[axeussevn]

Hey guys,

Been a while since I have posted. My car is currently at the shop, time for the factory clutch to be replaced.

I went with a Spec 2, from what I hear they are all a hit and miss so I decided to take my chances with it. I've heard good and bad stories.

Finally,

I have the factory stock adjuster installed and I'm worried it may not be strong enough to handle the Spec 2.

The guys at the Shop recommended staying with the factory adjuster until it breaks because "some people change it out and it never works right, the factory adjuster just works great".

Mine hasn't given any indications that it's going to go soon, but I don't need to take chances. I have a 1,200 mile road trip as soon as I break the clutch in.


The shop recommended (if i wanted to change the adjuster) to go with the factory cable, a new firewall adjuster and quadrant.


What are your opinions?

The car has 85,000 miles on it.

[glittle75]

always go with a factory cable, the aftermarket ones are way to prone to breaking. i have a UPR firewall adjuster and triple hook quadrant and it works great. couldnt be happier with it.

[axeussevn]

Originally Posted by glittle75 always go with a factory cable, the aftermarket ones are way to prone to breaking. i have a UPR firewall adjuster and triple hook quadrant and it works great. couldnt be happier with it.

That's what they were recommending. The triple-hook quadrant and a firewall adjuster.

Is it more trouble to deal with than the factory auto-adjuster? How often do you actually have to play with it? Any clutch chatter?

[jerryk85]

You could probably stick with the stock quadrant. There really isn't a need to swap out your quadrant unless you're having issues with the stock one. I'm running a spec stage 3 and it isn't really that much stiffer than stock. I can't see your spec stage 2 breaking the stock quadrant. I actually prefer the stock setup verse any aftermarket setup. It's proven, It's quiet, and it's fixes it's self. What more could you ask for?


If you really want to swap your quadrant out I would suggest the following:
1) only use a high quality OEM/Maximum motor sports (non-adjustable) or Ford racing cable (adjustable). Everything else is junk, Don't even waste your time.

2) Buy a good quality quadrant. I started off with UPR then I tried BBK and now I setttled on Maximum Motorsports. The UPR rattled and made a ton of sound and the BBK quadrant was too aggressive for the street. THe Maximum Motorsports version is just right. It's smooth, quiet and has good action. I'm very pleased.

3) buy a click type fire wall adjuster (steeda, fiore ect..) these seem to hold their adjustments well. My first firewall adjuster was a simple twist type that needed you to lock it down with an allen wrench and it kept losing it's placement over the course of a few weeks.


I have to stress, I really liked the stock set up. Each time I swapped out my clutch cables & quadrants it was done in order to get me closer to the way my cable felt when stock.

[axeussevn]

Originally Posted by jerryk85 You could probably stick with the stock quadrant. There really isn't a need to swap out your quadrant unless you're having issues with the stock one. I'm running a spec stage 3 and it isn't really that much stiffer than stock. I can't see your spec stage 2 breaking the stock quadrant. I actually prefer the stock setup verse any aftermarket setup. It's proven, It's quiet, and it's fixes it's self. What more could you ask for? If you really want to swap your quadrant out I would suggest the following: 1) only use a high quality OEM/Maximum motor sports (non-adjustable) or Ford racing cable (adjustable). Everything else is junk, Don't even waste your time. 2) Buy a good quality quadrant. I started off with UPR then I tried BBK and now I setttled on Maximum Motorsports. The UPR rattled and made a ton of sound and the BBK quadrant was too aggressive for the street. THe Maximum Motorsports version is just right. It's smooth, quiet and has good action. I'm very pleased. 3) buy a click type fire wall adjuster (steeda, fiore ect..) these seem to hold their adjustments well. My first firewall adjuster was a simple twist type that needed you to lock it down with an allen wrench and it kept losing it's placement over the course of a few weeks. I have to stress, I really liked the stock set up. Each time I swapped out my clutch cables & quadrants it was done in order to get me closer to the way my cable felt when stock.

I agree.

I guess what I'm afraid of is the adjuster breaking. Dallas is not a friendly town to break down in. The aftermarket (adjuster) stuff just seems like it would never break.

[jerryk85]

BTW spec clutches are a weird beast. You will hate it for the first few weeks but when it breaks in, you'll love it. The first few weeks are pretty harsh. Mine would chatter at low speeds and make all sorts of sounds. When I would go into reverse, my whole car would shake violently and the trans kept making cracking sounds. Downshifting and engine breaking was almost impossible because of the amount of grip the clutch had. it was like slamming the breaks everytime I would go down a gear.

After about 1,000 miles the clutch started to behave. the thing is smooth and engages gears nicely. It grips forcefully but it's not as extreme as it once was. It's made me a better driver because it really accentuates any errors I make as a driver. I could see why some people hate them. These clutches are brash, unforgiving and raw but I love them!

[jerryk85]

Reach up your dashboard and grab onto the stock quadrant. It's not as flimsy as poeple make it seem. It's really hard and doesn't have as much give as you would think. You hear more people snapping cables while using aftermarket quadrants than you hear about people breaking thier plastic factory quadrant.

[axeussevn]

Got my car back.

I ended up going with:

• FRPP Throw Out Bearing
• FRPP Roller Pilot Bearing
• 3 hook Quadrant
• OEM Non-Adjustable Clutch Cable
• Screw Type Firewall Adjuster
• Spec Stage 2 Clutch
• Spec Steel Flywheel

There's no chatter, clutch pedal play is perfect. I am extremely satisfied with the results so far. I'll update this post when I get it broke in to let you guys know how it went.

[axeussevn]

100 miles in so far.

The tiniest bit of chatter that it had has all but gone away.

The only negative thing I've got to say so far is there's something up with the throw out bearing retainer or my clutch cable. It was doing this before I had this work done so it's nothing to do with the SPEC stuff, it's great so far!

If I adjust the clutch cable tension out to where the pedal is firm and is not mushy, I get that pilot bearing bird chirp type sound around 1,100-1,400rpm's.

Now, if I put slack in the cable by adjusting the firewall adjuster inwards, the squeak goes away. It seems to be squeaking only when the pedal is slightly depressed or the tension is taken out of the clutch cable.

It shouldn't be the pilot bearing for this reason, also the pilot bearing is a new FRPP roller bearing.


I'm guessing it's the TOB retainer, or something similar.

(Lastly, I'm running the stock TOB retainer because the mechanic said I would have to replace the bell housing in order to replace the retainer.)

[axeussevn]

Ordered this: LDC Chicago Clutch Freeplay Correction Kit [LDC-FREEPLAY] : Lethal Performance, Performance parts for Ford Mustangs

Hoping it's gonna correct the cable-slack/squeaking clutch fork/TOB issue.

Will keep you posted.

[sikedsyko]

I have the Maximum Motorsport quadrant, their firewall adjuster, and the Ford OEM cable. This set-up feels really tight for my Ram HDX. I like it way better than stock.

[axeussevn]

Originally Posted by sikedsyko I have the Maximum Motorsport quadrant, their firewall adjuster, and the Ford OEM cable. This set-up feels really tight for my Ram HDX. I like it way better than stock.

Cool. That's basically the route I went, OEM Cable, Firewall Adjuster, and Quadrant.

My deal is, I can tighten mine up and it works great! But I have some sort of clutch fork / TOB retainer squeak when there is a certain amount of tension on the cable. I think the spring will correct it then I can tighten it back up. Right now I just have the cable pretty much de-tensioned at the firewall adjuster. So no squeak, but floppy clutch pedal. Clutch engages at ~half-pedal.

200 miles on the clutch now, still working great!

[axeussevn]

Originally Posted by axeussevn Cool. That's basically the route I went, OEM Cable, Firewall Adjuster, and Quadrant. My deal is, I can tighten mine up and it works great! But I have some sort of clutch fork / TOB retainer squeak when there is a certain amount of tension on the cable. I think the spring will correct it then I can tighten it back up. Right now I just have the cable pretty much de-tensioned at the firewall adjuster. So no squeak, but floppy clutch pedal. Clutch engages at ~half-pedal. 200 miles on the clutch now, still working great!

Last update.

Clutch Freeplay Correction Kit came in, installed it. It did the trick. The clutch pedal feels and operates like it did with the factory setup minus the squeaky clutch fork. The clutch has about 600 city/traffic jam driven miles on it now and has seated well. No chatter. This is the perfect setup.

Here's a summary of everything for future reference:

• Spec Stage 2 Clutch Kit
• Spec Steel Flywheel
• What I believe to be a UPR Triple Hook Quadrant
• What I believe to be a UPR single lock firewall adjuster.
• Left OEM Cable Intact
• Ford Racing Throw Out Bearing
• Ford Racing Roller Pilot Bearing
• Replaced Clutch fork Pivot Ball
• LDC Chicago Clutch Freeplay Correction Kit

And with the Freeplay correction kit, the spring puts just enough back-tension on the cable where I don't even need to lock the firewall adjuster in place. It simply stays put.

[zstout]

my buddy put a spec stage 3 on his stock quadrant, although he changed his stock cable with a steeda one with no firewall adjuster and his has been going just fine for a little over a year? idk if that helps any haha but yeah