I'm approaching a clutch replacment time and it appears finding a US made clutch is,,, a stretch.

First, the patient is a 94 F150 4x4 with the M-5 trans. Truck has about 170,000 miles and generally reliable and a keeper. I will upgrade to 11-inch. just for grins and most likely will slap a rebuilt M-5 in at the same time.

I'm guessing Borg and Beck style pressure plates don't like the Hyd T.O. bearing, so I will suck it up and go with the Diaphram presssure plate.

I picked up a clutch kit from NAPA, the 11'' LUC kit. made in Mexico. Price was about $160 without the T.O. slave. The slave is $60-ish I think.

Is that the best choice for the job??

Thanks guys!

 

LUK is a good clutch kit but get a Ford slave cyl. You don`t want to be dropping the trans in a few months because of a leaking slave cyl.

 

Luk makes good clutches but as Lazy says do not skimp on the slave. Get one from Ford and from Ford only.

I'd hate to see someone rebuild their M5OD when they can swap in a ZF and do a real upgrade!

 

+1 on LUK clutches - love 'em.

 

centerforce makes some good stuff, but its pricey

1978-1996 Ford F150 Clutch Kit - Clutch - Centerforce 78-96 F150 Clutch Kit - 5285-03007258 - PartsGeek

the kit from napa is probably fine. most of the time these clutches fail because the trucks are geared too high, not because of poor clutch material. i have a C-tek slave cylinder in my truck. it hasnt failed me yet.

 

Or, they have an IDIOT working the pedal!!

I couldn't help myself, I just HAD to throw that in!!!

 

I used a Valeo 'Brute Force' clutch when I swapped in the 5.8 over the summer, it seems to work very well.

 

yeah, that can definitely make the problem worse! but lots of weight plus a 2.73 rear end is never a good combo.

 

Greetings all and thanks for stopping in.

I looked into Centerforce clutches when I did my Barracuda, and was assured CF was American made. low and behold, a cute made in Brazil sticker came with mine.

What the hell does some Brazillian know about 340 Mopars??? And if that P.O.S. comes apart, do I get a new pair if feet from Brazil??

Yeah, yeah, yeah,,,,, lol


I looked into the ZF swap, driveshafts are 3 inches off, shifter on both trans and transfer are 3 inches towards the firewall.

throw in a suprise or two that usually rear their ugly head on those "Easy Swaps" and I'll be drinking again befor the job got done. (Heavley)

Hopefully I'll be tired of the truck before I wear out another, tight n right M-5.

Seriously, a 4.9 engine in a F250 4x4 is a big deduct - according to "book values" - it might be cheaper to get a 3/4 ton truck wraped around that 3/4 ton tranny,

 

Actually, Brazil had quite a decent Mopar selection and were using 'real mopars' into the 80s.