Question on Where to Buy a Clutch

[JRA2000TL]

Well I did some more reading and Cujo (Levi) whom I met at the SESHO meet and who also did a recent clutch job with Chris wound up getting one of the cheaper ones and is happy. What I might do is buy the Rhinopac (those that bought have been pleased) for $212 and buy a SHOnut ceramic TOB. That way, I get a stock clutch cheap and get a better TOB. After reading, the Luk, Sachs, Rhinopacs, etc. all got decent reviews by SHO owners.

 

[K-Dawg]

Well I did some more reading and Cujo (Levi) whom I met at the SESHO meet and who also did a recent clutch job with Chris wound up getting one of the cheaper ones and is happy. What I might do is buy the Rhinopac (those that bought have been pleased) for $212 and buy a SHOnut ceramic TOB. That way, I get a stock clutch cheap and get a better TOB. After reading, the Luk, Sachs, Rhinopacs, etc. all got decent reviews by SHO owners.

This. I've had a Rhinopac and ceramic TOB for almost 50k miles in my 93. No issues.

I think I've read of other people having issues with Autozone clutches. A clutch warranty would mean nothing to me, because the worst part is having to replace the damn thing. Whatever you decide, make sure you at least use a Rev B TOB.

Like Hamal said, any SHO clutch you would buy says Valeo on it.

 

[K-Dawg]

What makes you think you'll need a clutch job soon? Drive that shit til it breaks or doesn't move.

 

[K-Dawg]

And one more thing, after my experience earlier this year, I won't be ordering anything from RCM again.

 

[JRA2000TL]

What makes you think you'll need a clutch job soon? Drive that shit til it breaks or doesn't move.

Chris (ShadetreeSHO) moved my car and said it felt like the TOB was worn. It's occasionally hard to shift into 1st and it's been grinding some in R, even after shifting to 2nd, then N, waiting 3 seconds, then going to R.

 

[SHOtime2511]

The problem with SHO clutches failing right out of the box or shortly after is in the remanufacturing process,too much material is taken off the PP disk
All clutches are reman Valeo units,IIRC there are some measurement numbers floating around for the PP.



I have an autozone clutch in my Civic and the TB sounds like a chinook,grabs good though.

 

[St Louis SHO]

Rhinoceros pac clutches use a Chinese pp. It is NOT a valeo

 

[kevinspann]

Chris (ShadetreeSHO) moved my car and said it felt like the TOB was worn. It's occasionally hard to shift into 1st and it's been grinding some in R, even after shifting to 2nd, then N, waiting 3 seconds, then going to R.

That sounds like an MTX-IV to me...


Where does the clutch engage at? High?

 

[JRA2000TL]

That sounds like an MTX-IV to me...


Where does the clutch engage at? High?

Sometimes it does feel like it engages high, other times maybe not so much. I don't know. It's difficult to explain. It's not horrible either way. I've been driving the car quite a bit lately. Why would it be the transmission? If you look up the symptoms of difficulty going into 1st and sometimes grinding reverse, that's the classic symptom of a worn clutch. The car has 150k on it and it's probably the original.

 

[K-Dawg]

Rhinoceros pac clutches use a Chinese pp. It is NOT a valeo

 

[kevinspann]

Sometimes it does feel like it engages high, other times maybe not so much. I don't know. It's difficult to explain. It's not horrible either way. I've been driving the car quite a bit lately. Why would it be the transmission? If you look up the symptoms of difficulty going into 1st and sometimes grinding reverse, that's the classic symptom of a worn clutch. The car has 150k on it and it's probably the original.

It's not the best shifting trans in the world.

Friend of mine has a '92 with 107k on it, and the clutch engages HIGH. But there are no problems getting it into first or reverse.

While I'm not doubting that the clutch is getting worn, have you checked the fluid in the transmission? It's probably never been touched either...

 

[itwonder]

The Valeo manufacturing stamping on the PP casting does not mean squat. What is important is the materials used in the straps and how they were installed when the PP was rebuilt. Buy one of the quality street clutches that SHO Source sells. The labor of redoing a faulty clutch far outweighs the small cost savings of buying an economy rebuild.

 

[SHOtime2511]

^The cheapest clutch they offer is over $400 plus inflated shipping.
I've heard of plenty of CM clutches failing shortly after install.
I was the victim of a crap reman job on a spec stage 2.

 

[jimtash]

I bought a Sach's kit from RockAuto and the PP was bad right out of the box. Ending up re-using the Spec stage 1 PP with the Sach's disk and it worked good.

 

[Mr Anonymous]

I've never had a problem with countless clutches from http://www.shonutperformance.com

You have to pay to play. Shopping for the cheapest clutch is not the best use of ones' time or resources; better to just sell the car.

 

[SHOtime2511]

I've never had a problem with countless clutches from http://www.shonutperformance.com

You have to pay to play. Shopping for the cheapest clutch is not the best use of ones' time or resources; better to just sell the car.

Maybe I'm mistaken but I thought I remember you posting some correct measurement numbers for the reman PP thickness at some point years back?

 

[Mr Anonymous]

Maybe I'm mistaken but I thought I remember you posting some correct measurement numbers for the reman PP thickness at some point years back?

Yep, but I'll be damned if I remember where that post went and more importantly what the damn specs were!

There was a batch of faulty pressure plates from ClutchMasters that IIRC ended up at SHO Bros. and made their way into the field back in maybe 2006 or 2007 with a couple of remnants popping up as late as 2009. They have since changed the way they reman the PP's so the problem no longer occurs, but it's been so long since I dealt with that stuff that I am drawing a complete blank. It sucks to get old...

 

[sperold]

I have a Rhinopac clutch from RockAuto and it works great. I used a ceramic throw out bearing from Shonut and it works great too.
No issues.
I too, was suspecious of a kit called Rhinopac, but it worked out fine.
Our clutches fail at the TOB / Pressure Plate fingers zone, so I put a little extra coin in the TOB, hoping that it will help the life span.

 

[ShadetreeSHOguy]

So, what did you decide Jeremy? We got the motor in the sable, and ready to tackle another SHO

 

[JRA2000TL]

So, what did you decide Jeremy? We got the motor in the sable, and ready to tackle another SHO

Going to wait a bit. Been DDing the car and it's been driving great with little to no slippage. Overspent with the convention and some other stuff lately. If it doesn't die before I get it up to Atlanta, I still plan on bringing it up there sometime; just don't know when.