Well my clutch is gone......When putting a 5th gen clutch on a 4th gen direct bolt on? Is there any modifying you need to do to get it on there? Also those of you who have tried it, did you notice any differance in the feel or anything, and was it worth doing? thank you

 

4 hour projects that require substantial amounts of pain-in-*** work are usually good for a hopeful, gee i think i feel a difference response

 

I'm going to take this opportunity to try to straighten out all these misconceptions.

The 5th gen. clutch setup is a DIRECT fit. If you're looking into this setup, you know that it provides better clamping force when compared to the 4th gen. setup. The 5th gen. Clutch Cover/Pressure Plate is what gives it that extra clamping force. (In previous threads, members have gotten the impression that they should be using the 4th gen. PP, and 5th gen. clutch disk. THIS WILL NOT GIVE YOU ANY BETTER PERFORMANCE THAN THE REGULAR 4TH GEN SETUP!!!).
If you want the 5th gen. clutch setup, you need the 5th gen. Clutch Cover/Pressure Plate. This non-key value part number is: 30210-89F00. (This is the part # from a stock early model 2000-2001. They switched #'s part of the way through the 2000-2001 years, and as of now I don't know if anyone has tried the updated part, and therefore I don't have that part number). (edit: see bottom of post!!!)
You can choose to either buy the 4th gen. T.O. Bearing or the 5th gen T.O. Bearing. This part is known also as the release bearing. The p/n is 30502-41U20, and IIRC there is no difference between the bearings. (Feel free to shed some light on this).
You can also choose to use either the 4th gen. clutch disk or the 5th gen. clutch disk: THEY BOTH FIT IN THE 5th gen PP. JSutter used the 4th gen. clutch disk; p/n for 4th gen. clutch disk is: 30100-40U14 . Myself and 96stillenmax have the complete 5th gen. clutch setup, including disk. The p/n for the 5th gen. clutch disk is 30100-2Y904 .
When ordering, somehow the wrong stuff has been shipped. INSIST on these numbers, and/or ensure that they are sending you the correct kit. I'm unsure of whether or not the numbers have changed, but giving them the old numbers should yield a correct shipment.
Feel free to add onto this (any other O.G.'s of the fifth gen. setup...haha).

edit: I read through the original JSutter post, and found some info. on the different 5th gen. PP's. Dave B suggests the early model Pressure Plate, the p/n listed above, instead of the later PP due to the early one being thicker.

^^^This is an older post that I made about the swap...I hope everything is still relevant. The only thing is this: make sure to get the parts you need, not 3.5 parts, or the key value parts. They switched the numbers for the parts, so a little confusion has arised. Let me find the thread I got this from, hold on.

Here is the link.http://forums.maxima.org/showthread.php?t=413529&page=2

Without having driven a performance clutch setup, I can say I absolutely love this clutch. The linear pressure, the response, everything feels great, and obviously has great clamping ability for a bolt on application. Unless you really want an aftermarket name, or might go FI in the future, I would recomend a 5th gen. setup. Just make sure you get the right parts...

 

can you buy just a OEM 5th gen 2000 maxima clutch kit, with everything in it already? and do you think a shop would be willing to do this or anythng, that i why i asked if it was exact bolt on.

 

It's such a direct bolt on that you could play it off as a direct 4th gen. replacement! My mechanic did it for me, I just gathered the parts for him. I'm uncertain as to whether or not you could just buy a kit, maybe one of the online dealers will have a kit, but that thread from nadir_s should have all the updated part numbers.

The "kit" would have three parts (Pressure Plate/Clutch Cover, Clutch Disk, Throw Out Bearing), and since the numbers are in that thread, it shouldn't be too difficult to tell your dealership exactly what you need, unless you deal with a sheisty dealership or something.