Ok, I just installed my Valair ceramic/kevlar SMF set up. I have read the posts about gear rollover. I still need reassurance from you manual guys with a SMF that what I have is normal so, here is what I get with my new clutch:

In nuetral, a constant growling sound. Once I push the clutch in it goes away. This must be gear rollover right?

When I lug around at 20mph in 3rd or 30mph in 4th the same type of sound is pronounced and their is a vibration I can feel in the floor board. When I speed up it goes away. If I shift down from 4th to 3rd sound and vibration go away.

At 60mph in 5th, smooth as butter. When I shut the truck off, smooth as butter.

Clutch is very grabby so it must be functioning correct.

If any of this sounds wrong or should be a concern please post back to me. I talked to Gary at Valair and he believes all is ok.

I only have 30 miles on the clutch but will have 300 by Saturday and don't want to drive it if something does not sound right to you guys.

 

I added a extra quart of sythenic ATF and mine is quiet 5 quarts total

 

I don't know anything about gear roll over, but I'm in the research process of getting a new clutch.

If you don't mind me asking, what did everything cost you?

 

Performance Clutch - Ford PowerStroke

 

ARG!!!!!!!

So..... just plain ceramic or ceramic AND kevlar?

 

I doubt I'll break 350hp for some time still so I got their organic w brass facings 350hp unit. Its real nice. grabby as hell in 1&R but nice otherwise

 

Gear rollover is what you hear at idle when you're in 1st and coasting along. Sounds like a mix of growling and marbles in a can.

How hard to you have to push the clutch before your noise goes away? Can you feather it a little down to the friction point or less and make the noise stop?

 

Chris, that is the noise but also with some vibration that was not there with the DMF. Clutch pedal is smooth. The friction point is different than it was so I am getting used to it. As far as feathering down to the point where the noise goes away I will try and get back to you. What you said about coasting in first also applies to third at low rpm and is very noticeable in 4th at low rpms. Once I speed up or down shift it is gone. I just drove 180 miles and at 60-65 it is smooth like it was before I started having problems with the DMF. I know to add a quart to the trans but will hold off on that until I get past break in. I have read and Gary at Valair confirmed that each truck will be different as far as the noise and feel. With the radio on it was not as noticable with the family in the truck so I am hoping I am just over sensative the change.

 

Like Buckhammer said with the link, ValAir is highly rated among most here on FTE and if you talk to them a little you may be able to get it a little cheaper than advertised.

The price between kevlar/ceramic and the next step down is pretty big but, what are you going to do with the truck? I did this whole job by myself and I can tell you do it once and with help!

 

It's not that hard to do alone and I heard from I believe rubberduck that an extra quart really helps

 

You can fix the 3rd & 4th issues by downshifting James

So far things are sounding normal. Just make sure you don't have something loose in there that gets quite when you just start applying pressure on the pedal.

 

LOL. You are right about the downshift! It is just such a change and not being a mechanic or doing this before I want to get some experienced feedback. thanks for the help.

arkredneck, how hard it is is relative to your experience and equipment. getting it apart was slow but easy overall. Balancing that 150lb trans on a standard 3.5 ton jack is something OSHA would not recommend I am sure. Friends with beer (after the job) are the way to go. Trans jack would be a plus also.

 

James, I'm pretty sure the sounds you are hearing is normal. Some trucks are just louder than others, and I don't have an answer why. I've had every clutch Valair offers and none of them made noise in my trucks. (Except the double disks, but those are supposed to be noisy) However, I had a ceramic single in my truck and it didn't make noise. I gave that clutch to Travis because I wanted to try a new double disk for Dan. When Travis installed it in his truck, it had gear rollover pretty bad. Anyway, in the end, the noises you are hearing are normal, but there really isn't a rhyme or reason as to which ones make noise.

 

I had to replace my DMF clutch last spring due to the bearings falling out of the flywheel, it caused some bad shaking at lower RPM's and smoothed out a little as rpm's increased. The shaking was wrongly diagnosed as a engine miss. I had the engine scanned and it showed up as not firing in #2 cylinder mechanic thought it was possibly a bad injector.
Here is a couple of pics of what the flywheel bearings looked like and the cause of the shaking due to a very out of balanced flywheel.
Pic #1

Pic #2


Pic #3
The disc did not show much surface wear but as you can see some damage on the outer edge.

 

I decided to send my injectors to Jim @ Rosewood Diesel and to upgrade to Stage 1's (Really just wanted a good excuse to justify Stage 1's) well it didn't solve my problem, when Jim flow tested the injectors he found one injector had a bad solenoid and replaced that one, that must have been the reason for the bad diagnosis when I had it scanned.
I did order a clutch from Valair and have experienced the dreaded Rollover that you all talk about. Ya, it was real noisy for a few hundred miles and now after about 2 thousand miles and adjusting shift points its gotten much better. I thought about changing fluid in the trans too but procrastinated long enough that it wasn't necessary, I may add another quart sometime though to see if I notice any more improvement.