how good is the stock clutch?
- Thread starter eliaseje
- Start date
stangbear427
Active Member
No, it won't even hold up to the HP/TQ that came in the car stock if you race it at all. POS. Just like the stock tranny, and the stock shifter: underbuilt. Cutting corners is how Ford kept the poneycar so cheap until the late '90's. It's all about bang for the buck (Fords buck)- quality is priority #2. Use it till it starts slipping- and upgrade. For the same $ as a stock replacement you can get a SPEC that will handle 400.
I've seen stock replacements sell for around $100, never seen SPEC clutches sell that cheap 
. My car's got over 132,000mi. and from my knowledge the clutch hasn't been replaced. It still grabs good and performs fine. Although my car is stock and whatnot, but I've thrown some abuse at it for the past year and a half. But if you plan on goin 12's I guess you can't go wrong with SPEC clutches.
. My car's got over 132,000mi. and from my knowledge the clutch hasn't been replaced. It still grabs good and performs fine. Although my car is stock and whatnot, but I've thrown some abuse at it for the past year and a half. But if you plan on goin 12's I guess you can't go wrong with SPEC clutches.
89MustangGX
I have nothing productive to add!
I've seen stock clutches hold up to quite a bit. Personally, I've run stock, King Cobra, and FMS Heavy duty and they all hold up well...I probably wouldn't change the clutch unless you had a reason to, or you knew it had alot of miles and you were going in there anyway.
stangbear427
Active Member
I think you all may have missed the operative words in my post- "if you race it at all". My car with just minor bolt ons had the stock clutch slipping in the last three gears. When I replaced it, I went with the King Cobra- which was good for the first year and then went to hell fast. Way, WAY overpriced. Stiff was only the beginning of the problems I had with it. I drove over 100,000 miles on the stock clutch in my '84 GT, bone stock motor. They aren't bad clutches- if you never, ever beet on them.
I would have to say dont get a clutch that cant handle a POS '84. Why not get a CenterForce DF. They are awesome, and will take any abuse you can throw at it. Plus they have weighs on the pressure plate that help deal with the clutch pedal. My clutch feels as soft as a stock clutch yet it handles 450-500 horses. Great clutch and a good price. I dont know about other clutches, but you can rebuild the Centerforce pressure plates too. I'm running a Supercharged stroker and it takes it just fine.
stangbear427
Active Member
No, my '84 (which I loved) is the one that went over 100k with the stock clutch. When it started slipping, I put in the BargWarner/Ford stock replacement and it held up fine until the day I sold it, which I have regretted ever since. I'm sure any aftermarket clutch would do in a stock 175HP 20year old GT that was pretty much pampered. Call it a POS if you want, 1984 T-top GT's are my favorite of the Foureyes, and for it's time was a great car. It was light, fast and fun and I miss it. (tear)
The one that chews up and spits out clutches is the '91 GT I replaced it with, which is the one that gets pounded with holeshots every time I drive it. Oh, did I mention I grenaded a Centerforce dual friction clutch too? That was with minor bolt ons as well. And not just me, my tech blew up three of them in a row in his truck. The only good thing we have to say about them at the shop is they sent us new ones free as fast as we could grenade them, but it's like shopping for starters at AutoZoo: how many times should you have to change it? Centerforce is now on our "We no longer install..." list on the wall. Better than stock, but definately not all they are cracked up to be.
The one that chews up and spits out clutches is the '91 GT I replaced it with, which is the one that gets pounded with holeshots every time I drive it. Oh, did I mention I grenaded a Centerforce dual friction clutch too? That was with minor bolt ons as well. And not just me, my tech blew up three of them in a row in his truck. The only good thing we have to say about them at the shop is they sent us new ones free as fast as we could grenade them, but it's like shopping for starters at AutoZoo: how many times should you have to change it? Centerforce is now on our "We no longer install..." list on the wall. Better than stock, but definately not all they are cracked up to be.
I think I'm going to stop recommending parts because it seems everybody has something bad to say about it. Sorry about your experience but at least the customer service took care of you. Maybe I'll post about using Holleys, M/T's, and TrickFlow heads because then everybody will say how sucky they are. I've never had problems with any of the parts I've installed except the obvious stuff like Kragen alternators and starters. I've run CenterForce DFs in 2 of my cars now and they were the only clutches that would hold the power, and even better was the soft pedal cause I dont have huge thighs.
stangbear427
Active Member
Sorry dude, nothing personnal. Definately don't stop recommending stuff- no matter how great something is there will always be someone who got a freak bad one, installed it wrong and it didn't work right, or just plain maxed it out and blew it up. On the other hand, this is also how we all find this stuff out. I'm not here just to be argumentative, although looking at my post history it probably seems like it; but I'm not afraid to have the dissenting opinion when a part disappointed me either. I've found myself defending products other people trash on frequently too, it's all part of the stangnet knowledge base. I like stangs, you like stangs, we like them fast, if we met in a parking lot with our rides we'd probably get along great. I hate Centerforce, it isn't a reflection on you. If they work for you, that's great. My experience has been that they tend to be an (overly) expensive clutch- maybe I just didn't shop around enough?- but for way less money I could get a Star Performance Engineered Clutch that is better, IMO. Soft and smooth enough for my wife to drive it in traffic all day, and sticky enough to grab like crazy and snap all 300 of my ponies to the ground like a thoroughbred racer. Now, I'm not the only one on here who'se had bad stuff to say about Centerforce, but how many times have you ever heard anything negative about SPEC? That's the punchline, and this is where we find the balance behind the BS propaganda we're supposed to believe in the advertisements- and get opinions we maybe didn't ask for, or viewpoints we wouldn't have considered otherwise. It's all good, don't let me frustrate you. We need everybody in here. 
axeman
Founding Member
that's funny, i bought a stock replacement from D&D Motorsports a year or two ago and have yet to have a problem with it (knock on wood). i lauch anywhere from 4500-5500 rpms with ET Streets at the track too. no disappointments here and i probably have ~80 passes on it. now, i don't recommend a stock clutch if you're going to beat on it like that. i would probably recommend you get a SPEC clutch. you can get ahold of a guy on here that goes by Perky's Stang. he'll know what would be best for you. he is a moderator on here so if you PM him i'm sure he'll see it because he is a moderator on stangnet.
stangbear427
Active Member
Who does D&D carry for stock replacements? Ram makes a "stock replacement" clutch for about $150 and it's far superior to the BW that Ford put in most of them. D&D also sells their own line of the Motorsport King Cobra that is one of their most popular sellers. Go figure!axeman said:
axeman
Founding Member
you know what, i can't even remember. i thought it was a Borg Warner. D&D sells them for $99 though. that's what i could afford at the time so that's what i bought. i know i'm probably on borrowed time, but it's doing the job, for now anyway.
stangbear427
Active Member
You treat that clutch like that and it's still going after two years?! :worship:
thegabrielles
Member
Can a stock clutch hold a 12 second car YES IT CAN!!! It does in my 82, I replaced a blown c enterforce at a FFW in the pits, had to drive the car home with all I could find. A factory stock clutch. That clutch is still in the car. I know it wont hold up to a bunch of hard launches but I ran several low 12 sec pass in a 3650lb car. My 90 has the King Cobra and the pedal feel is actually lighter than the Stoick clutch I replaced. I would highly recommend upgrading the stock clutch if it needs replaced, let it "GO OR BLOW". Also if you are planning on slicks forget what I said and upgrade now, it is definitley not strong enough to hold to many hard launches.
axeman
Founding Member
yes i treat the stock clutch like that, if it's going to take it, i'm going to give it. now watch, when i go to the track in the spring it will end up failing me. maybe i shouldn't be talking about this, i'll end up jinxing myself. 
thegabrielles
Member
Don't Jinx yourself.... Just drive it like its the stock clutch and it will be ok. No 3500rpm drops and NO Power shifts. T-5 dont like that either. Remember at the dragstrip, consistancy wins races not ET. I made 7 passes in a row at the track one day that were withion a tenth of each other and had great reaction times as well, I still got beat by somebody driving a Pinto station wagon that ran a 20sec 1/4 mile time. I gave him almost 7 second head start ran within a tenth of my dial in and got beat!!! No wheel spin and consistancy!! I found it better at the track to launch just above idle, about 1500 and feather the gas in, that kept my 60ft consistant, not fast but consistant.
well my stock clutch worked great for all the bolt ons, went great for 8,000mi, but when I did H/I/C my new stock replacement clutch started slipping at about 8,000 mi after the H/I/C. BTW the clutch now has about 24,000 mi and will be replaced next week. It drives great on the street but slips bad on shifts, so it didnt hold up for long for me.
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