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[mdavlee]

I pushed them in all the way and the one just stayed collapsed for a while. I got the truck from a dealer, so I’m wondering if they had these shocks laying around from another truck, or ? Because they look kinda rusty, too.

I’ve heard of them wearing out quick if they’re maxed out on big bumps. The rear ones shouldn’t be worn that bad at that mileage unless it’s towing heavy daily.

 

[cgraham1]

I’ve heard of them wearing out quick if they’re maxed out on big bumps. The rear ones shouldn’t be worn that bad at that mileage unless it’s towing heavy daily.

Well even if I tow heavy I have airbags now, so they will never be overworked like maybe they were before the airbags... I can already feel a big difference in ride, just from the little bit of in town driving I’ve done today. Gonna switch the front when I get time, and hopefully they are an improvement, as well.

There’s 3 versions of it through the years. The floater lugs were changed from original, then spring hub center in the disc plates themselves. The diaphragm pressure plate is way more daily driver friendly than the 4 lever. I broke a 3850 lb pressure plate lever after about 30k miles. He did warn me it wasn’t a street clutch but I don’t listen very good[emoji23]

My stock clutch slipped like a biatch the first time I put the Smarty on level 5, which I think is a 90 hp tune over stock. 6th gear and punch it and it would just spin.

I went with the 3250 w/ upgraded hydraulics and it was barely any different to drive than a stock clutch... slightly more gear noise, but switching the fluid to Royal Purple Synchromax quieted it down significantly. I put 20,000 miles on that clutch with the Smarty on level 5 and never had any issues.

 

[Steve]

Here you can see the center floating iron disc has plastic snubbers to isolate it from the flywheel. Those snubbers break apart and leaves the disc smacking the flywheel and unbalanced. I just replaced those 8000 miles ago and they broke out again. I dont see anything wrong with the clutch and yes, it was installed correctly with the paint marks all aligned.

 

[redline4]

Here you can see the center floating iron disc has plastic snubbers to isolate it from the flywheel. Those snubbers break apart and leaves the disc smacking the flywheel and unbalanced. I just replaced those 8000 miles ago and they broke out again. I dont see anything wrong with the clutch and yes, it was installed correctly with the paint marks all aligned.

View attachment 193046 View attachment 193047 View attachment 193048 View attachment 193051

Chebby Cruze has a similar setup and fails quit commonly too. Gives a nice rattle/clank noise on start-up and other various times. And the leak prone 1.4 turbo in those dont make the power of Cummins with 3 dead holes.

 

[cgraham1]

Here you can see the center floating iron disc has plastic snubbers to isolate it from the flywheel. Those snubbers break apart and leaves the disc smacking the flywheel and unbalanced. I just replaced those 8000 miles ago and they broke out again. I dont see anything wrong with the clutch and yes, it was installed correctly with the paint marks all aligned.

View attachment 193046 View attachment 193047 View attachment 193048 View attachment 193051

Pretty sure mine wasn’t like that.

 

[Steve]

Pretty sure mine wasn’t like that.

This is my only experience with a dual disc clutch. Just happened to be a poor one.

 

[cgraham1]

This is my only experience with a dual disc clutch. Just happened to be a poor one.

I looked it up and the current clutches look like the one you pulled out... like I said, I had 20,000 miles on mine and zero issues, and I hauled 24-25,000 lbs. on a fairly regular basis.

Maybe it was caused by operator error?

 

[Steve]

I looked it up and the current clutches look like the one you pulled out... like I said, I had 20,000 miles on mine and zero issues, and I hauled 24-25,000 lbs. on a fairly regular basis.

Maybe it was caused by operator error?

Maybe?

All i know is the lady is tickled pink with the way it now shifts with a single disc and solid flywheel.

 

[mdavlee]

Chebby Cruze has a similar setup and fails quit commonly too. Gives a nice rattle/clank noise on start-up and other various times. And the leak prone 1.4 turbo in those dont make the power of Cummins with 3 dead holes.

The old floater plate barely had 1/16” if I remember right. It’s been a couple years since I had one apart.

 

[mdavlee]

Well even if I tow heavy I have airbags now, so they will never be overworked like maybe they were before the airbags... I can already feel a big difference in ride, just from the little bit of in town driving I’ve done today. Gonna switch the front when I get time, and hopefully they are an improvement, as well.
My stock clutch slipped like a biatch the first time I put the Smarty on level 5, which I think is a 90 hp tune over stock. 6th gear and punch it and it would just spin.

I went with the 3250 w/ upgraded hydraulics and it was barely any different to drive than a stock clutch... slightly more gear noise, but switching the fluid to Royal Purple Synchromax quieted it down significantly. I put 20,000 miles on that clutch with the Smarty on level 5 and never had any issues.

I may take one on the rear loose and see if it still has good pressure. The noise never bothered me. I prefer a clutch to hold and not slip. The diaphragm 3600 clutch was my favorite to tow with. Backing a trailer with a single disc was a lot rougher on everything for the same HP rating clutch

 

[GCJenks204]

Those ecoboost 3.5 engines are no joke! They run real well.

No kidding, have one in my Explorer 60MPH becomes 85 in a hurry. Passing on a 2 line highway is fun, until I get smacked by the wife...

 

[mdavlee]

No kidding, have one in my Explorer 60MPH becomes 85 in a hurry. Passing on a 2 line highway is fun, until I get smacked by the wife...

They are pretty fast for the Displacement. Seems to be good engines for what they are.

 

[GCJenks204]

They are pretty fast for the Displacement. Seems to be good engines for what they are.

I don’t know how much towing I would want to do with it but as a people mover it is damn fun.

 

[Steve]

I don’t know how much towing I would want to do with it but as a people mover it is damn fun.

11k is what the ford man says!

I dont think the chassis is big enough for that kind of weight but when your company is in a dick swinging contest with a competitor truck, i guess id brag too!

 

[GCJenks204]

11k is what the ford man says!

I dont think the chassis is big enough for that kind of weight but when your company is in a dick swinging contest with a competitor truck, i guess id brag too!

We’ll see how I feel about it in a couple of weeks. Explorer rated for 5000lbs, will be pulling 4K with the truck loaded full of crap too.

 

[Redfin]

My buddy borrowed his pops 3.5 f150 and that engine laughed at a 16’ tandem loaded with 24” bucked rounds of oak.

Not sure if its tuned differently in the exploder but me thinks you wont be dissapointed.

 

[cgraham1]

Got some parts! Had powersteps on the ‘17 and really liked the look of them compared to the fixed steps on my truck. Not cheap, though!

 

[cgraham1]

Looks so much better!

Before...

After...

 

[cgraham1]

And got my front shocks on...

 

[Steve]

Looks so much better!

Before...View attachment 193853

After... View attachment 193855 View attachment 193854

Those look great!