clutchmasters stage 3 failure...

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

manufacturing defect to say the least... hopefully josh can pull some strings over at CM and they can stretch their 90 day warranty. it has less than 5000 km on it 1500 of which are a road trip. it was properly broken in, never slipped or burnt. i was too scared i was gonna break my tranny so its never bean launched above 1500 rpm... its been babied! sigh i guess its what you get for modifieng a car

 

[AREA 91]

Wow. I guess I should consider myself lucky. My CM III has taken endless abuse with no problems so far.

 

[Lupo]

manufacturing defect to say the least... hopefully josh can pull some strings over at CM and they can stretch their 90 day warranty. it has less than 5000 km on it 1500 of which are a road trip. it was properly broken in, never slipped or burnt. i was too scared i was gonna break my tranny so its never bean launched above 1500 rpm... its been babied! sigh i guess its what you get for modifieng a car

Welcome to the broken CM Stage III club!
I only had about 6-7K miles on this clutch.
Look carefully, and see if you can detect what went wrong!

 

[drivinhard]

Look carefully, and see if you can detect what went wrong!

A "performance" clutch using an OEM inner/outer hub and springs?

 

[gmorrell]

Indeed, that's the plastic-bushed spline carrier from a stock SHO Valeo disc. I can see where it spit out pieces from the spline hub carrier, they're lodged in the large damper spring.

This is what CM is passing off as a "Stage 3" clutch? And an 8-rivet lining to boot. That's some weak sauce.

Gary M.

A "performance" clutch using an OEM inner/outer hub and springs?

 

[Lupo]

Indeed, that's the plastic-bushed spline carrier from a stock SHO Valeo disc. I can see where it spit out pieces from the spline hub carrier, they're lodged in the large damper spring.

This is what CM is passing off as a "Stage 3" clutch? And an 8-rivet lining to boot. That's some weak sauce.

Gary M.

At the time, I didn't know any better, or else I would have called them on it, even though the it was way out of warranty. That is the original CM Stage III disk I got from the SHO Shop, many moons ago.

But, yep, I blew out the spline carrier, and it just rotated freely. Who would have thought a stock carrier couldn't handle 400+ hp. It's just a really bad design I guess...

 

[BlackonBlack89]

So if one wanted a Cm stage 3 but is afraid this would happen. What would one do?

If I spend 650 dollars and that happens I would be ******.

 

[nik97]

So if one wanted a Cm stage 3 but is afraid this would happen. What would one do?

If I spend 650 dollars and that happens I would be ******.

Ya. It sucks. Mine lasted about 6 months.

 

[firebat45]

No more troubles with the springs/carrier/etc!

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

yeah well now i have ammo on them wit the whole stock inner hub! thats a ******** design... and im not even sure i want a replacement... if i get a replacement im selling it...

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

So if one wanted a Cm stage 3 but is afraid this would happen. What would one do?

If I spend 650 dollars and that happens I would be ******.

yup im ******

 

[Lupo]

yup im ******

A least your failed disk had the 32 rivet lining, instead of my 16. Also, I'm not sure what spine carrier you have, but it doesn't look like the stock Valeo.
But in the end, it doesn't matter cause they both failed...

You live and learn. I know what to look for in a clutch now.

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

i was looking for the valeo stamp and couldent find it... josh hasent gotten back to me yet but he is probably just busy.

 

[Geek SHO]

I've been really disappointed with the Clutchmasters Stage 1 that I was using for a while. First my aluminum flywheel failed and destroyed the friction disc (not really a CM fault) by the steel insert separating from the aluminum. Then the pressure plate failed somehow, and wouldn't disengage above 5k rpm. No bueno. I've got a stock replacement unit in now, and it's great.

I too have been waiting for Clutchmasters to get back to Josh about this, but for a few months now. I'm not really expecting a reply any more.

 

[SHO_DOODmorrris]

well if i can get a clutchmasters phone numebr or direct email ill send/call EVERY day till i get somthing. josh hasent emailed me back yet just from my email to him.

 

[firebat45]

Contact Us
Clutch Masters
267 E. Valley Blvd.
Rialto, CA 92376

P: (909) 877-6800
F: (909) 877-6803

[email protected]

Sure it may be a generic number, but call and ask to speak to someone higher up, until you get to who you want to talk to.

 

[gmorrell]

Back when I was building SHO clutches, I talked with somebody at ClutchNet about building a run of discs with solid hub, sprung hub, various flavors of friction materials, etc. The guy had an Eastern European accent, maybe Russian, his name was NOT Vadim...

They were very reasonable, and willing to build about anything I wanted.

IIRC, ClutchNet has a very good sprung hub disc that will work with the SHO 9 &11/16" application.

One work of caution, if you go with a solid hub disc, using aggressive friction materials will greatly increase shock loading of the downstream transaxle components. Firebat45 did the right thing with a solid hub disc and that smooth, progressive, non-grabby organic lining.

Mixing a solid hub disc with a grabby semi-metallic lining, an already weak transaxle and a heavy car may get you a snapped input shaft, or worse.

 

[92sho16]

I had to remove my trans due to my flywheel bolts coming loose,btw any body know where to get new ones?, so i was looking over my clutch disc and i think i was about to have the same failure as you.

 

[Devin]

Back when I was building SHO clutches, I talked with somebody at ClutchNet about building a run of discs with solid hub, sprung hub, various flavors of friction materials, etc. The guy had an Eastern European accent, maybe Russian, his name was NOT Vadim...

They were very reasonable, and willing to build about anything I wanted.

IIRC, ClutchNet has a very good sprung hub disc that will work with the SHO 9 &11/16" application.

One work of caution, if you go with a solid hub disc, using aggressive friction materials will greatly increase shock loading of the downstream transaxle components. Firebat45 did the right thing with a solid hub disc and that smooth, progressive, non-grabby organic lining.

Mixing a solid hub disc with a grabby semi-metallic lining, an already weak transaxle and a heavy car may get you a snapped input shaft, or worse.

So what is the advantage of going with a sprung hub? Less damage to the transaxle?

 

[gmorrell]

So what is the advantage of going with a sprung hub? Less damage to the transaxle?

The sprung hub helps to absorb the shock of clutch engagement. With a solid hub, the engagement shock goes right into the transaxle internals.

If you'd ever driven a heavy car with a solid hub clutch disc, you'd know it, as it's very hard to be smooth with the clutch take-up, especially with aggressive (grabby) friction materials.