Clutch Thoughts

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684door

684door

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I am ready to put in a new clutch and pressure plate. Right now I have a Centerforce Dual Friction clutch. It is a diaphram clutch. The weights make noise and I dont want to buy another. Curious on recommendations. Also, pro and cons of running 3 finger vs diaphram. My Dart is a 383 23 spline 4 speed, 4.10 posi, and raced every once in a while. Lastly, what material on clutch. I talked toa clutch builder called Detroit Clutch Masters who recommended Kevlar. Any thought appreciated.
 
My choice is always the three finger Borg-Beck style. I like the feel of the pedal and can control it instead of just pushing it to the floor. I have used the Kevlar in the past and have had no issues and they worked very well.

My two cents, will probably get other opinions.
 
the B&B/long pressure plate is a very good clutch. beats regular B&B and diaphragm clutches. Kevlar is ok, we ran the 300 series disc from mcloed. BTW, B&B /long is made by mcloed.
 
I’d contact Mclode. They are very good. I do think they have a multiple disc system for us should you have a lot of power.
 
I have a centerforce in my duster, and hate it.
I put a Ram musclecar series in my truck, much more forgiving clutch with marginal increase in pedal pressure.
The truck has about 100 more hp than the Duster (about 450) and has never slipped even when towing heavy loads.
And I overload the truck alot when towing, I actually bought a 1 ton truck just so the old 1/2 ton could have a break.
 
a single disc will work quite well in your car. it's very simple, and does the job. multi disc are more money. usually require shims to set base pressure. as for H P? guys run single disc clutches in stockers and super stockers. they have a lot of power!! they run from 10.0 to 11.5 sec. BTW, these are 10 " and 10.5 : clutches .
 
I ask because I will need a clutch soon for a 550+ hp street/strip Swinger.
 
I had a centerforce dual friction in my 69 Dart Swinger 340 and liked it. Held up fine to 436 hp and lots of abuse. I'm wondering if you just got a defective one and that's why it's so noisy?
 
mbaird said:
I ask because I will need a clutch soon for a 550+ hp street/strip Swinger.
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. I used a Mc Leod Borg-Beck on my 408, 550 horse powered Dart, It has a dual friction disc. Call them and they will help with your decision.
 
Thanks guys. My car has a little power over stock. Mcleod said they do not make borg and beck anymore, just diaphram.
 
Zoom diaphragm clutch in my a833 behind my 340. No issues. Plenty of 4k clutch dumps lol

Whatever clutch you decide on if you havent already please invest in a scatter shield. Your feet will thank you
 
The modern diaphragm clutches will work just fine for you. They are much better than even 20 years ago. Just pick a good name brand and go.
 
Anyone running the McLeod dual friction disc (500 series)? Part number is 260521.
How does it compare to the CF dual friction disc?
 
I run a Centerforce dual friction clutch in my '74 Dart Sport 360 4 speed car and really like it...........
I've also rum McLoud clutches in the past in my B-Body 4 speed cars with 440s and i was impressed with them as well.
Flip a coin and choose...........
 
If you are still thinking of a B&B clutch. I would check out Ram. They have a pretty good selection of 3 finger clutches. I would call them direct to help you make your selection. I found out that a lot of the descriptions and pictures on that are on Summit and Jegs sites are incorrect when shopping for a Ram clutch.
I bought the Ram OEM B&B replacement clutch from Summit for my 69 340 Dart and I'm very happy with it.
It was low cost and it does what I want. The photo on Summit's web site was incorrect. It showed a picture of a diaphragm clutch instead of a B&B clutch.
 
Update: Thanks for all of the great help. I called Ram. They recommended their Powergrip HD. It has metallic facings. I also called Rochester Clutch and Brake. Sam Jr recommended a metallic paddle and 2600 lb 3 finger. Excellent ro work with and new about our Mopar 4 speeds well. Can't wait to get mine from him. Glad to buy a product made in America and more importantly support quality mom and pop industry.
 
684door said:
Update: Thanks for all of the great help. I called Ram. They recommended their Powergrip HD. It has metallic facings. I also called Rochester Clutch and Brake. Sam Jr recommended a metallic paddle and 2600 lb 3 finger. Excellent ro work with and new about our Mopar 4 speeds well. Can't wait to get mine from him. Glad to buy a product made in America and more importantly support quality mom and pop industry.
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Two words. Parts breaker. With that much plate load you should be running a rag disc.
 
Yes, from what I understand a rag disc is anything but metallic . I was told by both RAM and Sam that if I was going to race this car and street it without having problems, this was the way to go. My gear ratio is low enough to avoid major chatter. They both said just pull out with a little more RPM and smooth sailing. They both saaod these discs can take any heat or slippage I could possibly throw at them.
 
684door said:
Yes, from what I understand a rag disc is anything but metallic . I was told by both RAM and Sam that if I was going to race this car and street it without having problems, this was the way to go. My gear ratio is low enough to avoid major chatter. They both said just pull out with a little more RPM and smooth sailing. They both saaod these discs can take any heat or slippage I could possibly throw at them.
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You can do what you want, but I can tell you from experience they are full of ****. You start slipping that disc and it will smear the lining all over everything. They aren't designed to slip. They won't take the heat. Been there, done that.

Don't know what the car weighs, or the first gear and axle ratio, but if you use that much plate load with that disc and it hooks you'll run over parts so fast you can't replace them quick enough.

I'd suspect you can run a rag disc and only have 2200-2400 pounds of plate load and it won't break parts.

If you need more than that, you need to spend the money and buy a Sof-Lok from McLeod and be done with it. It has a sintered iron disc and it's designed to take heat. Also, most likely you'll run no more than 1000 pounds of plate load. Plus it's adjustable.

I had an assload of Ram by 1992. You can use their pressure plate but that plate load and disc are going to break **** if it hooks. They are both wrong.
 
Thanks for the info. It used to be that there were few options for clutches. Now there are tons of options and its hard to decode what and what not to use with limited experience. Thanks for you help.
 
684door said:
Yes, from what I understand a rag disc is anything but metallic . I was told by both RAM and Sam that if I was going to race this car and street it without having problems, this was the way to go. My gear ratio is low enough to avoid major chatter. They both said just pull out with a little more RPM and smooth sailing. They both saaod these discs can take any heat or slippage I could possibly throw at them.
Click to expand...

Ram and Sam want to make sure their clutch isn't the weak link. Whatever abuse you might throw at their clutch, if the transmission breaks instead it won't be their problem. Typical clutch customer wants a clutch that doesn't slip when they put the power to it, they don't understand that a clutch NEEDS to slip a little for the whole package to come together.

2600 is just too much clamp for a metallic disc behind a mild 383. It will be hard to launch, also hard on parts. Before the NMRA Coyote Stock guys discovered the ClutchTamer, they were all the way down to 1100-1500 lbs of diaphragm pp clamp using the same basic Ram 900 series disc that's used in the Powergrip HD. They run 10.0's @ 3175lbs.
 
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