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Determining Remaining Life Of Clutch


WV2008
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All,

I was underneath my 2008 doing some maintenance and decided to look into the hole at the bottom of the bell housing to see how things looked. I had a very good view of the clutch assembly and could see a profile of the pads on the clutch discs.

 

I was wondering how much life the disc pads had on them (car has 11k miles with no clutch issues at this point except for a high engagement point) so I tried a low tech measuring system. I attached a toothpick to a little extension tool I had and inserted the pointed end of the toothpick into the slot beside the disc pad and pushed it until it stopped as an attempt to measure the difference between the disc and the surface it mates agains. That caused the round toothpick to flatten (when it went in as far as it could) and I measured the toothpick where it flattened (after being pushed into the space beside the disc.

 

It measured about one half way between 1 and 2/16th of an inch.

 

My question is does anyone know how thick a stock 2008 clutch disc is so I can get an idea of where it stands wear-wise? Also, what is the minimum thickness for service life and where do you hit the rivet?

 

I learned that the mcleod discs are .140 think, but I am not sure what the original was.

 

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Dan

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Excellent idea with the toothpick! Though I wonder if the toothpick might "spring back" some after being removed?

So, you measured 3/32" if I understand you correctly?

 

Coincidentally, I had looked in there just a week ago and am wondering the same exact thing. Mine is a 2008 with almost 30K miles.

IIRC, mine was a little less than that. Possibly 1/16" or less, but I only eyeballed mine.

 

I hope someone can answer this question.

Edited by shaker281
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Excellent idea with the toothpick! Though I wonder if the toothpick might "spring back" some after being removed?

So, you measured 3/32" if I understand you correctly?

 

Coincidentally, I had looked in there just a week ago and am wondering the same exact thing. Mine is a 2008 with almost 30K miles.

IIRC, mine was a little less than that. Possibly 1/16" or less, but I only eyeballed mine.

 

I hope someone can answer this question.

Yes, I would say its about 3/32 " is what is left on mine. I look forward to responses as well...anyone have a spare stock clutch laying around they would measure for us :-)

Dan

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Just measureing the friction material doesn't tell you how much life you have left in the clutch. The friction material is held on with rivits and not knowing how much of the rivet sticks out its only a guess. You know you need a nsw clutch when they start to slip. They dont usuallu just stop working under normal conditions. Once it starts slipping you should replace the clutch. if you wait till the car will no longer move than you will have to replace the flywheel and the clutch assembly. Most times you can have the flywheel reserfaced.

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As a follow up I took a picture of the pad material remaining. It's hard to tell exactly how much is left but it still holds so I am not going to worry about it.

 

Dan

As a follow up I took a picture of the pad material remaining. It's hard to tell exactly how much is left but it still holds so I am not going to worry about it.

 

Dan

post-42093-0-73126400-1404602177_thumb.jpg

Edited by WV2008
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  • 2 months later...

Yes, I would say its about 3/32 " is what is left on mine. I look forward to responses as well...anyone have a spare stock clutch laying around they would measure for us :-)

Dan

Just for the sake of reference .140" (McLeod RXT?) is approximately 4.5/32". Since you are at approximately 3/32" that is not too bad.

Of course, assuming the stock oem and McLeod are reasonably similar. I am not certain that the pad material on these clutches is held on by rivets.

Pics of the McLeod, I have seen, reveal no rivets in the pad material.

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  • 2 weeks later...

All,

I was underneath my 2008 doing some maintenance and decided to look into the hole at the bottom of the bell housing to see how things looked. I had a very good view of the clutch assembly and could see a profile of the pads on the clutch discs.

 

I was wondering how much life the disc pads had on them (car has 11k miles with no clutch issues at this point except for a high engagement point) so I tried a low tech measuring system. I attached a toothpick to a little extension tool I had and inserted the pointed end of the toothpick into the slot beside the disc pad and pushed it until it stopped as an attempt to measure the difference between the disc and the surface it mates agains. That caused the round toothpick to flatten (when it went in as far as it could) and I measured the toothpick where it flattened (after being pushed into the space beside the disc.

 

It measured about one half way between 1 and 2/16th of an inch.

 

My question is does anyone know how thick a stock 2008 clutch disc is so I can get an idea of where it stands wear-wise? Also, what is the minimum thickness for service life and where do you hit the rivet?

 

I learned that the mcleod discs are .140 think, but I am not sure what the original was.

 

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Dan

 

I just replaced my clutch with a McLeod RXT. I took measurement of my old clutch for you which just started slipping 2 weeks ago. Both the flywheel and pressure had no warpage or burn mark but showed roughly 0.020" of wear. The clutch had roughly 0.050" left of material on each pad. My car has 23,000 miles. I recently installed Nitto 305-40-18 and a 2013 Shelby take off blower with a VMP tune. Coming back from the track I noticed that the clutch started slipping in third gear when I stomped on it.

 

The pedal feel of the RXT is very soft and it grabs a lot closer to the floor than my old clutch. Engagement is very smooth. Still doing break-in so no racing yet. I'll post pictures as soon as I can figure it out.

Edited by Shelby3
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All,

I was underneath my 2008 doing some maintenance and decided to look into the hole at the bottom of the bell housing to see how things looked. I had a very good view of the clutch assembly and could see a profile of the pads on the clutch discs.

 

I was wondering how much life the disc pads had on them (car has 11k miles with no clutch issues at this point except for a high engagement point) so I tried a low tech measuring system. I attached a toothpick to a little extension tool I had and inserted the pointed end of the toothpick into the slot beside the disc pad and pushed it until it stopped as an attempt to measure the difference between the disc and the surface it mates agains. That caused the round toothpick to flatten (when it went in as far as it could) and I measured the toothpick where it flattened (after being pushed into the space beside the disc.

 

It measured about one half way between 1 and 2/16th of an inch.

 

My question is does anyone know how thick a stock 2008 clutch disc is so I can get an idea of where it stands wear-wise? Also, what is the minimum thickness for service life and where do you hit the rivet?

 

I learned that the mcleod discs are .140 think, but I am not sure what the original was.

 

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Dan

 

I just replaced my clutch with a McLeod RXT. I took measurement of my old clutch for you which just started slipping 2 weeks ago. Both the flywheel and pressure had no warpage or burn mark but showed roughly 0.020" of wear. The clutch had roughly 0.050" left of material on each pad. My car has 23,000 miles. I recently installed Nitto 305-40-18 and a 2013 Shelby take off blower with a VMP tune. Coming back from the track I noticed that the clutch started slipping in third gear when I stomped on it.

 

The pedal feel of the RXT is very soft and it grabs a lot closer to the floor than my old clutch. Engagement is very smooth. Still doing break-in so no racing yet. I'll post pictures as soon as I can figure it out.

 

 

Side View

Pressure Plate

Flywheel

Stock 2007 GT500 Clutch

 

 

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All,

I was underneath my 2008 doing some maintenance and decided to look into the hole at the bottom of the bell housing to see how things looked. I had a very good view of the clutch assembly and could see a profile of the pads on the clutch discs.

 

I was wondering how much life the disc pads had on them (car has 11k miles with no clutch issues at this point except for a high engagement point) so I tried a low tech measuring system. I attached a toothpick to a little extension tool I had and inserted the pointed end of the toothpick into the slot beside the disc pad and pushed it until it stopped as an attempt to measure the difference between the disc and the surface it mates agains. That caused the round toothpick to flatten (when it went in as far as it could) and I measured the toothpick where it flattened (after being pushed into the space beside the disc.

 

It measured about one half way between 1 and 2/16th of an inch.

 

My question is does anyone know how thick a stock 2008 clutch disc is so I can get an idea of where it stands wear-wise? Also, what is the minimum thickness for service life and where do you hit the rivet?

 

I learned that the mcleod discs are .140 think, but I am not sure what the original was.

 

Can anyone help?

Thanks,

Dan

 

I just replaced my clutch with a McLeod RXT. I took measurement of my old clutch for you which just started slipping 2 weeks ago. Both the flywheel and pressure had no warpage or burn mark but showed roughly 0.020" of wear. The clutch had roughly 0.050" left of material on each pad. My car has 23,000 miles. I recently installed Nitto 305-40-18 and a 2013 Shelby take off blower with a VMP tune. Coming back from the track I noticed that the clutch started slipping in third gear when I stomped on it.

 

The pedal feel of the RXT is very soft and it grabs a lot closer to the floor than my old clutch. Engagement is very smooth. Still doing break-in so no racing yet. I'll post pictures as soon as I can figure it out.

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for doing that, I really appreciate it. Would you mind e-mailing me the first pictures (the side view)?

Dan

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