i think i finally found out why my 97 is runing rough i think it is the dual mass flywheel and i was wondering how hard they are to replace

 

Not too hard. Can you do a clutch job? Once you have it all open, there it is.

 

If your DMF looks like this one it would be running rough or have a bad shake. I have a shop doing mine, just didn't feel up to the task, to old for that kind of job.

 

what do you guys think about a South Bend Dyna Max Clutch (Single Mass Flywheel Kit) are they good or not

 

check out valair

 

Most people on this site prefer Valair. I just got mine back from the shop today, no more engine shake, runs smooth like it should. There is a little more gear noise in the transmission, the clutch has a break in period of 200 miles (in town type driving) before towing. Maybe it will get a little quieter by then. The noise is common with the conversion.

 

The sound bend guys are not bad.

But Valair Is better.

If somebody I knew woudlnt' buy valair, I'd send them to south bend next.


Valair is 100% usa made to order (except bearings)
All parts are made here (except bearings) and they assemble your clutch as soon as you get off the phone making your order. Its not something sitting around on a shelf.

Call them up and talk to Dan or Gary. They are in Bowling Green KY this weekend, but will be back in monday.

 

Where the bearings are made could be a very important issue!!! (From my personal experience)

 

China actually makes good bearings. (bout the only thing)

There are NO good US manufacturers.

I asked about this when I ordered my clutch and talked with them about their choices and why.

Valair makes great quality products with the best materials they can get.

 

Not trying to be a jerque here, but these statements rankle me a bit and I am honestly not buying them at all.

If you consider the simple metallurgy with improper and contaminated mixes, it means Chinese manufacturing has a long way to go there. Follow with shoddy workmanship on top of the mixing and casting of metal components where corners and costs are cut at every step of the way add up to extremely inferior components. I've seen plenty of evidence that in every way is contrary to what you say.

As far as American bearing manufacturers; NTN, Timken, NSK (there are plenty more) are all no good?

I genuinely want to know if you can please validate your statements? Help me to understand what you know here.
.

 

You are 100% correct in what you said. I'd like to see how he backs this one up too..

 

NSK's are made in china. and Timkin is in europe.

What I'm trying to state here is the fact that Valair makes a quality product.

if they are using bearings made in china, there is a reason they are using them.

And the reason they gave me is that the bearings they are getting are better quality than the american version.

 

NSK Ltd. - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

I'll admit that Timkin was started here in the US though.
The bearings are made in europe. check the bearings next time you buy some for your truck.

I always run NSK or Timkin bearings.

The bearings for my handpiece are NSK's and they were 40 each. both say china on them.

 

Thanks for the reply. A couple of points:

1) The only reason Valair uses Chinese bearings are because they are cheaper. I would have a very difficult time hearing someone say, "That Chinese bearing is of better quality than that American (or Japanese/European) bearing." The Chinese have quality control problems that pervade every facet of the process. The steel produced by the Chinese is of inferior quality to the rest of the developed world. BTW, I believe Valair are using Chinese flywheels too, but that is immaterial I suppose. As long as returned products don't cut too far into the money saved on buying the cheaper bearings, they will continue to do it. It simply has to last just a bit longer than the warranty. I wonder who their supplier used to be. Maybe the American supplier bought overseas materials to make the bearings...

2) Most of the Chinese manufacturers do not understand completely what the application is of the part they build. They are building to a diagram and never get to study the end application in order to learn and innovate from the process. This will likely change, but today the meat of that means nobody knows how long the bearing will last.

3) There is a city in China called Wafangdian. There are over 700 bearing manufacturers there. Every range of bearing is produced. (The Chinese do business like this in that they set up a whole city to perform very specific tasks. IE - Sock City, or BedSheet Prefecture. I am being facetious, but you get the point.) Some of those companies even make counterfeit bearings to sell as OEM. Most, if not all of these companies have old machinery and crappy equipment being used to produce the bearings. This is another quality problem in addition to the sloppy workforce. It will take years to bring standards up to Western world levels.

4) Bearings are a critical component in high-speed or high-temp environments. A wheel barrow is one thing, but my engine is not a wheel barrow. If a bearing fails, I am stranded and maybe a long way from home. I am not taking any chances with that. My wheel barrow is probably okay with whatever I put in it.

My choice is still to use an American (or even Japanese/Western European) made bearings over the Chinese version. The Chinese will eventually get their $4!+ together, but that time has yet to come. We said the same things about the Japanese and their quality improved over the years. It really depends on many variables, so who knows when that will be. Right now I don't trust their quality, especially with regards to automotive products. I do trust most of the Western world for these things. The Germans have this $4!+ down pat. The Japanese have high grade steel too and great processes in place to produce high quality parts. The point that I would waiver on is that I think the American world is cloudier in spots, but much of this is caused by our business model of outsourcing processes/materials all along the way. That's a completely different rant. lol.

DS