Still new to the forum but it seems this forum gets the most action, so I was hoping to get as much feedback from real world experience as possible. I have a 97 F250 4x4 5 speed. Stock dual mass setup and its making noise and I'm starting to get a little nervous about it. Just replaced the clutch hydraulics last weekend and that got rid of the clutch engagement issue I had. Shifts better now too. Otherwise, I havent messed with anything transmission related.

My question comes from what would be the most ideal setup to run. My buddy on here who swapped the 7.3 into his 96 bronco (Bubba Jones) is running a LUK clutch and SMF. The noise generated from it is borderline unbearable. Many say it is gear rollover noise but he thinks it has to do with the up pipe or downpipe and the firewall area. I want to avoid the noise he has on his. I also want to retain how the clutch behaves. When I push my pedal in and release, it is basically a smooth transition without and popping into or out of place. His bronco, bas that popping movement that to me, makes it harder to shift well. He also replaced his hydraulics and it is now night and day difference when driving it, but it still has a a light popping into place and out. I am not a fan of that and every time I have driven manuals with clutches that way, it is harder to drive. I did read in a few spots that that is how the LUK clutch handles. If so, I think I settled whether or not I will go with a LUK clutch setup.

I have read almost entirely good things about LUK clutches, but a few about them not holding well, gear roll over noise, and that popping into and out of place when pressing or depressing the clutch pedal. Usually, people recommend south bend and say be done with it forever. I am hoping to be as close to the $500 mark or lower as possible. I have been reading about valair setups and they seem to also be highly recommended, but a little more than LUK clutches. If I go with Valair, can I get away with the stock replacement SMF set? I will occasionally tow, plan to go to stage 1 injectors in the next few months, and chip it. It has a 6" lift with 315/75/16 tires right now as well. Bubba is running 33" on a lift and stage 1 injectors and a chip with the LUK setup that says it is for stock horsepower and isnt having any issues with his so far. I don't drive like I stole it and I don't intend to race it or sled pull it. So I'm thinking the stock replacement will work for me.

What has been the experiences of members here with Valair and LUK clutches, and have you experienced the gear noise or that clutch pedal engagement/disengagement behavior I mentioned? Honestly, the way my clutch acts now, I don't mind it being harder to push in because when I depress the clutch, it is smooth and doesn't pop back at my foot at all like my buddy's bronco does.

If recommending valair, where would be a good place to buy? Price being the key aspect.

Thanks in advance for all the help!

 

I run a South Bend and am happy with it. My transmission needs syncros so I can't comment on shifting, but it isn't too noisy.

 

Probably unrelated, BUUUUT I have a LUK clutch in my Jetta TDI. Thing is all worked, injectors, turbo, blah blah blah and the LUK clutch has been holding up awesome for the past fifty thousand miles.

 

I did a smf and a stock LUK replacement at the same time, the clutch pedal feel is honda civic like and extreamly smooth throughout the entire throw. Tho 90% of the time I clutchless shift up through the gears. Gear rollover is noticeable but not anywhere near intrusive or annoying; you really only hear it when goin slow in the lower gears anyway.. I have 30k on the setup now and couldnt be happier. On occation I drive it like I stole it; never slipped and good positive engagement.
If I had to do it all again I put in a LUK.
That being said, you should look hard at where your approximate power levels will be with the stage 1s, tuning, and other mods. Also another minor consideration is if your a 410 or 355 truck. 3.55s w 35s and stage 1s would make me uneasy personally especially if you do an hpop as well at some point. Taller gears put more stress on the clutch as we all know, then add tires, mods etc... no bueno..
Anyway, thats my .02$
I'm sure the boys will point you in the right direction..

 

Corey, did you replace hydraulics when you did it or just the setup? I am doing he same next week and been debating whether to go with $275 LUK setup or $750 Southbend. I had a new LUK in my Dodge and it was the ****. It was smooth and held up through heavy towing with zero issues for 75k miles before I sold the truck.

 

Yeah I forgot to mention I have open 3.55s in the rear. I didn't personally want a huge lift, but for $4000 for this truck, I figured I couldn't pass it up. So I will just deal with what I have. I had an 01 24 valve that I never should have sold and it was an automatic so I never had to worry about heavy duty clutches before. My 88 camaro and 02 elantra are both manual and when I drive those now, I feel like I'm going to blow the clutch pedal through the floor.haha

I wouldn't be opposed to a LUK clutch at this time, but I'm just comparing my f250 to my buddies bronco as we both have 7.3's and ZF5's.he has a new SMF LUK setup and once we replaced the hydraulics it dramatically improved the shifting, but it isn't as nice as mine in my opinion. As soon as I start to let off the clutch pedal, it pulls. His, you have to come off the pedal noticeably more before it starts to pull. I can get used to it, but, j would rather mine feel how it does versus how his does. His ZF5 is from a 7.3 idi and not a powerstroke so I don't know if that really makes a difference too much. His LUK setup is handling stage 1 injectors and a custom tuned chip on a lift and bigger tires with 3.55s also so I don't feel worried about running a LUK setup based on that.

If I could find a valair single mass flywheel and clutch set for around $500 I would probably go with that, otherwise I might just go with the LUK. The dual mass is starting to get noisy and I'd like to get it done soon.

 

Listen tub, I think the difference in my clutch feel now is due to my clutch pedal housing. I'm not sure how (if any) different the F-150/Bronco clutch pedal assembly is compared to the F-250/350 powerstroke pedal but there may be some.

I remember the M5OD manual transmission behind my 302 felt very similar to what it is now with the new hydraulics and 7.3 (although it feels a little nicer actually NOW than it did with the 302).

So just to reassure what we talked about at work, I'd probably go ahead and order the LUK stuff because it's pretty good and a bit cheaper than pretty much anything out there. Your dual mass does seems to rattle a bit as well. I can hear it when you start the truck after work each day. I'm sure it's not about to explode now, but we better get around to replacing that soon.

 

Hey Byron, We did clutch,pressure plate, flywheel, throw-out bearing and I think that's about it. What do you mean by hydraulics, slave? I can pull out my list of what was installed...

 

Yeah just the slave and the master. The reason I ask is because I've heard this is what makes the difference on the smooth pedal feel. I'm getting ready to do mine next week and wondering if I need to replace those things. I am planning on it anyway because the original set up has 160,000 miles on it.

 

I'll check but I'm fairly sure the master/slave are still original; remember tho, when we did the clutch was when I got back from Az with the truck when I bought it. @ that point it had 69k on the clock..

 

IvyAsk Bubba Jones this. Me and him both just bought and installed the same pre bled master/slave setup last week and it made a difference for both of us. For me, it made it possible to use first gear and reverse, as it was pretty hard to go into those gears. It got a little easier to shift between the other gears as well. I think my throwout bearing is bad though because the PO drove on bad hydraulics for long enough. Also, when I pushed the clutch pedal all the way in, it didn't quite fully engage as the truck would shake very slightly as if I was coming off the pedal. Now, it no longer does that.

On Bubbas bronco, it was like a new vehicle. It went from being hard and not shifting correctly to being a breeze. It made a world of difference. If you are having problems shifting, and issues with engagement/disengagement, I would start with your clutch hydraulics. Very easy to swap out. I would recommend a pre bled setup as all you have to do with those is install them. Buying a master and slave separately will require bleeding. Master cylinders typically have to be bench bled and often times people don't bleed them well enough before installing them. That at least has been what I have read in other forums for other cars and have experienced myself. If you go on Rock Auto, they sell the pre bled setup for under $100.

 

Yeah, that's right. It's prolly fine then. Your pedal pressure pretty easy? I was going to go with a Southbend, but for the money, I am prolly going with LUK. I'll never make huge HP, so i should be fine.

 

I have been running a LUK for probably 150,000 miles. about 80% towing. the load in my signature is 27,000 lbs I haul that load from Grand Junction Co. to central AZ every year.

 

This is what I like to hear.

 

NO NEED at all to sped the BIG $$on a SB unless you have different injectors