)

I paid a hair over $400 for the clutch kit, slave, speed bleeder, ARP bolts for flywheel-crank, pp-flywheel and cam gear bolts just because I forgot to order them before, and a couple of non related things that were cheap.

Lots of Speed 1

iTrader: (1)

I ended up buying the LUK LS7 clutch kit, speed bleeder, slave cylinder, master cylinder, TOB. I have the trans out, clutch, flywheel out and getting for re-assembly. From my research it sounds like the flywheel bolts get torqued to 74 ft lbs and the pressure plate bolts get torqued to 52 ft lbs. I am assuming both of these bolts need threadlocker put on them. One video I watched on here said use red locktite. I thought red was permanent non-serviceable or am I wrong about that? Should I use red or blue loctite or is a different kind recommended?

I am getting ready to do some research on installing the MC, speed bleeder and doing the drill mod. Any place have a good tutorial or should I just google around? I found a decent video last week on doing the master cylinder.