Hey guys so I'm seriously thinking of doing the conversion from DMF to SMF.

Here's what I'm looking at

Performance Clutch - Ford PowerStroke

What do you think?

Thanks in advance guys

 

they look good, but I wouldn't pull the trigger until your clutch goes.
I did the Luke version that Napa sells, it's held up to all my towing so far, but the throw out bearing quit in a year and the pilot bearing is out now. so I wouldn't go that route.

 

DON'T just wait 'til "your clutch goes". You could have LOTS of clutch life left, and a flywheel about to grenade your tranny. Our ECLB '95 was this way; only 80K on the clock, clutch was fresh as a daisy, but you could rotate the flywheel several degrees from the inspection area. And the usual other symptoms; clunking on decel, clatter noise on engine shutdown. Shop tore it down, and the infernal little bits holding the two flywheel masses were ready to let go any day.

If your flywheel still feels tight (NO action when you try to rotate it from underneath), you're probably safe. But if you have any of the symptoms of the DM flywheel coming apart, start counting the days....

 

I would count the above as the clutch going, but thanks for clarifying, any funny noises form the bell housing are generally bad, other than the knocking sound the zfs make

 

Okay well Im having issues with high rpm and not getting anywhere. Yes I get some squeaking/rattling on shutoff. Clutch or flywheel? If I replace just the flywheel, can I do that with a SMF. I get what you're saying, so whats the route to go if it's only my flywheel that's bad.

Is there a way I can test the flywheel play without dropping the tranny?

Thanks

 

I need to do something because I'm having trouble making it up hills and use her pretty regular for hauling livestock and such..

Thanks again

 

Also could it be my master or slave Cylinder? Not sure how to tell EXACTLY whats wrong..

 

Mine recently started doing the high-rpm/clutch slipping thing too. So I went SMF with a LuK conversion kit off of Amazon.
What I found when I removed the transmission was that my rear main was leaking onto the flywheel, which eventually made the clutch slip. Reading up on it, most guys don't have a leaking rear main seal, it just looks like it, but in my case it was.
So I got to do that too.

If you replace the DMF with a SMF, you must also change the pressure plate and the clutch. A DMF has the springs in it for shock-load absorption, whereas the SMF kit has the springs in the clutch. Like on gassers.
You COULD replace just the DMF, but it'll cost more than an entire SMF conversion kit. And you won't get any more life out of the clutch, since it won't be new.

What route you "should" go is up to you. SMF is cheaper, easier to get parts for, has performance upgrades.
The only real downside is that some owners get a noise after installation, called "gear rollover" under low RPMs and low throttle situations. Some guys get it worse than others, mine personally isn't an issue at all and if you didn't know what it was, you wouldn't even know to ask about it.
It's caused by a harmonic resonance from truck to tranny. Some say it's bad for tranny, some say it's not. But most guys seem to go the SMF conversion route.
-Joshua

P.S. Take off your inspection plate at the bellhousing and try to move the flywheel back and forth. Might have to use a screwdriver or something to pry it but it should move. There is a spec on how far it can move before it needs to be rebuilt, but I don't know it(somewhere less than 3/4in, google it). If you have a slipping clutch, it doesn't really matter, haha

 

There is an overload clutch in the DMF. Its built into the center, and is supposed to slip if you're putting too much load through it, something about protecting the driveline or clutch?
Once it starts to slip, its pretty much toast. You'll be able to drive fine with low loads, or on the flat, but going up hill or heavy loads and it slips and you're SOL...

So basically the DMF is toast. Replace it with a SMF, you won't look back. I recommend the LUK kit. It works great and reduced the pedal effort by a HUGE amount.

 

Agreed! Can anyone explain to me WHY the pedal effort is so much lower? It didn't bother me to have a heavy-feeling clutch, but the new lighter-feeling one makes the clutch feel weaker to me. I'm hoping the grip pressure is enough for long-term. Thoughts?

 

There's no either/or. If you're having slip problems, it's probably the clutch, could be the flywheel, but in either case, the only practical option is to replace BOTH. Only proper way to take advantage of the effort of removing the tranny.

 

My thoughts exactly. So you guys do recomend the luk kit, I've always heard Valair was good quality and they have some HD upgrades. Is it just a matter of preferance?

I have a pretty stiff peddle right now and don't mind it at all, would kinda hate to see it loosen up lol

Thanks all

 

luk makes the napa kit I got and both bearings went out in 30,000 miles

 

When I originally bought the truck, the pedal was so stiff, I ended up with a sore knee if I was towing or in stop and go traffic. When I brought the truck in for inspection, the service guys would have trouble driving it into and out of the bay and stalled it at least once each time. I was able to loosen it up some when I swapped to a 4x4 tranny and changed out the DMF for a brand new one (Rock Auto clearance for like $80...) as the original had the internal clutch slipping like yours is doing. I also had found no lubrication on the quill so the throwout bearing was dragging some. It still sucked a lot to press on the clutch.

Fast forward a year and a half, the new DMF starts self destructing by dropping springs. I order a LUK kit on ebay for like $370ish. Put it in and WOW! feels like a normal clutch! My left leg is suddenly soo much happier.

Fast forward to this winter, I pick up a 93 extended cab with a ZF5 Owner says its got a south bend clutch, supposed to be upgraded or top of the line or something fancy. The pedal sucks *** and I proceed to stall it a couple times while pulling out of his driveway and loading onto my trailer. I've confirmed its a single mass flywheel through the inspection port, but will be replacing at least the clutch and pressure plate with a LUK at some point in the future.

My guess is there is a change in the pressure plate design, but I'd much rather have a clutch that feels like a normal car clutch, than something that feels like an overloaded leg press in the gym. Less chance of stalling out, my leg won't be ridiculously sore in stop and go traffic, less chance my leg gives out leading the clutch to suddenly engage and causing an accident. And thats my 2 cents on this topic.

 

Luk may not have made the bearings. Its also possible that they make all kinds of off-brand kits at a lesser quality than their name brand kits.

Also, pilot bearings for the ZF transmissions are known to be crappy and often fail which can cause damage to the input shaft. There are kevlar pilot bushings available just for this issue.

Honestly, I have no clue how good 'Luk' bearings are, but I know the SMF clutch kit I got was high quality and made me extremely happy with the reduced pedal feel. You can piece together SMF kits for cheaper than Luk wants to sell the kit. I lucked out and found a good price on ebay. Pilot and throwout bearings are cheap if you wanted to substitute another brand.
I also had no problems with the Luk clutch kit I put into my Ranger before I had my IDI.