My dual mass flywheel is coming apart. It has been spitting out pieces of spring for a couple weeks now... I was hoping it would just have one broken spring and the pieces would come out and I could get a little more time out of it, but its banging pretty loud an consistently now. Anyway my question, what are my options? The clutch lokks fairly new. (Ive had the truck less than a year.) I saw an article somewhere (OB?) about converting a dmf to a smf by removing the springs and bolting the 2 halves together, but I couldnt find the article by searching. I'd be up for buying a used dmf, but shipping would be high. I dont really want to spend the $ for the solid flywheel clutch kit.

 

I'm going through the same thing with my truck right now. It threw a spring back in late May or early April (started a thread on it then). I pulled that piece out and started looking at the options. Early June it threw another spring... Right about then another guy on here was looking for a solid flywheel kit and found a Luk kit on ebay for ~$340, I thought about it overnight, and even though I didn't really have the money, I snapped it up the second one on that listing while I could.

The bolt together option you're looking for is called the "Lucky Mod" if I remember correctly. It can be hard to find the actual thread/article though. There was one with pictures I remember reading a while back before I put in the DMF that self destructed (brand new Valeo DMF, lasted 2.5 years before self destructing )
One thing you definitely want if you're doing that mod, is a clutch that has a good spring pack to it, supposedly some are just rigid discs.

I can't remember exactly what I have, and it what shape its in, but I think I have 3 used DMF's The original on my truck which burnt out the overtorgue clutch, but otherwise was in good shape. The one on my spare engine, which I may have disassembled (?), and the ****ty one I just took off. If you want one to do a Lucky Mod, you can have it for cost of shipping.

I'll try to get some pictures up after I get the whole thing back together, but the DMF I just took out had 3 broken springs. Each spring has a plastic holder on each end, at least one was broken up for each spring, sometimes both. Anyways, its need the truck back together for tomorrow morning, so better get back to that. Its been so frigging hot this week, work on it has gone real slow.

 

That's kinda what I was thinking about just putting a solid flywheel with my clutch assy, as long as my disc has the cushion springs it should be ok. I'd still like the link to that article about making my dmf a smf. Anyone got that link?

 

Changing a DMF to a SMF The "Lucky Mod" By Jim Williams (Lucky Larue)

 

Hey man, I do have my old ZF5 flywheel/clutch assembly if you want them. They are in descent shape, except for the throwout bearing. It is a single mass, so it won't come apart on ya. I was going to sell it with the old tranny, but it's here if you want it. I hate those duel mass flywheels. They just don't hold up.

 

Thanks for the link!

 

I think I might try the mod on my DMF. If I run into a problem I may need exactly what you have... I'll PM you.

 

Well, I got it apart. Looks pretty rough. I do have the disk with the cushion springs and its fairly new so now I just need to decide if I'm feeling "lucky" enough to use my mangled up flywheel. Anyone know a source for just a solid flywheel, no clutch kit? I wouldn't mind hearing from someone who has done the lucky mod and put some miles on it..

 

Ford 7.3L Dual Mass Flywheel

you could call and ask them.any smart business online source would rather make a partial sale,than a no sale.

 

Found a solid flywheel at rock auto for $83+ shipping.

 

Thought I'd share how this all turned out. Got the flywheel from Rock auto no problem, but my old clutch was too small, and you need shorter blots to attach the flywheel to the crankshaft. I guess the DMF setup uses a 11" clutch and the SMF a 12". I had ordered in a complete kit from autozone in case this happened.($400 or so) The AZ flywheel was not as good quality as the Beck Arnley one I got from Rockauto. The steel was not as dense, you could see the "pores" from the casting process, and it was made in China. I went to press in the pilot bearing and one tap was all that was needed to seat it. I was going to peen the flywheel and locktite the pilot in but decided to just use the better one From RA. Got it all back together and it works ok so far.

I think I recall asking a while back why my clutch was so much harder to push than my dad's 95 PSD. With the 12" clutch the pedal effort is noticeably reduced. I may be able to hold it in at stoplights instead of putting it in nuetral.

 

Yeah that was what my clutch was like. Stock was really stiff. New LUK clutch and stock T19 SMF flywheel makes the clutch pedal much easier to push. Glad you got her figured out.

 

My 1990 came with a solid mass flywheel and an extra one at that.