Worst clutch I have ever seen when replacing myself

drkelly

drkelly

Dipstick who put two vehicles on jack stands
Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Oak Ridge/Stokesdale, NC
First I would like to thank Transman731 on this board for his advice. A couple of months ago my 01 Ram CTD with the NV4500 transmission had suddenly become VERY difficult to shift gears. It would get stuck in gear and not come out. I was worried that the transmission was going bad. I had a few pm's with Transman731 and he said it was most likely the pilot bearing or clutch. Fast forward to yesterday when I finally got around to replacing the clutch. I have probably replaced 10 clutches in my life, and I have never seen a pressure plate in pieces like this. The pilot bearing was gone except for the outer shell of the bearing. Pilot bearing puller wouldn't get it out so I had to remove the flywheel and press it out. The transmission shifts like a new truck now. I would also like to thank Transman731 for his recommendation on a replacement clutch.

Clutch.jpg


Pilot bearing.jpg
 
drkelly said:
I would also like to thank Transman731 for his recommendation on a replacement clutch.
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OEM Dodge all the way.

Did the input shaft get boogered? The pilot bearing on mine went bad and took out the input shaft.
 
shawn said:
OEM Dodge all the way.

Did the input shaft get boogered? The pilot bearing on mine went bad and took out the input shaft.
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I did go with a stock Luk replacement. I got it from Rockauto.

The input shaft did show a little wear, but not too bad so I put it back together. I slid the pilot bearing on the input shaft before installing it to see how it felt, and it seemed OK. I'm obviously not an expert though. The ability to shift the transmission went down hill fast so I'm guessing I didn't put many miles on it after the pilot bearing fell apart. The truck sat in my driveway for the past two months until I finally got around to fixing it yesterday.
 
how many miles ? My 01' has 245k on the stock clutch.I keep waiting for it to crap out, can't believe it hasn't yet. Mine is a 6spd.
 
BIGWOODY said:
how many miles ? My 01' has 245k on the stock clutch.I keep waiting for it to crap out, can't believe it hasn't yet. Mine is a 6spd.
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230,000 miles

It was not slipping. Just got very difficult to shift very suddenly.
 
I'd at least go with a slight upgrade from the stock stuff. I noticed the first Valair 13" clutch I had uses a sealed roller bearing that's about 1.5" diameter instead of those little needle bearings for the pilots. If nothing else, the pilot bearings last way longer and pilot bearings are the reasons I've had to go in to the last 3 clutches I've done.
 
image.jpg This created quite a headache when it happened! ....and made my pockets much lighter
 
Croatan_Kid said:
I'd at least go with a slight upgrade from the stock stuff. I noticed the first Valair 13" clutch I had uses a sealed roller bearing that's about 1.5" diameter instead of those little needle bearings for the pilots. If nothing else, the pilot bearings last way longer and pilot bearings are the reasons I've had to go in to the last 3 clutches I've done.
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Must come with a custom flywheel for the larger diameter pilot bearing?
 
Croatan_Kid said:
I'd at least go with a slight upgrade from the stock stuff.
Click to expand...

The motor is stock and that won't change for the remaining 1-2 years that I probably own the truck, so I went with a stock clutch. The original stock clutch lasted 230,000 miles. I will probably only put 4k-8k miles on this truck over the next 1-2 years before selling/trading it in on a newer truck. I only drive it about once a week at the most. It is my tow rig/home landscaping truck.
 
I remember reading somewhere recently, a discussion on pilot bearings. Apparently the orientation is important to the part's longevity. Never knew this and figured it may be helpful to pass on...
 
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