hey i recently purchased a 1996 SE 5spd and my clutch needs to be replaced. While i'm down there replacing the whole 9yrds i'm going to re place my fly wheel as well. I have looked at a few clutches and fly wheels but i am VERY open to any suggestions on a clutch and fly wheel upgrade. I dont have loads of money but i want to get something that'll lighten up my flywheel and most likely a stage one clutch! thanx!

 

i dont know anything about flywheels, but if you want a good clutch that will last long and is cheap, go with a 5th gen OEM clutch assembly. if you are N/A you have absolutely no need for a stage 1 clutch. an OEM replacement will last longer and give more than enough gripping force for what you need. the disc and preassure plate from a 5th gen will fit on a 4th gen and offer more gripping force than the 4th gen assembly. i am running this setup on my car and love it. the parts will cost you about $190-200.


edit: (someone corect me if i am wrong here) i have heard that having a light weight flywheel and a strong stage 1 or 2 clutch is not a good idea because the higher clamping force of an aftermarket clutch can tear up the lightened flywheel. again, im not sure if this is true, just heared it before.

 

so i can just go to my local nissan dealer and ask them to install a 5th gen clutch system and it'll be ok?

 

I would get an exedy i love them that is gonna be my next clutch, and for flywheel probbaly fidazan or the evolutions one seems quite good and cheap, evolutions also have clutches never tried them yet

 

what flywheel do u recommend i get?

 

what exedy clutch do you have and how much was it?

 

thanx! i'll look into it!

 

By the way, do not go into a Nissan dealership and ask for this to be installed, do it through a trusted independent mechanic. Get the parts from a nissan dealership near you (the one I went to honored Jerry Rome's prices, Torrington dealership). You will need the 5th gen. pressure plate/clutch cover, clutch disk, and release bearing. With tax, this setup cost me $203, minus the install. Go to jrnissanparts.com for the part numbers, look under 2000 maxima parts in the clutch/flywheel option. 200+ miles so far and loving it.

 

dont waste your money on a garbage exedy clutch that wont last nearly half as long as an OEM clutch. like i said before, if you are na, then there is absolutely no reason to go with an aftermarket clutch

 

on the 5th gen clutch.

Daily use with a light flywheel should be fun. They can be a pain to launch becuase of the low mass, it can stall or bog easy.

 

so the 5th gen clutch is a good choice but a light fly wheel really isn't needed, even though i do plan to mod down the road

 

i have a Exedy stage 1 with OEM flywheel....works great....36% stronger than sotck

 

You have no ****ing idea what you're talking about so just shut up. Exedy clutches are probably top notch when it comes to aftermarket clutches. Get your facts staright and don't just pull BS out of your ***.

 

exedy is the official producer of the nissan oem clutches I believe...and nissan just slaps their name on it (read an article on it a while back)....just like tokico used to be the strut manufacturer for nissan....don't know if they still are, and hitachi makes our starters, mitsubishi or hanshin makes our coil packs, etc.

 

Ok.

 

Get the fidanza fly wheel if your gonna be in there. It will make a difference.

Why not get a stage one for n/a? The 5th gen sounds good for your appl.

 

why not a Stage 1 kit FOR THE 5TH GEN? Just an idea

 

1) Get the stock clutch. It's the strongest and most reliable clutch on the market. Enough said. The Exedy clutches aren't reliable at all and many of the Ebay Exedy clutches are no better than Nissan's bargin "key value" clutch kit (ie it will slip under WOT). There have been multiple accounts of Exedy clutches failing.

2) Don't waste your time or money with a flywheel. Not one person has proven the flywheel helps one bit in the 1/4 mile. It also makes for reduced around the town drivability because of the reduced rotational inertia. Use the $400 for more useful mods.

 

[QUOTE=Dave B]1) Get the stock clutch. It's the strongest and most reliable clutch on the market. Enough said. The Exedy clutches aren't reliable at all and many of the Ebay Exedy clutches are no better than Nissan's bargin "key value" clutch kit (ie it will slip under WOT). There have been multiple accounts of Exedy clutches failing.[/quote}

I tend to agree

I didn't see where the original poster said anything about the 1/4. I run a Fidanza and the engine revs NOTICABLY quicker. Drivabilty has suffered. But only in a very minimal way. Even with the ACT clutch, it's "maybe" 10-15% harder to drive. If he uses the stock clutch, you would be hard pressed to even notice the difference after 15 min of driving. I drove a 4-gen with a fidanza and act. VERY easy to drive.

If someone wants a 1/4 mod for the flywheel, get a HEAVIER unit. Not a lighter one. But if you want a motor that revs noticable faster in the first 3 gears, then get the fidanza. For everyday driving, you will love this mod.

The Fidanza is about 12lbs for the 4-gen. Stock being about 18-20lbs? So it's IMHO just about as light as you want to go for a street flywheel.

 

Man so many 5th Gen parts seem to work better on our Cars, 5th Gen Trannies, Mufflers, now clutch!

Glad I read this cause I will need a clutch change soon when I get my 5th Gen tranny and so I'm looking forward to better clamping force.

How much is a lighten flywheel comapred to stock?

And to bring back up the issue how much extra wear and tear does a light Flywheel cause on our trannies?

 

Why would it cause any more wear and tear?

 

i'm bringing in my car today and have come to the conclusion that a 5th gen clutch disk, thro-out bearing, and pressure plate with a fidanza flywheel. i hope this is a good decision so tell me if it's not. thanx for the advice!

 

I've went through hundreds (literally) of clutch posts when it was time to get my clutch replaced and I couldn't find a single complaint about the stock clutch kit (non key value) or ebay exedy (oem) clutch kit. So I came to the conclusion that either one will do. None of my local dealerships had the stock clutch kit in stock at the time so I went with the ebay exedy clutch kit (not the stage 1). I've had no problems with the clutch so far and put about 12,000 mi on it and it hasn't slipped at all and yes I've took it wot several times.

 

#1- My stock clutch (with 109k miles) shatters when cold and overheated (bumper to bumper traffic) and slips easily when hot. I doubt that once I put in my Fidanza with a new clutch that it will be any harder IN MY CASE to drive my car with the Fidanza. Since it's already a challenge for me to make a smooth launch from 1st and then not bog/slip on the 1st-2nd shift.

#2- I know the stock 5th gen clutch is much better than our 4th gen stock clutch. I'm hoping to do a 3.5 swap a little after next X-Mas. You guys that know about the 5th gen clutch think that if I reuse that clutch for the 3.5 motor, if it will be able to hold it's output?

 

what does wot mean? i just contacted my supplier too and they dont even have the fidanza flywheel. all they have is an unorthadox flywheel with weighs 5lbs and that is just stupid so i think i may just settle with the stock 4th gen clutch and flywheel, cheaper and will do the job.

 

WOT=Wide Open Throttle, in other words, when you got the pedal to the floor (butterfly on the throttle body is at its most open position).

I got my Fidanza last year from Cattman's group deal. You can get it I think for $329 shipped at Evolutions Autodesigns. I don't remember thier webstie adress exactly, but they have their banners at the top of the pages here on the org. Just open a bunch of pages on the org, chances are you'll run into it, lol.

EDIT= http://www.evolution-autodesign.com/maxima/

and it's $335 shipped. That's an awesome deal. I got mine shipped for $350.... I should have waited

 

thanx i'll look into it!

 

BUMP on post #28

OT- I'm just chillin here at work. I got nothing to do for another hour, lol. Yesterday I was watchin the punisher on the computer. This morning there was noone when I came, I was watching the rundown. I gotta do something to kill the time

 

You will not want to go to the 4th gen. stock clutch...it makes no sense what-so-ever. The 5th gen. clutch is a better performing clutch, feels great from personal experience, and IS CHEAPER. It may just be a little pocket change here and there ($5 a part), but the point still stands. You also will be hardpressed to walk into a nissan dealership and find them in stock. Call ahead, give a credit card number, and they'd probably ship in less than 3 days. (Mine got on the order for the following day). Also, try to have them match Jerry Rome's prices, its worth a try.

 

http://forums.maxima.org/showthread....93#post3512493

 

I don't know...it depends what you want to do with the 3.5L I guess. If you're leaving it n/a, stock would hold. Contact "DAVEB" to see if there are any differences between the 5th gen/5.5 gen clutches.

 

OK, I called DaveB (the parts guy) and I got he quote for the parts for the 5th gen clutch, very nice indeed, clutch disc+pressure plate+t/o bearing+rear main seal+shipping to Miami, still under $190.

About using this clutch with the 3.5, he said it woud hold for a short while, it really depends on how I'm gonna drive it. It probably wont last me long, since I'm gonna beat the living out of it at first, you know to get to know the new toy . I'll go back to my regular driving probably a month after.

Anyways, he checked to see the differences for the 5.5 gen clutch. Our 3.0 clutch is 240mm, the clutch for the 3.5 is 250mm. Like he said, it's not much, but it MIGHT be enough for it not to fit. So hopefully someone will try it and find out.

 

That's only 5mm on each side of the clutch. I just wonder. Who in here has dropped the tranny. I'm about to replace the rear main seal, and the 5th gen clutch is going in. I might give the 3.5 clutch a shot. How much is the price difference?

David

 

Nice. Well if you want go ahead and call Dave Burnette at 1-888-254-6060. He's got the 5gen clutch stuff in stock right now. I dont know about the 5.5 clutch.

OT- Luke told me that u were insterested in my flywheel, lol. Sorry about that man, I'm holding it for one of my boys here. I told him from a while back that if I ever sell it I'd hold it for him to buy it.

 

my guess is the 3.0 pressure plate wont bolt to the 3.5 flywheel.

 

yea you're right, it probably wont. I'm not gonna go more into it, that's not for this thread.

 

Someone said earlier that lighter flywheel will hurt performance (in the 1/4 mile)
Why?
I am installing EXEDY stage I and Fidanza flywheel saturday. Now they've got me thinking!

 

the rpms drop as fast as they accelerate. Or at least from what I am told

 

im riding on ACT stage 1 clutch wit Unnorthodox Lightened Flywheel feels awesome. It is alot jerky though if your not use to it. But i love the setup till I put the 5th gen tranny in it.

 

so i gues if you keep on the gas, there should be any problems hehehe

Also, everybody i asked said that it shouldn't be that much of a problem (once you let go off the gas). Fidanza is 12 lbs, vs. 18 lbs stock... not even 50% of mass... still keeps plenty of inertia.