Clutches - what is the benefits of these 2 designs?

[BradMph]

My question concerns clutches and what the benefit is of one compared to the other.
I been using the full round disk pad type like the Exedy styled clutch. Now there is puck clutches available for the trucks. F1 racing puts 2 out, one puck one not...also the puck is stage 3 and the other basic one is stage one. These puck clutches don't look like they have much of a wear time by the looks of them. The pads look rather thin down to the rivet head to me, according to the images. Are these puck pad ones any better then the OEM type clutches. They say there basically for racing and stuff, but if they last longer and have better friction lock up on the plate this would help with hauling our boat around. I don't want it so strong that there is no give and it breaks something in the trany. :.)
Anyone have any experience with the puck version compared to the round disk version???
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[MaxinOut]

Ironically I just saw the stage three one on ebay yesterday and I was partially wondering the same thing

[LSR Mike]

Puck clutches aren't very nice for the Street, they engage very harshly, they hold well, but don't drive well. Also the material is hard and grainy, which is great for grabbing but not nice to to the pressure Plate and Flywheel.

I used a 6 puck unit and overran it's capabilities and here is what happened.

in the beginning

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the aftermath

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[recian]

6-pucks also feel like you're engaging a solid steel clutch. You feel all those pucks as they engage. Get a stage 1 F1 round disc style and you'll have one thats stronger than stock and will hold up good. The stages are determined by pressure plate strength and hardness of material so the higher the stage the stiffer the clutch will be. Stage 1's are my favorite since theyre stronger than OEM but feel just like OEM. The higher stages are good for hydro clutches but can cause exessive wear on cable clutches going past stage2 Also Exedy are good. The F1 has exedy stamped on the disc and Mitsus and nissans have EXEDY clutches from the factory

[mopar_ja]

I installed a F1 stage 1 when I rebuilt my tranny, very nice. The reason the puck clutches are not very friendly for street use, there is little to no friction zone or slippage they are intended to be basically engaged and disengaged. So no sitting at stop light feathering the clutch.

[LSR Mike]

Oh yeah, I forgot about the Clutch cable stretch and Firewall Flex. The harder the Pressure Plate/Higher the stage, my old cable stretched, got a brand new one, and still had issues, found out the firewall was flexing. I had to reinforce the firewall with 1/4 inch plate to hold things in place.

[Lon Moer]

The 'puck' clutches are really just for racing applications (I have one w/copper pucks in my ITC car).
They don''t slip, they're either on or off and they're made for fast positive shifts.

Go with the stage II for the better heavy duty street/off road use.

[Rivals Inc]

I got a stage 3 f1 racing clutch for my Jetta few years back. Must say WalMart parking lots are tough, but I believe in these clutches. You just gotta know how to handle it. I was very impressed with this investment.

[pennyman1]

Puck clutch discs are overkill for a stock truck, and will eat your tranny with the shock it will put into it every time you hammer on it. A better compromise is the centerforce dual friction clutch disc with different friction materials on each side of the disk for better bite with less wear than a puck style disc. With the matching pressure plate, it is a stage II level clutch setup - I have run mine for over 25 years without issues.

[BradMph]

Awesome, thanks for the input on the clutches everyone, It helped alot. I see the F1 Stage1 will work the best for mine even when pulling the boat up the ramps. For about a hundred bucks that's not to bad of a deal too. Need to get the flywheel grounded in the next few days which there are not too many places here that specialize in this. 2 have mysteriously closed and probably because the demand is so low for this service.
Need to get some heliarc welding done on a second gen intake manifold so I can replace the original 1st gen. I need to get all the smog holes and old Mikuni carb water choke tube holes filled in. I just hope they don't try to charge me more then it should cost.

[pennyman1]

don't weld them up, tap the holes and screw in allen set screws with pipe sealant - that is how I blocked off the water choke holes on Geronimo 30 years ago and it has never leaked to this day.

[BradMph]

Thanks Pennyman, your advise will be taken. Welding was too much and the set screws sounds much more longer lasting. I'll have to get the distributor securing bolt welded back on though. When it was on the 87 doner truck I had, they glued the broken piece with some type of resin glue.
I'm sure if the welder just laid a glob where this threaded bolt hole is I could grind and re-tap also. I'll find out what would be best.

[pennyman1]

Permatex or loctite make a kit that lets you repair such problems with a metal filled epoxy - you coat the bolt with release agent in the kit, mix and fill the hole with the epoxy, then insert the bolt. When dry, the bolt will unthread like before. It is as strong as the metal around the repair, and won't ail because there is little heat in that area.

[BradMph]

So, you think gluing this part back on will be ok? I guess I could drill a couple small holes through both the broken off piece and the intake manifold to help strengthen the glue by placing a couple small rods into the drilled holes. Drill the holes a tiny bit smaller then the rods and tap the rods in with a small hammer. I just fear that just glue could eventually let loose and I don't want the distributor flopping around if it decides to let go. The glue that was on it was strong, but it was also brittle from heat. Here is a picture of the break, as you can see it is right where the bolt goes to secure the distributor once timing is set.
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[camoit]

The 6 puck ceramic clutch is mid range racing clutch. If you want harsh the 4 puck has more bite. With ceramic puck clutches the less surface area the more pressure on the availably surface of the disk. A stock clutch is best for smooth take off. Ceramic has 2 modes, go or no go. Once it hits a certain temperature it bonds to the other materials. In large diesel trucks we use a duel disk 4 puck clutch. The pressure plate has flyweights on it so as the RPM increases it pushes even harder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE0_82YR31I

[mopar_ja]

The 6 puck ceramic clutch is mid range racing clutch. If you want harsh the 4 puck has more bite. With ceramic puck clutches the less surface area the more pressure on the availably surface of the disk. A stock clutch is best for smooth take off. Ceramic has 2 modes, go or no go. Once it hits a certain temperature it bonds to the other materials. In large diesel trucks we use a duel disk 4 puck clutch. The pressure plate has flyweights on it so as the RPM increases it pushes even harder.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xE0_82YR31I
Exactly. I used to install 6 button clutches in potato trucks when I was playing diesel mechanic. They sucked for any type of in town or newbie driving style.

[Acuta73]

Clutch?

In a big truck??

Pfft, only use those to start and stop...and only if I have to.

You slip shift a crash box. Period. Double clutching is for IITR n00bs.

[mopar_ja]

Clutch?

In a big truck??

Pfft, only use those to start and stop...and only if I have to.

You slip shift a crash box. Period. Double clutching is for IITR n00bs.

What you still shift, you don't have one of those new fangled automatic. Just wait they are going to come out with flappy paddles in Semi's so you can feel like an F1 driver just at 80 tons.

[Acuta73]

You don't shift a crash box with the clutch. You only use the clutch to start from a stop and release it at a stop. It acts more as an anchor, I guess.

You slip shift a crash box, meaning you bump RPM and pull the gear, then adjust the engine to match RPM again and grab your next gear, higher or lower. Most of the time you want the RPM to drop for the higher gear, and rev it for a lower. Never touch the clutch doing this.

[camoit]

It depends on the type and age of the truck trans. I like the old 13 speed Lo Hi OD units they took time to learn. Once you figured it out you could drive anything.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yrtfTovNohI

[BradMph]

Trucks now make you feel like your driving a car. Smooth shifting, plush interior, big windshields, great suspensions and no hemorrhoids, lol.
When I went thru my trucking school way back when they forced us to double clutch and we would not pass the class if we didn't. Soon as class was done, my foot rested on the floor 90% of the time.
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at a lumber yard, prior to farm work

[Acuta73]

Trucks now make you feel like your driving a car. Smooth shifting, plush interior, big windshields, great suspensions and no hemorrhoids, lol.
When I went thru my trucking school way back when they forced us to double clutch and we would not pass the class if we didn't. Soon as class was done, my foot rested on the floor 90% of the time.
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at a lumber yard, prior to farm work

Trucking school? Dafuq is that? First time I crawled into a truck, I had to go make deliveries... 3rd party certifier FTW.

We have Later model Volvo and Freightshaker Cascadia these days. 2 Eaton Fuller 9 speeds, 3 automatics (which I refuse to drive, you can keep the ABS on an air system, too), rest are all 10 speed crash.

Used to have an International I pulled flatbed with eons ago. Had a 13 speed Road Ranger...really miss that SOB. Truck was a POS, ridden hard and put away wet wayyyy too many times, but damn it'd pull a hill! (despite the friggin NaviStar engine)

Think we severely derailed this thread...

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