Clutch Recommendations

[hokeplaya05]

so I am looking to upgrade my clutch over this winter, currently there is an ebay "stage 3" clutch that the PO put in which was newish when I bought the car. needless to say I do not like it, it chatters a lot and is a PITA (and leg) in traffic. as many of you know, I have fastbird's old turbo kit in my barn waiting to go on but want to make sure the rest of the car is up to the task first (rear end, trans, and some motor work), so I want something that will hold up to 500+whp when the time comes to install the kit. I have heard good things about the McLeod RXT, but want to get some people are using or recommend as I know there are a couple boosted 6 speed guys on here so hopefully they will have some input. car is/will be mainly a street car with a couple road course or autox events mixed in during the summer. thanks

[sleepy_z]

I'm running a stg2 diamond clutch disc from Jason @ TDP.
Car is a 6 Speed with a similar turbo setup as you.

[96LT1355Z28]

McLeod has a limited selection if your still using the LT style clutch, there's a wide variety of the LS style. If you have the LT style and don't want to spent the $ to convert I use and recommend a Spec stage 3+. It's rated to 845 ft/lbs tq and has very stock like drive ability. It has carbon semi metallic friction material and a double sprung hub which helps prevent chatter. I'd be happy to get you a price if your interested. No matter what clutch kit you go with make sure you have your flywheel surfaced, failing to do so will result in premature clutch failure.

[hokeplaya05]

I'm running a stg2 diamond clutch disc from Jason @ TDP.
Car is a 6 Speed with a similar turbo setup as you.

what is that rated to? also, what is TDP?


McLeod has a limited selection if your still using the LT style clutch, there's a wide variety of the LS style. If you have the LT style and don't want to spent the $ to convert I use and recommend a Spec stage 3+. It's rated to 845 ft/lbs tq and has very stock like drive ability. It has carbon semi metallic friction material and a double sprung hub which helps prevent chatter. I'd be happy to get you a price if your interested. No matter what clutch kit you go with make sure you have your flywheel surfaced, failing to do so will result in premature clutch failure.

yea I just looked at their website and it looks like they don't carry the RXT for LT1's anymore, last time I had checked they did. for sure I would like to see a price on the spec stage 3+, I hadn't even thought about spec. definitely would get the flywheel surfaced, I had it done a couple years ago when I put the 383 together. is there any benefit to a lighter flywheel while I am at it?

[Catmaigne]

The 3+ is what I have. I wouldn't say it's like stock but it's definitely not as aggressive as a puck clutch. Definitely liveable with the right gearing.

Also, light flywheels are bad for drag but good for road racing.

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[blackbirdws6]

If you can swing the $, I can't recommend the McLeod street twin more. Holds all the power you can throw at it, excellent pedal feel, no chatter, slightly heavier than stock and you can have it rebuilt. I've owned and driven other clutches and still love my ST.

[sleepy_z]

what is that rated to? also, what is TDP?

Texas Drivetrain Performance.
If you google diamond clutch, it should be the first site. Jason told me before he was able to get LT1 versions of the clutches.
Stg2 is rated to 600hp.

[tleed]

X2 on the McLeod street twin I love mine

[95 blackbird]

X3 on the McLeod as well. 13 years of use/abuse still good as the the day I got it. Hell, it outlasted my Strange 12 bolt!

[Injuneer]

Loved the McLeod Street Twin. I bought it used from a guy who figured 1,000+ HP was probably not a good idea with a stock T56. $1,000 for the Street Twin, his T56 and a ballistic nylon bell housing blanket. Used the Street Twin for a few years. Excellent street manners, no problems with 5,000 - 6,000 RPM dumps on a sticky track. Sold my T56 setup with the Street Twin to someone for a T56 conversion.... $2,000. Enjoyed it while I owned it.

[Fastbird]

My number 1 choice would be the Street Twin followed by the Spec 3+. One is obviously far more expensive than the other but with the cost comes a far greater capability. Both are very smooth though the 3+ could chatter a bit when cold. The street twin was always smooth as butter.

[popo8]

I love my centerforce dual friction. Its been in the car since the stock motor and I tore the factory clutch. Thats prob 2004 ish. The motor has changed 3 times in front of it, and its still doin a great job biting, even with 602 hp to the wheels. (Guess thats like 800 at the crank)

LTXtech.com IS my drug...
OWNER/ADMIN

[hokeplaya05]

hmmm thanks for all the info guys! lots to think about.... I am torn between the 3+ or the street twin, the street twin has more head room capability as far as power goes, but not sure if it will be overkill for my application and is $600 more than the 3+. but I also don't want to have to do this twice if I want to upgrade the turbo sometime down the road and shoot for more powa. also, think I am going with an aluminum flywheel as well to since I do want to get into road racing with the car and that would help out.

[Fastbird]

The turbo is about as good as you can get on a T4 flange that's with the kit. Next step up really is a T6 flange but that would require a kit rework.

The 3+ would work. My buddy has had a 3+ in his car for YEARS making 600-700 RWHP (he's replaced it a couple of times, once due to age, once due to a dampening spring failure on the disc). The 3+ will work, but it won't have the longevity of the Street Twin.

Also bear in mind this: The street twin is FULLY rebuildable from McLeod for $450 last time I checked. If you're thinking LONG term, a couple of clutch replacements and reubilds and you're breaking even. But I will also say this about the street twin. Have feeler gauges handy as they're VERY particular on setup when you install. The first one I ever had they had the clearances too tight (mixed up the shims when they took it apart to put it on the car) and it was a damn on/off switch. I hated it. Went for it again on the car that had the turbo kit you have now, installed it myself, and it was smooth as butter and was never anything but a joy to drive.

[hokeplaya05]

okay good to know, I do like the rebuild option of the street twin. I'm assuming your street twin is gone by now? I think I remember seeing it in your forsale thread but wasn't really thinking clutch at the time unfortunately.

[Catmaigne]

You can buy just the 3+ disc and a generic pressure plate (but a certain amount has to be milled bc the disc is thicker, forget how much exactly). The pressure plates are the same C70043 china ones everyone uses. Wouldn't be surprised if the street twin is based on it too.

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[Fastbird]

Yeah, local guy bought the clutch.......still attached to the motor. That was nice, lol.

[hokeplaya05]

damn lol, oh well. I will be doing more research on the street twin but looks like that may be the best option for me for the long term.

on a similar note, what are you guys doing as far as the trans? I know I will need to build it a bit as well to handle the power and was looking a tick stage 3 build or something similar.

[popo8]

I had ordered all of the upgrades for the "big build" that people do when making alot of power... however I did not upgrade to the viper shaft.

At the time, the garage I hung at had a trans specialist working there, and he assembled it for me. Still going....

LTXtech.com IS my drug...
OWNER/ADMIN

[ringmaster72]

Another vote for the street twin. Big $, but well worth it, drives like stock with a soft pedal as well.

[MoeHorsePower]

I had the Spec 3+ and hated it, lots of chatter, and to me, not street friendly, switched to the twin and never looked back, didnt even break it in and did 6000 RPM dumps with no problem, was well worth the $$

[hokeplaya05]

thanks guys! definitely leaning towards the street twin.


I had ordered all of the upgrades for the "big build" that people do when making alot of power... however I did not upgrade to the viper shaft.

At the time, the garage I hung at had a trans specialist working there, and he assembled it for me. Still going....

cool, I may check around the local tranny shops and see if they have done anything with a t56, if not I will probably send it out to be rebuilt/upgraded to a place like tick performance

[96LT1355Z28]

Look into Liberty's Gears for trans work. They do a lot of the modifications for other shops.

[popo8]

Cahall do u have any suggestions for quality t56 builders?

LTXtech.com IS my drug...
OWNER/ADMIN

[blackbirdws6]

Hanlon is worth a call as well.

[popo8]

Hanlon is worth a call as well.
Agreed. Hes right up this way. Didnt know if he does shipping though.

LTXtech.com IS my drug...
OWNER/ADMIN

[sleepy_z]

Texas Drivetrain Performance. I think he has the most affordable prices. A lot of positive reviews can be found.

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[SSlowBoat]

Hanlon, liberty gears, tick in that order. Have a few friends with fast stick mustangs and those seem to be the best

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[96LT1355Z28]

Just info but Liberty's does the machine work and part modification like faceplating for shops like Tick, etc.

[hokeplaya05]

cool, hanlon doesn't seem to have much of a website, so I will either call or email them to see what they offer. liberty's website doesn't show much for t56 rebuilds so I will give them a call as well. what are the benefits of faceplating? I feel like that may be overkill for my application since I'm not going for 1/4 mile times, but also don't know much about it.

[96LT1355Z28]

If your not doing high rpm shifting 7K^ I wouldn't worry about faceplating.

[Catmaigne]

Bad idea for a street car

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[hokeplaya05]

that's what I figured, thanks guys

[hokeplaya05]

just wanted to update this, I went with the Mcleod Street twin with light weight flywheel through Josh. car will be going up on jack stands this weekend in prep for the clutch/flywheel swap as well as some other stuff. thanks for the input guys, I cant wait to drive it with a good clutch fianlly!

[BALLSS]

take care in keeping the shims (washers) in order on the floater plate stands. McLeod would ship the clutch assembled as they set stack height on their end using a combo of various thick shims. Just be careful not to lose or mix any up when you install the clutch

There should be install instructions included or you can download them from McLeod site. You can double check with a feeler gauge the distance between the bottom disc and floater plate once floater plate is tq to spec. as you disassemble you can check on bench before you take off the floater (after you remove the PP & top disc) to see what McLeod set up. FWIW I set mine at .022

[blackbirdws6]

Good info above. Also make sure you get the clutch alignment tool in there level before tightening everything down. Otherwise you will have a fun time getting the trans input shaft in.

I would recommend replacing the pilot bearing while you are there as well.

[BALLSS]

+1 on the pilot bearing. I use the 'loan-a-tool" #27128 at Autozone. to remove. plug & play

I assume the kit still comes with the 13/16 MC. Nice unit. I would bench bleed the new MC first, then install. You will still need to bleed the system more by pumping the slave and have someone watch for bubbles to clear from up top

Tip on 1st start-up. Given the McLeod MC (Wilwood) has an adjustable rod, if you have it out to far you can extend the clutch fork onto the PP with clutch pedal fully depressed. If this happened when you had the clutch pedal fully depressed and clutch fork was hung on the PP...and you start the car.....your starter & FW teeth would have an argument and one would lose. So before starting, push in clutch pedal while tranny is in gear and see if someone can spin the rear wheels with it still on jack stands. Slowly push in clutch pedal once you do start motor until fully depressed as if it does contact the PP you will certainly feel/hear it and can lift. You want the rear wheels not to spin with car running, clutch depressed & tranny in gear. If rear tires still spin, adjust MC rod 1 turn at a time (longer) until they don't.

[hokeplaya05]

thanks for the tips guys, I already have an alignment tool and was planning on getting a new pilot bearing so I should be good there. it looks like the kit does come with a new MC, which I didn't even notice until you said that lol. I already have a Tick adjustable MC in the car, should I swap it out or can I just reuse the tick? I installed the Tick MC a little over a year ago so it is still pretty fresh

[BALLSS]

if the Tick is a 13/16" bore, it should work. IDK what the Tick size is

The McLeod MC is a larger bore than the stock MC. The twin disc clutch for the LT1 needs more stroke/volume so the stock MC size won't work. You use a stock slave with it

[hokeplaya05]

I don't know, but would assume it is a bigger bore than stock. it doesn't say anything on their website so I will call Tick tomorrow to find out unless someone else knows

[blackbirdws6]

Be sure to reference the depth of the current pilot bearing so you can install the new one at the same depth. It's one of those things that can be easy to forget.

[BALLSS]

I would suspect it is stock bore size...

[hokeplaya05]

still haven't found an answer to bore size on the Tick MC so I will probably just swap in the McLeod MC and sell the Tick. so if anyone wants a low mile Tick adjustable MC it will be for sale soon lol

[sleepy_z]

Where did you end up buying the twin disc from?

[hokeplaya05]

where did you end up buying the twin disc from?
96lt1355z28

[hokeplaya05]

okay, just wanted to update this thread. I finally bit the bullet and went ahead with installing the street twin. its taken a couple weeks as I really only had a couple hours here and there to work on it but hoping to have the car back on all fours this afternoon and start getting some miles on it. only issue I ran into is McLeod sent me the wrong length braided hose from the master to the slave. the one they sent me was 24" long which barely reached the slave and couldn't thread on. I talked to Josh and he determined that the correct hose is supposed to be 30" hand had one sent out to me free of charge. so the new line is in, just need to bleed and put the exhaust back on and she should be good to go. I will update with how it drives once I get some miles on it.

big thanks to Josh ( 96LT1355Z28 ) for helping me out especially since I ordered the kit over a year ago and getting the new line to me quickly so i can finish this up.

I took pics along the way but not sure how to upload them with the whole photobucket crap that is going on, I'll figure it out

[96LT1355Z28]

Happy to help and glad your finally getting to work on it!

[hokeplaya05]

put almost 100 miles on the car today, just driving around running errands working on getting the clutch broken in. all is good so far, have a slight vibration at 70mph that wasn't there before but that could be unrelated. love the lightweight flywheel, throttle feels a little more snappy especially when rev-matching downshifts. I'm on vacation this week so goal is to drive it as much as possible to get miles on the clutch.

[BALLSS]

all is good so far, have a slight vibration at 70mph that wasn't there before but that could be unrelated. love the lightweight flywheel, .

your sig says "383" so I assume you have a neutral, aka "internal", balanced motor.

McLeod does show 2 Twin clutch kits. 1 for external and the other internal balanced motors. In reality they are the same kit just the FW does not come with the screw on weight....BUT it is the same FW as the external balanced kit....it has 4 taped/threaded holes that would hold on the weight PLUS 4 small bolts

on my steel FW this amounted to 25 grms....I suspect less on aluminum but still something....enough to possibly make a balance issue

Every high $ "neutral" FW I have bought I take to a machine shop to confirm "zero" balance. ALL were off

Given a clutch swap is not a 10 min job I found te $40 to confirm/balance the FW AND PP & floater to zero makes for a smooth motor after, IMHO

pics of my Twin steel FW and the small screws/washers I put in place = the 25 grams of missing material. Also IIRC SPEC sells a billet FW (for single disc clutch) for both neutral and rear balanced LT1 and in instructions it says "if motor is internal balance use 3 of the 4 screws that hold the weight on after removing the weight"

[hokeplaya05]

interesting, yeah my motor is internally balanced and the kit came with the weights. I almost installed the "chevy" weight but took a quick look at the build sheet for the long block and saw that it was internally balanced. I adjusted my pinon angle today and it got rid of most of the vibration, but there is definitely still a little vibration there. put another 100 miles on it today and all else seems good.

[BALLSS]

well you could just remove the dust cover and add 2 of the screws that did hold on weight you took off to see if that affects the vibe +/-

if you push in the clutch sustaining at the RPM the vibration happens and it is still there....its motor based. Could certainly be pinon angle to, especially at higher speed, or drive shaft balance, especially stock shaft running 3:73 , 4:10 and lower

usually a engine balance issue is all rpm

[hokeplaya05]

okay I will have to mess around with the screws in the flywheel to see if I can get it to go away. one thing I forgot to add is that when I did this I also upgraded to a poly trans mount so that would increase any vibration that may have been there before with the factory rubber mount. I have an ls aluminum drive shaft that I got off the other tech site so that could be it as well, put new u-joints in it as well. I have the stock steel shaft so I could swap it out an see if that makes any difference. vibration seems to start at 40ish and gets worse as I go faster so haven't really gone more than 80 accept for one blast last night after I hit 500 miles on my way home from work.

so yeah hit the 500 mile mark last night so I did a 3rd gear pull to 55mph (100:jest:) in mexico and all felt good besides the vibration. I cant wait to see how it does from a dig, but gotta be careful with 295 Nittos on the 10 bolt lol. should be able to put more miles on it this weekend as it is supposed to be rain free, and have a car show Sunday 2 hours away.