Clutch Question - Diesel Forum

insanity · 04-15-2007, 10:24 PM

I need an opinion. I am in the middle of my rebuild but need to decide what to do with the clutch. I have a mint dual mass flywheel which I can replace the junk one that was in my truck. Cost is $200. Or do I spring to extra $ and put in the Single mass. I am not familiar with either of these so what are the pros and cons?

cdnsarguy · 04-15-2007, 10:48 PM

If you have a good dual mass use it......cost is usually $1200.

DMWF is designed to save the trans and absorb the shock of the diesel engine.....Moving to a single mass may cause extra gear noise.... as it does not absorb the diesel shock.. How is the clutch plate.....

insanity · 04-15-2007, 11:31 PM

We had the DMFW balanced and machined but it was in really good shape before it was machined(not burned or warped) whereas the old one that was in the truck was overheated. We are still going to put in a new clutch.

If the Dual mass is going to work fine and save me a fair bit of $ then I will go with it. Everyone seems to do a single mass. Why is that?

cdnsarguy · 04-16-2007, 10:01 AM

Probably because their DMFW was either worn out or damaged.. Did you check the maximum rotational distance of the two parts ....with the springs.

LMJD · 04-16-2007, 11:04 AM

[ QUOTE ]
Everyone seems to do a single mass. Why is that?

[/ QUOTE ]
Probably because there's a difference between use and abuse. I do a LOT of towing plus use my truck as a daily driver, got 235,000 miles on my original T.O. brg. and complete clutch assembly. Works today like the day I bought my truck new. A few other guys have had the same experience.

insanity · 04-16-2007, 11:41 AM

Okay, so you all seem to think that the dmfw is fine as long as it dosent get abused. I've been driving 5spds all my life and have only had to replace one clutch. How do you prevent abuse? Or more importantly what wrecks it.

I don't wnat to regret after all this is done and have the tranny or clutch come apart while i'm towing in the USA.

insanity · 04-16-2007, 11:49 AM

Here's the truck

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...Picture006.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...Picture007.jpg
http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...Picture005.jpg

LMJD · 04-16-2007, 12:39 PM

Without trying to sound offensive, etc, the mentality of this forum has changed a lot since it first started. Used to be it was mostly all guys here who bought and used their diesel pickups for what they were designed for. Now there's a lot of the ever popular "how can I make my truck smoke more", "how can I make it turn 115mph in the 1/4 mile", "I buried it in a muddy pond up to the door handles, duh, why won't it run right now?"
That's what I meant by use or abuse. However you sound like a sensible guy so I'd do like you're considering, put a good dual mass in for the very good reasons posted above. Sometimes the factory boys have valid reasons for their product design and actually do know what they're doing.
On Edit: Looks like a nice clean truck, and I agree, I'm sure not into breakdowns towing 1000+miles from home either.

truckdrivindave · 04-16-2007, 08:13 PM

[ QUOTE ]
If you have a good dual mass use it......cost is usually $1200.

DMWF is designed to save the trans and absorb the shock of the diesel engine.....Moving to a single mass may cause extra gear noise.... as it does not absorb the diesel shock..

[/ QUOTE ]

This is whats confusing me. If the single mass cause extra gear noise and not save the trans then why use it? I thought about going for the single mass because it was cheaper but now I am wondering what would be good for the money............. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smokin.gif[/img]

insanity · 04-16-2007, 08:56 PM

Nothing offensive at all. I'm trying to get the best info so that I don't regret this. Considering everything I've heard I am also going to change out the slave cylinder. Apparently they can be problemmatic

insanity · 04-16-2007, 09:00 PM

i'm still a little unsure of what flywheel to use as well?

cdnsarguy · 04-17-2007, 12:08 AM

[ QUOTE ]
I have a mint dual mass flywheel which I can replace the junk one that was in my truck.

[/ QUOTE ]

What happened to this one...........or were you just talking clutch plate and cover assy.

insanity · 04-17-2007, 02:20 AM

nothing still have it. The problem is I got alot of people telling me to use a single mass. Buy the time I spend $200 for the flywheel. $80 for machining. Then buy the clutch assembly i'm nearly $800+/- I think. I can get a brand new smfw and clutch set for nearly the same money. Ther-in lies the problem long term reliablity is really important to me I don't want to go through having to take out the tranny later. But if the smfw is too hard on the tranny then I may have to rebuild the tranny any way. Although with only 200K on the truck I can't imagine that the tranny is junk. The previous owner changed the fluid every year.

truckdrivindave · 04-17-2007, 05:19 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you have a good dual mass use it......cost is usually $1200.

DMWF is designed to save the trans and absorb the shock of the diesel engine.....Moving to a single mass may cause extra gear noise.... as it does not absorb the diesel shock..

[/ QUOTE ]

This is whats confusing me. If the single mass cause extra gear noise and not save the trans then why use it? I thought about going for the single mass because it was cheaper but now I am wondering what would be good for the money............. [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smokin.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Well can anyone tell me the sensibility of the single mass clutch vs the dual mass???? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smokin.gif[/img]

LMJD · 04-17-2007, 12:12 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Although with only 200K on the truck I can't imagine that the tranny is junk. The previous owner changed the fluid every year.

[/ QUOTE ]
This should put your mind at ease (made me happy too). Years back when I was due for my first 5speed oil change I noted that most everything was coming out with synthetic oil in rear ends and translmissions. I dropped by a real high volume high quality transmission shop with a good rep and asked the owner if there's any reason I shouldn't switch to syn. He said use it by all means, and he added that he NEVER sees those ZF5 speeds in his shop. A few years later he made the same statement. Evidently they're pretty bullet proof. If you don't already know, they take automatic transmission fluid.

On Edit: I think we forgot to answer part of your original question. By the posts on the forum it appears most all of the guys switching to the single disc clutch assembly did so mainly because of cost difference.