Clutches...

[silverpsd_06]

Needing an opinion on which clutch to go with its narrowed down to valair or southbend.. Now my build is gunning for right around the 700hp mark which clutch will hold for the most reasonable price and still have decent driveability on the street? Any sponsors that want to chime in are more than welcome its a zf6 by the way

 

[Stroker f-250]

i have a zf6 and i put a valair single disc organic in mine and im very well pleased with it. i thought southbend was a little to pricey for me. im not pushing around 700hp though, not with my slow junk,,lol

 

[Dieselfever]

My pulling truck has an SBC 4200 sintered iron dual disc in it, it's no less drivable than a single disc in my opinion. If it weren't for the solid suspension and welded rearend I could drive it to work and back.

Same with my Haisley street puller in my '97, which is a street truck(that toes my pulling truck). It's a ~400 hp truck so that clutch is plenty of over kill some would say but if you've ever driven an SBC feramic single disc you will see why I went with a dual disc in that truck.

BTW What do you plan on doing with this 700 hp/manual transmission truck?

-Michael

 

[Hotrodtractor]

I spent some seat time driving my red truck back and forth the work through rush hour traffic with a dual disc South Bend clutch - I wouldn't be scared of doing it again.

Your choice of clutch is going to come down to application - a 700HP manual trans truck isn't good for much more than sled pulling. If your pulling - I could argue building a trans spacer and stuffing a third disc in there. If you want to attempt to jam gears at the strip - a dual disc isn't going to like it (or more correctly your synchros will HATE you). Just driving and laying it down on the rollers - a dual disc might be a perfect fit. Choose the clutch company that you feel can support you and your needs after the purchase - You'll be talking to them for a refresh in the future with that level of power no, if you use it at all that is.

 

[silverpsd_06]

It's going to be mainly a street truck with the occasional pass at the strip or time on the rollers.. Basically just a weekend toy to screw around in... Thats what i was wondering if it would eat the piss out of my synchros, i heard somewhere that shifting quickly above 2k rpms was pretty much impossible with that stout of a clutch. I'm not out to abuse the thing really if the truck doesn't like it i won't do it. Has anyone had any experience with the heavy single disc that valair makes thats supposed to hold 600 hp?

 

[SDstroker]

Fwiw I have the ceramic Kevlar clutch from valair and love it. It does slip when I get on it though with my setup when i get on it. Fine for daily driving. I am going to a DD clutch. There's people with their full ceramic racing but it would be to gabby of a clutch for daily driving. Get a clutch that is rated over your hp.
from my DROID2 GLOBAL using Tapatalk

 

[Clouse2411]

I had the double disc siterened iron fromthan a z Valair in my 97. Way way way overkill for it. I didnt have a problem fast shifting over 2k. Only problem I had was snapping my input shaft fast shifting from 1st to 2nd. Of corse my input shaft is alot smaller zf 6. It grabbed like a mother ****er though. If I ever get a pulling truck. I'm getting it again lol

 

[Magnum PD]

South Bend clutch fan here.

 

[co04cobra]

I have a SB DD. I daily drive my truck, sled pull it, and dyno it. I have very little desire to drag race a 8000lb+ truck. The last time I was on a dyno I put down 675 and have never slipped mine yet. It can be a little jumpy in stop go driving, and also a little jumpy in reverse. It is VERY hard to speed shift the zf-6 so drag racing yours will be tough and hard on things. You can shift a zf 5 much easier then the 6 for the obs guys that chimed in. Hope it helps.

 

[V-Ref]

I would like to copy and paste the post above (especially the HP power part:clapping:...but I can't)...but the rest of it is exactly what I would say. South Bend DD here as well. Bit jumpy backing uphill or with a load, but I've found with some experience, I can drive it just like a single, most folks never know what clutch is in the truck.

SB earned my loyalty when I smoked a single CONFE, and pushed a great deal on a DD my way...couldn't say no.

I've heard great stuff about Valair, but can only speak to my experience with SB.

Good luck.

 

[strokin'_tatsch]

I've got a single disc Valair in my truck. Got about 100k miles on it and A LOT of drag strip passes on it. The clutch won't die.. I've even sled pulled with it a couple times. I wouldn't recommend that for anyone though.

I've driven several trucks with Valair sprung hub dual discs and they are great to drive on the street, depending on clutch material. Dual ceramics would be needed for a 700hp truck and they drive nice on the street. Nicer than my single disc ceramic and I drive my single in stop and go traffic every day. Also, I would recommend a sprung hub, but if your interested in Valair, call them, tell them what your doing with your truck and power range and see what they recommend.

 

[sgleshot]

I'm runnin the Con ofe from SBC, in my opinion its the only way to go, couldnt beat the fact that it came with the flywheel and was ready to rock, only took a few hours to change and I was back in the saddle again. Holds much better than the stock piece of scrap and the engagement isnt any worse than my stock was in my opinion, even with the truck weighing in just a frogs hair under 10k on a daily basis

 

[lukesdiesel]

We always recommend Valair.

Luke

 

[TrailerHauler]

I've been thinking hard about valair's ceramic/ceramic clutch. I certainly don't want to have to buy a clutch twice, so I want to get it right the first time for my future power levels and the trucks use. I don't like that the only dual disk on valairs site has a non sprung hub though, so I suppose before I choose one I'll have to talk to them about their dual disks.

 

[Chrisreedtn]

South Bend 3600 dd here.


I would recomend them any day of the week. Had the "Upgraded" fork snap (dunno if stress caused it or the throwout blew up, or what...) Placing the trowout bearing sideways into the pressure plate, rendering it useless.... But I was about 6 months past warranty, called them up to see what I needed to do, peter asked for pictures of it, so I emailed them to him. The same day, he called me back and said he had a new one in the mail for me. He wouldnt even let me pay for the shipping. How in the hell can you beat that?