CENTERFORCE CLUTCH INSTALLED

[avcts]

If anyone is interested, I've attached some pics of my clutch install. I decided to do it myself. Local Viper tech was too swamped and I'm not comfortable with the local dealers.

I resurfaced the flywheel with a fiber disc on an air sander. It was in good shape with only 6700 miles. I replaced the slave/TOB with a new one from the dealer. The clutch and flywheel didnt look that bad. You guys that do this all the time, what do you think? I was slipping though.

I havent driven it yet. Waiting for the roads to dry. Peddle effort has increased. Peddle is only half way up and it starts to grab hard. A little shutter but all I did was pull forward and then back up. Was raining.

I had no problems with the OEM Master/Slave so I saw no reason to spend another 500+ bucks. Roads are drying now. Im going to take it out shortly.

See anything peculiar?

 

[K-80-123]

If anyone is interested, I've attached some pics of my clutch install. I decided to do it myself. Local Viper tech was too swamped and I'm not comfortable with the local dealers.

I resurfaced the flywheel with a fiber disc on an air sander. It was in good shape with only 6700 miles. I replaced the slave/TOB with a new one from the dealer. The clutch and flywheel didnt look that bad. You guys that do this all the time, what do you think? I was slipping though.

I havent driven it yet. Waiting for the roads to dry. Peddle effort has increased. Peddle is only half way up and it starts to grab hard. A little shutter but all I did was pull forward and then back up. Was raining.

I had no problems with the OEM Master/Slave so I saw no reason to spend another 500+ bucks. Roads are drying now. Im going to take it out shortly.

See anything peculiar?

Thanks for the pics...good information!!!!!!

Walt

 

[mauiSRT/10]

Wow, you did that on your back too!!! Impressive! How long did it take you?


patrick

 

[RedSrt007]

I resurfaced the flywheel with a fiber disc on an air sander.... A little shutter....

Thanks for the install info. I would be careful about the flywheel being done the way it was...the chatter might get worse once it tries to seat itself since the resurfacing wasn't done by a professional (not supposed to resurface theses flywheels though).

As for hydraulics, the added pressure from the pressure plate might cause you to replace the hydraulics at a later time.

Thank for the info!

-Red

 

[ViperTruck2933]

Thanks for the install info. I would be careful about the flywheel being done the way it was...the chatter might get worse once it tries to seat itself since the resurfacing wasn't done by a professional (not supposed to resurface theses flywheels though).

As for hydraulics, the added pressure from the pressure plate might cause you to replace the hydraulics at a later time.

Thank for the info!

-Red

My tuner/builder recommends I keep the OEM flywheel and he says it's no problem to resurface it. He has a machine that resurfaces them.

 

[RedSrt007]

My tuner/builder recommends I keep the OEM flywheel and he says it's no problem to resurface it. He has a machine that resurfaces them.

I agree, as my tuner also likes the OEM flywheels (DC Performance). But Dan @ DC does not allow resurfacing of flywheels as dodge recommends it not be resurfaced. Service manual page 6-8 "Do not Machine the Face of the flywheel..." (this is only on the SRT-10 and not the other Dodge Ram's :dontknow: )

I have resurfaced flywheels, rotors, etc..but I'm not sure what the reasoning behind not being able to do these are :dontknow: . Either way, I had a resurfaced one, and Dan ripped it out and put a OEM one in it when he was reinstalling the centerforce.

-Red

 

[walenator]

Great pics and it looks like you had the right equipment. Did you consider putting in a lighter flywheel? I appreciate the fact you took on this project yourself. Good job!:rock:

 

[avcts]

Thanks guys,

Actually, it was pretty easy. Only problem...Im not that young anymore and crawling around on my back takes it's toll. I used to do this crap all the time 10 - 15 years ago. I asked a few friends to help...but then ya find out who your friends really are...huh?

I had the tranny out in 1 hour and twenty minutes while drinking coffee. I watched the clock. Then I was real careful taking the bell housing off. I was afraid that I would crack it while prying on it. Even worse, the oil pan. I think I spent more time being careful. I just tapped until the dowl pins freed up.

Technically, I did NOT resurface the flywheel. I used an air sander with FIBER pads. Those are like nylon scrubby pads. See the picture. The OEM manual says to use 400 600 grit sandpaper if not replacing. The flywheel was fine. See previous pics.

I noticed that when I was backing up for the second time, the new clutch was groaning. No doubt, it was slipping bad. For the first time, I smelled clutch. I NEVER had this happen before. Ever. I don't now why it did this, but I hope it never happens again. Has this happened to anybody else? Going forward, it grabbed extremely hard. Seems like there's ALOT more stress on a clutch going in reverse. Again, I only drove it maybe 10 miles. How long does it take to really seat?

Most of the time spent was getting the tranny realigned and installed without wanting to kick someone's ass. The whole project took 6 hours.

Looking at the pics of the flywheel and the OEM pressure plate, did it really look like it was slipping?
BM shifter is working well. That was money well spent. I have my doubts about this clutch though....:dontknow:

 

[RedSrt007]

Sounds like something isnt right....What did you tq the pressure plate bolts to???

Centerforce says it takes 400-500 miles to seat the clutch in properly (with city driving). I will get ahold of the engineer from Centerforce and have him answer your questions today. But as I have installed 5 clutches (some the same ) in my truck, I have not experiences the symptoms your dealing with; so post the tq secs on the install.

-Red

 

[avcts]

25 Ft. Lbs. and with blue locktite.:dontknow:

Calling Centerforce now....

 

[RedSrt007]

25 Ft. Lbs. and with blue locktite.:dontknow:

Calling Centerforce now....

22.5..but shouldnt give you that much differance.

Hmmm, when you installed it, did you install the new throwout bearing on the slave, pilot bearing (while your in there anyways)?

As I said before, more then likely you are going to need to replace the master / slave with the viper car master / slave due to the OEM truck hydraulics unable to keep up with the added pressure needed to release the clutch (pressure plate).

-Red

 

[avcts]

I did talk with Centerforce last week. They told me about Roe and there upgrade. However, they did say the upgrade wasn't absolutely necessary. They did recommend replacing the slave/TOB with a new one though. That is what I did. Even though my truck has only 6758 miles on it, I still replaced the entire slave/Throw out Bearing with a new OEM one.

Only thing that I can think of is that I did a final cleaning of the pressure plate and flywheel with Valvolene Synthetic Throttle Body Cleaner cause I didnt have any brake cleaner left. I dont think that would have done anything though.

 

[RedSrt007]

if you are talking about this :

http://www.valvoline.com/pages/products/product_detail.asp?product=52

Then I don't see a big issue with it, and cannot see why it would cause the 'major slipping'...it appears to be just your typical non-chlorinated carb cleaner.

Did you replace the pilot bearing? Also, is there any air in the lines? I'm assuming you just quick-disconnected it, but did you remove anything else or undo the bleeder on the slave? Was the disk installed the right way? there is a flywheel side and a pressure-plate side...

Sorry for all the questions, just want to make sure everything is checked before dropping the tranny again....

-Red

 

[avcts]

Red,

I did not replace the pilot bearing. It looked new. No scoring or any deformation on the bearing or the tremec's input shaft.

I just got off the phone with Centerforce. They explained that the break in period is VERY IMPORTANT. When you first install the kit and the friction material is not fully seated yet, you might only have 25% contact until you start to break it in. He explained..this is common.

I explained my flywheel resurfacing with fiber discs. He said thats fine if you are confident that there is NO damage to the flywheel. He also mentioned again, hydraulic upgrades are not mandatory unless you have problems with the OEM original.

Was there air in the lines...absolutely. It took 15 mimutes of bleeding to get it all out.

oh...that is the stuff that I used....

 

[KCP]

Hi KC from Centerforce here. The break-in period is important. However you should not be having slippage issues during this time. One thing I noticed from your pictures is that the alignment spool (locates the bellhousing to the engine) is missing on the right (passenger) side - perhaps it stayed in the bellhousing and was in place at the time of installation? We hope this is the case as both locators are needed for proper alignment. Other than that, Red has covered many of the other possible issues. Should your clutch problems continue, please contact our techline (800) 932-5882 - or me directly via PM. I will do my best to respond in a timely manner.

 

[RedSrt007]

Hi KC from Centerforce here. The break-in period is important. However you should not be having slippage issues during this time. One thing I noticed from your pictures is that the alignment spool (locates the bellhousing to the engine) is missing on the right (passenger) side - perhaps it stayed in the bellhousing and was in place at the time of installation? We hope this is the case as both locators are needed for proper alignment. Other than that, Red has covered many of the other possible issues. Should your clutch problems continue, please contact our techline (800) 932-5882 - or me directly via PM. I will do my best to respond in a timely manner.

Welcome to the forum K.C, Thank you for taking your engineering time-out to share some knowledge to our madness....

Patrick

 

[avcts]

Hi KC from Centerforce here. The break-in period is important. However you should not be having slippage issues during this time. One thing I noticed from your pictures is that the alignment spool (locates the bellhousing to the engine) is missing on the right (passenger) side - perhaps it stayed in the bellhousing and was in place at the time of installation? We hope this is the case as both locators are needed for proper alignment. Other than that, Red has covered many of the other possible issues. Should your clutch problems continue, please contact our techline (800) 932-5882 - or me directly via PM. I will do my best to respond in a timely manner.

Hi KC,

I left you voice mail. Yes, you are correct. The dowl remained in the bell housing. Otherwise, when I re-installed the bell housing by tapping it on, it would have moved were none of the bolts would align correctly. All bolts threaded very easily and were torqued to the manufacturers specs. Please give me a shout when you can. This slipping has me concerned. I'm going to drive the truck this evening before I have to go out of town...again.

Thank you.

 

[Stingray]

I noticed that when I was backing up for the second time, the new clutch was groaning. No doubt, it was slipping bad. For the first time, I smelled clutch. I NEVER had this happen before.

When I installed my CF I also got an occasional groaning from the clutch when taking off from a stop. But it went away by the time I was done with the break-in. There were a few times I could smell the clutch when I 'dragged' it a little more than normal but it never slipped for me.

 

[Voodoo]

i am interisted in about 3 months if it chatters :dontknow:

 

[avcts]

Stingray,

I remember reading that post. When a clutch "groans", this means it's slipping.

I really don't think it just makes the noise and it doesn't mean anything. As soon as the sound occurred, I smelled clutch. It happened while backing up in my garage. I have to go back and forth a few times to get backed up tight against the wall. This probably puts more wear on the clutch than the damn drag strip! It has NEVER done that going forward. I did a quick release at 2K in my driveway. Now I have to clean two damn black marks off . Only in reverse did I notice the groaning. I barely notice any shutter at all going forward.

However, the shuttering has gotten a little better. It sure seams like the more I drive it, the better it gets. I did not get any groaning at all today. It did shutter a little. But as I mentioned..it's better. I still only have a whopping 30 miles on it. I won't be able to drive it again until the weekend.

:dontknow: