Which Spec Clutch??

[M240Bravo]

What TOB and what bolts are you guys talking about for the flywheel?

 

[69gt4speed]

Thanks man!:beer:





What the bolts don't come with the new flywheel?

The torque to yield bolts mounting the flywheel to crankshaft. Most ppl reuse them w no issues. I used the spec tob but added some hi temp syn grease. All ok so far. The ford tob is what is recommended but lots of failures there also.

 

[SnakeBit]

The flywheel bolts are only $15 IIRC. Why cheap out and reuse bolts? If one fails, it will cost me $650 or more to replace it. Cheap insurance IMO. BTW, I also used new bolts on the clutch too. The only bolts reused were the bellhousing to tranny and bellhousing to block.

 

[Great8]

Spec 3+

Greater torque capacity and better pedal effort.

 

[129saleen]

Thanks a lot guys, looks like you all talked me into getting the Spec 3+ :dancenana:

 

[Corona-Extra]

spec 3+

 

[Kobra Khan]

I don't know what's wrong, but several who have installed it when they did their clutch reported it crapped out after a short while, so I just avoided it.

The LDC Freeplay is a spring and a bushing. It is installed on the transmission side between the boss which holds that end of the cable still on the transmission, and the clutch arm. As designed, Ford has the TOB lightly touching the pressure plate fingers all of the time. This makes the TOB turn all the time and makes it wear out prematurely. In addition, by it's constant turning, it can cause the TOB Retainer tube (tube the TOB slides back and forth on) to also fail prematurely. At 20K miles, my TOB tube broke and forced me to go into the transmission, so I replaced everything even though my stock clutch had a lot of life left.

The theory behind the Freeplay spring is to adjust your clutch so the TOB can be pulled slightly away from the P/P fingers. The spring will force that when the pedal has been let out. Without the spring, the TOB will be pushed towards the back of the car, but only until the P/P fingers have relaxed. This can still let the TOB drag on the fingers. But be aware that it was designed to work with an aftermarket quadrant and firewall adjuster. I cannot say that it will work with the oem Ford setup.

There has been a lot of discussion about the concept because Ford designed the setup to work with the TOB always against the P/P. However, there is a long history of TOB's going out well before the clutch does, and on the 03/04's, the TOB retainer tube also has a long history of failure. In my case, it broke off at the transmission side. This allowed the tube to rub against the input shaft, and if left alone, would wear groves in the input shaft. My symptom was a banging down at the transmission which changed with pressure on the clutch pedal. I went underneath and pulled the inspection cover at the clutch arm. It is only suppose to move towards the front and back of the car, but mine moved up and down as well. The banging was the clutch arm hitting the bottom edge of the opening at the transmission bellhousing. Given Ford's "self adjusting clutch" (not really an accurate description), the only way it could work is if the TOB was always touching the P/P. Once you switch to an aftermarked quad and FW adjuster, the LDC Freeplay spring makes sense. I adjust mine so that the TOB can be pulled away from the P/P enough so it stops spinning. Easy to see by looking through the inspection cover with a flashlight. Doing this will increase the life of the TOB and the retainer tube so they will last at least as long as the clutch does.

Sorry for the long post, but I'm an engineer, not a Republican Politician, so a simple answer just isn't in my DNA. :beer:

Excellent post. I wish they had come out with this spring when I was installing a new TOB every 6 months!