LUK vs Southbend

GotWood

GotWood

Sayer of Fact
Joined
Jan 12, 2007
Location
Maiden, NC
Gotta get a clutch in the Super Duty before next weekend. Looking at the price of clutches, LUK I'd around $350 and the Southbend is $650. Truck is a 99 with 50hp toon. Do I really need to spend the extra $$$?
 
I was up against this decision about 6 yrs ago with my 01 Ram CTD when the stock clutch came apart. I discovered that LUK actually made the original factory clutch. My motor is stock, and the stock clutch made it over 200k miles, so I went with the LUK. I had read some complaints about some of the aftermarket high performance clutches being 'grabby' during initial engagement. Zero problems with the clutch or tranny over the past 6 yrs, so no regerts!
 
In my experience with high HP street cars (not trucks) the race type clutches are indeed grabby on the street. 50 tow tune, I’d skip the extra money.
 
I've installed a couple single disk from SBC, can't say they were very grabby, a dual disk is a different story. SBC makes several different models/materials, give then a call and talk to them. I will say this about them, if you ever have a problem with it , you want find better customer service anywhere.
 
I put the low-end SB clutch in our Dodge. The stock clutch was in fine shape, but the transmission was out and the OEM one had a lot of miles on it. Pedal was a lot stiffer with the SB, which was fine, but the big issue was it got hot, fast, often. I pulled it back out and put a Luk in its place. It still gets hot sometimes, but not like the SB. If you call SB and ask them about applications, they'll recommend a dual disk for towing. I couldn't see spending that kind of money when the OEM one was fine.
 
Valair makes nice clutches too. A dual disc with stock/organic friction material would probably be my choice, but that's just me.
 
Does Centerforce offer anything for the application? That's always been my go-to. Dual disc of course.
 
@GONOVRIT had an aftermarket in his truck a few years back and might have some good feedback.
 
I ran a South Bend in my 99 and loved it. Was the one thats organic on one side and something else on the other (rated at ~550hp). Pedal feel was about like stock and once it was bedded in she held everything that 7.3 had to offer.
 
Croatan_Kid said:
Valair makes nice clutches too. A dual disc with stock/organic friction material would probably be my choice, but that's just me.
Click to expand...
I believe that exact configuration is what I ran in my 5.9 CTD and I hated it. Pulled it and put in a single disc SB and sold the truck after owning it for 13yrs because I couldn’t get a good nv4500 that would hold up anymore. Truck wasn’t stock and it got driven like a sports car at times fwiw:D
 
GONOVRIT said:
I believe that exact configuration is what I ran in my 5.9 CTD and I hated it. Pulled it and put in a single disc SB and sold the truck after owning it for 13yrs because I couldn’t get a good nv4500 that would hold up anymore. Truck wasn’t stock and it got driven like a sports car at times fwiw:D
Click to expand...
I can tell you that whatever was in it when I used it was a complete pain in the ass to try to carefully back up a slight grade with a tongue light trailer, wheels turned, while trying not to spin the tires or slip the clutch or stall the truck :laughing:
 
I do that all the time, especially since the solid axle swap. 2 low in reverse is awesome!

Oh, guys, from what I've seen with my Valair and South Bend dealings, the only major differences between brands are the actual clutch dicsc and maybe a proprietary material that's used. I've seen Luk pressure plates on both brands and on the Spec clutch that's in my 99 Silverado...and even the stock one that I burned up a few years ago.
 
Back
Top