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South Bend Clutch Users Questionairre- looking for updates on everyone's setups!

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I'm willing to put one of these clutch kits to the test if you wanted to see how they hold?! This twin disc crap is pissing me off.
 
I'm looking at getting an ss-x tz/b combo for my build. I'm in search of 500whp and who knows where i will be on the torque side of things. Have a Fidanza flywheel, getting a new friction surface. The car will be mostly a weedend warrior, possibly seeing a few times at the drag strip and possibly some road coarse.

Does this sounds like a good pairing Twicks?
 
I'm looking at getting an ss-x td/b combo for my build. I'm in search of 500whp and who knows where i will be on the torque side of things. Have a Fidanza flywheel, getting a new friction surface. The car will be mostly a weedend warrior, possibly seeing a few times at the drag strip and possibly some road coarse.

Does this sounds like a good pairing Twicks?

That would be a good choice to go with!
 
It was brought to my attention the SBC pressure plates are exedy correct? And SBC only really manufactures the kevlar and ceramic disks?

I'm finding a few vendors re branding the exedy pressure plates. And I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that especially with the good reviews of SBC, but I'm always curious which parts are made in house or designed specifically for the vendor.
 
It was brought to my attention the SBC pressure plates are exedy correct? And SBC only really manufactures the kevlar and ceramic disks?

I'm finding a few vendors re branding the exedy pressure plates. And I'm not saying there is anything wrong with that especially with the good reviews of SBC, but I'm always curious which parts are made in house or designed specifically for the vendor.

It is an exedy HD pressure plate that they disassemble, change the release straps and the fulcrum ring.

You would be surprised to find out that Daikin and Exedy make most of the parts out there and then each company does their own modifications.
 
It is an exedy HD pressure plate that they disassemble, change the release straps and the fulcrum ring.

You would be surprised to find out that Daikin and Exedy make most of the parts out there and then each company does their own modifications.

I ran a competition stage 4 once and the center hub had the exedy name on it.
 
*Specific model used
---Pressure plate type:
-->SS-Series
---Disk type:
-->TZ-Series full Kevlar

*Specific model flywheel used
-->ACT Streetlite Chromoly

*Duration of usage AND mileage on clutch

2 years and about 15,000 km.

*Power levels and Drag ET's/MPH if available

433 AWHP (Mustang Dyno)

*Usage Type
-->Daily Driver 3 days per week
-->Auto-X Car
-->Lapping Days

The car sees occasional drag racing, but I use launch control and do a full launch at every single run of an autox. We typically get 6-9 runs per event and probably 15 events so far.6

*Short personal evaluation of the clutch you chose
-->Would you buy the same one again?
Possibly, depending on longevity

-->Would you choose a different pressure plate next time (higher or lower clamp force)?
Seems great to me

-->Would you choose a different clutch disk friction material next time?
Depends on disk longevity. So far, it's been excellent

For a comparison, at lower power levels and similar usage I completely wore out a CF-DF in 9 months (8000 km), and an ACT 2600 w/ street disk in about 2 years (20,000km).
 
im having the low engaugement and dragging issue as well but I would still recommend this clutch to everyone and plan to buy another one in the future as I can not take mine out it is in my daily and I cant afford any down time but hopefully the thickness issue will be fixed for when I can buy another daily I will be in touch with you tim
 
im having the low engaugement and dragging issue as well but I would still recommend this clutch to everyone and plan to buy another one in the future as I can not take mine out it is in my daily and I cant afford any down time but hopefully the thickness issue will be fixed for when I can buy another daily I will be in touch with you tim

I hope you get it fixed before the synchros get damaged. I didn't want my stage 3 shep $ to go down the drain so I pulled it and had sbc fix the issue.
 
So, any more customer updates on their setups? I am sure there are ALOT more people who can chime in with their experiences! Please be sure to use the form I had in the 1st post that everyone else follows so it is easy to read and tabulate the data!

Thanks,

TMZ
 
*Specific model used
---Pressure plate type:


-->Custom SS-X Series
:thumb:
---Disk type:

-->B-Series full Ceramic


*Specific model flywheel used

-->ACT Streetlite Chromoly
-
*Duration of usage AND mileage on clutch
So far i have about 8000 miles on the clutch


*Power levels and Drag ET's/MPH if available
My last dyno was 665whp and 573wtq

*Usage Type
-->Daily Driver
-->Street/Strip
-->Weekend Warrior Abuse
All of the above



*Short personal evaluation of the clutch you chose
-->Would you buy the same one again? YES

-->Would you choose a different pressure plate next time (higher or lower clamp force)? NO PERFECT.

-->Would you choose a different clutch disk friction material next time? NO

-

My personal evaluation is, this is the best clutch I have had in the car! The thing that amazes me is the stock pedal feel of the clutch and its ability to hold the torque that my set up is dishing out. I must say I am very impressed great job tim:thumb:
Well here my update as of a few days ago. I stand by my original post, "The clutch is a beast" holding well at almost 600lbs torque and 728whp http://www.dsmtuners.com/threads/newer-dyno-numbers-728-22whp-590-93wtq-bc272.481474/ over 15000 abusive miles!
 
Kel, you're the reason I picked up one of these clutches (ss-x pp, full-face ceramic disk). Glad to hear it's holding with the extra power!! Can't wait to drop it in.
Well give Tim the credit i was on the verge of dropping some mad cash on a twin disc and after speaking with him he said he would be happy to sell me a twin disc but felt that ss-x, full-face ceramic would do the job. Turns out its doing the job very well. I can't stress enough how soft the peddle is and how smooth the engagement is and the best part is that I still haven't reach the torque capacity of the clutch yet. thanks Tim for a great product!
 
Well give Tim the credit i was on the verge of dropping some mad cash on a twin disc and after speaking with him he said he would be happy to sell me a twin disc but felt that ss-x, full-face ceramic would do the job. Turns out its doing the job very well.

Oh for sure, he's an awesome and very helpful guy!

I can't stress enough how soft the peddle is and how smooth the engagement is and the best part is that I still haven't reach the torque capacity of the clutch yet.

Nice! Yeah I just broke a pp finger with my ACT 2600, so I'm hoping the ss-x will be a little lighter (assuming pressure was actually the problem, although it ran fine for 2.5 years). Just curious, did you get the unsprung disk option?
 
Oh for sure, he's an awesome and very helpful guy!



Nice! Yeah I just broke a pp finger with my ACT 2600, so I'm hoping the ss-x will be a little lighter (assuming pressure was actually the problem, although it ran fine for 2.5 years). Just curious, did you get the unsprung disk option?
No I got it with springs infact it was a mix of springs and 4 rubber pieces that's the same shape and size as the springs.
 
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I would stick with the sprung hub, on the SS-X series kits it uses an Exedy racing heavy-duty hub and it is quite good for street/strip usage.

If you specifically plan on doing road racing (like Buttonwillow, Laguna Seca, Infineon, El Mirage, Willow Springs), then I would do the solid hub upgrade.

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My ACT just started slipping and by luck I found this thread, awesome! My setup is close to 600ft/lbs with a 2.3 so this thread is EXACTLY what I need.

I'm looking at the SB SSX and ACT Flywheel. What are the pros/cons between the ceramic and kevlar disks. My car is a driven to and from the track and though it's tracked almost weekly It's driven to and from and I drive it at least one other day/week.
 
organic material = smooth. long lasting. downside its coefficient of friction goes away with heat. and slipping too much will burn it and kill it.

ACT organic= they have a wonderful friction material with copious amount of copper added to it. not seen any other company with anything similar. still my favorite friction material hands down. has far more bite than factory organic. handles more heat. and still lasts a long time. and its still smooth. only downside is I hate there current HD spring center. I am using the original design that shifts great at high RPM.

ceramic. there are many flavors of ceramic. but by definition its copper and ceramic fiber materials mixed. if its more copper color it has less ceramic mixed in. if its more whitish color it has more ceramic mixed in. it has very high bite. very high heat handling. very, very short life and very hard on metal surfaces it mates with. never cared for it myself. bite too hard. doesnt play well when slipped, wears out wAAY too fast.

feramic. has very similar character to ceramic. but was touted to be smoother when it came out. its heavier and doesnt shift well with rpm. if over slipped it can frictionweld to flywheel.

kevlar. is one of my favorite friction materials in that it is stupid friendly with the metal it mates with. a properly broken in kevlar clutch will just polish both the pressure plate and flywheel. its a smooth engaging material. it is a long lasting friction material. it can take a lot of heat without killing it. so if its gets slipped too much you can just drive normally for a while and it will self heal so to speak. the material itself has to be bonded to metal. this can make the disc heavy if the metal backing is heavy duty. i have mixed feelings on its torque holding capacity. most clutch setups I tried it with didnt hold much torque. i did see it do very well in an evo 8 setup. clutch master stage 3. but it didnt shift well at high rpm. did everything else great. i have tried it a couple times in dsm platform and just cant get it to hold the torque its advertised to hold.
 
I recently switched over to this setup. The car currently has ~600-700 miles on it.

The first thing is to note the longer-than-usual break in period. I did not find this out right away, and took the car on an autox and then drag racing. It did fine at the autox (Really just shifted from 1-2). The next day at the drag racing event is when I ran into some issues with not letting it break in longer. Clutch just slipped like crazy under higher loads. At first, I was worried and angry.... as I ran though the entire installation in my head trying to see where something could have gone wrong. Then I just contacted Tim, and he let me know that it needs more miles, and that even though it was heated up and slipping, that it should be ok, just need to drive it around in the city to get rid of the glazing. Was also told from a couple of other people using the setup that it needs a good 1500-2000 miles of break in. So, I am sticking with it!

Re-adjusted the hydraulics the other day, as well. Drove the car yesterday around town and it feels really good, again.

Trying like heck to get more miles on this, so I can get the car dialed back in before the shootout. :)

From what understand, Kevlar is more forgiving than ceramic, meaning it will be more apt to slip rather than break parts. (Trans, axles, ect..)

Since 2008 I have been working with South Bend Clutch to develop their clutch lineup for our platform to have a better range of choice and a better overall product. During that time I have sold many hundreds of these clutches I was hoping to get an update from those who have them. I am always trying to make the SBC clutch options better for our cars to keep them as streetable as possible while having a torque capacity range from 300-650ft/lb of torque depending on model. What I am looking for in this thread is end user experience and feedback with their clutch used and overall experience. More specifically, information on the following:

*Specific model used
---Pressure plate type:

-->Custom SS-X Series
---Disk type:
-->TZ-Series full Kevlar


*Specific model flywheel used
-->ACT Streetlite Chromoly


*Duration of usage AND mileage on clutch
700miles

*Power levels and Drag ET's/MPH if available
TBD- Car has gone 11's before. So far, on low boost, it's gone 12.6@114 with this clutch. Ran into some issues, and never got the boost back up.

*Usage Type
-->Daily Driver
-->Street/Strip
-->Drag Car
-->Auto-X Car



*Short personal evaluation of the clutch you chose
So far, it feels great on the street. I still need to get more break-in miles on it to really express an opinion on how it handles at the track.



I appreciate everyone's feedback to my survey in advance!
 
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ceramic. there are many flavors of ceramic. but by definition its copper and ceramic fiber materials mixed. if its more copper color it has less ceramic mixed in. if its more whitish color it has more ceramic mixed in. it has very high bite. very high heat handling. very, very short life and very hard on metal surfaces it mates with. never cared for it myself. bite too hard. doesnt play well when slipped, wears out wAAY too fast.

.
Are you speaking of the southbend TZ ceramic? I have 15000 miles on mine and its still kicking. Its by far the smoothest clutch I have ever had in the car. Now the old six puck spung ceramic is not the same as the southbend full face ceramic, yeah those clutches were horrible. Just want to make sure people don't get confused about the two.
 
just general info about friction materials. and posting mileage is useless if you ask me. identical clutches can last 5000 to 50,000 depending on driver and driver habits
 
just general info about friction materials. and posting mileage is useless if you ask me. identical clutches can last 5000 to 50,000 depending on driver and driver habits
Mileage is revelant thats why tim had it as part of the survey.LOL copy and pasting without first hand experience leads to speading mis information and destroys a good thread in a heartbeat.
 
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