Well yesterday I almost had a heart attack cause I thought my tranny died. I could get it into gear fine, but it just didnt move. Since I have a spare tranny, I decided to swap it out today. Turns out tranny's fine.







The clutch has 4k miles on it. I went to the track twice, and I don't beat on it at all. I don't wanna say Spec has crappy quality, cause i've never seen this happen before. You can see the springs and pressure plate are in good shape as well. It has lots of friction material left. I'm gonna reuse this pressure plate and get a stage 3 something or other...i'm kind of wary of spec now.

*When i put it in, the car was stolen 11 miles later, and i have no idea how they treated it)

Well now I have no car until my clutch comes in. Great.

 

Spec sucks. Get a clutchnet 6-puck. You set your own resistance (I chose 350 ft-lbs of torque, 50% over stock). It has never slipped once. Plenty of 5000-6500 rpm straight dumps, 100 runs on slicks, 150 on street tires and 6k street miles so far.

Mardi and Neal also use this clutch. It's also pretty light I think. I got the red pressure plate.

 

Spec sucks? Based on what? 96sleeper's car likes the stage 2 just fine. You and your blanket statements...

 

Be that as it may, mine blew up. I don't beat on it, and torqued all the bolts to spec. This should not have happened.

 

I have seen several other people have a lot of problems with Spec clutches. I would stay away. This is not an isolated problem with Spec quality.

 

can i use the spec pressure plate with the clutchnet 6 puck disc?

 

[devil's advocate] Problems like what? [/devil's advocate]

 

Like you said, you have no idea how the people that stole your car treated the clutch...

 

I put 6k ish on my Spec stage 3 on my 3.5 swap and I couldn't be happier with that clutch.

 

Like Spig said, I would stay away. I didn't pull it out of my @ss. Seen and heard of one too many having problems with spec and it's not a name I trust at all. If you've had good experiences with them, good for you. But as far as I'm concerned, they suck.

 

i'm really tired of fwd. im gonna go lexus. sc300 w/1jz swap.

 

can i use the spec pressure plate with the clutchnet 6 puck disc?????

 

I dont see why it isnt physically possible, you'd be the first to do it.

This makes me worry about my stage 2 spec.

 

From what I've read there is a big step between stage 2 and 3.

 

i second that get a sc300.

and my spec 2 is holding up jus fine (Knock on wood).

 

No problems on my spec stage 2. Seems to be holding up fine even with the addition of slicks a few months ago. Just last week I did 10 4000+rpm launches on slicks at the track and the clutch never slipped. I have had it for almost 3 years I believe.

 

maybe I just got a dud. I hope theres a warranty for these things.

Does anyone know where I can find warranty info? I checked the site, and i pm'ed the guy i bought it from (GB with ImportCarPartsPlus). I wanna see if i'm entitled to a new disc or something.

 

Spec Sucks. I am basing it on the spec stage 2 i had in my 240SX. Spec Sucks.
Get a ACT or JWT. Hell even try a 5th gen

 

my spec stage 2 that I put in my car new lasted around 10k miles...maybe. It was nice in the beginning, very grippy. but the last half, I didnt like the chatter. I am weary about getting another. i have heard a few too many stories about specs failing to meet standards. I am now wanting something that is going to last.

 

my spec stage one slips worse than my worn out oem clutch. its spongier, it smells like burnt dookie when i ride it to 3000 when i accidently ride it cuz it slips so bad, and it grips like a wet condom.

 

5th gen clucth sounds like the best competitor from what I heard so far in term of durabilty

 

I dont think anyone has used a 5th gen clutch with a 3.5,because the 3.5 will over power the clutch.Also Just about everyone major clutch company has horror stories.Specs warranty is 120 days.

 

wha makes u think the 3.5 motor will over power the 5thgen clutch in a swap, when thas the exact engine the clutch is made for?

 

5th gen = '00-'01 = 3.0L = 222 hp/217 lb-ft
5.5 gen = '02-'03 = 3.5L = 260 hp/246 lb-ft

Different years, different engines, different clutches.

 

There is at least one person who is using this setup and it is holding. He has basically no mods, though.

 

update: i'm getting a new spec clutch under warranty. I won't have my car for a week. Awesome.

 

I can't even count the number of spec clutch failures I've seen and heard about Spec clutches do indeed suck. This is just one more. Guy I met at the track on saturday, spec failure within 3 weeks of install and he said his buddy had one fail on him as well. My buddy John, spec failure the first day at the track. tons of threads on LS1.com - spec failures and explosions including two that actually totalled the car. two exploded bellhousings in the year I've worked at the trans shop because of spec clutch failures.

you couldn't pay me enough to put a spec in my vehicle. their quality control is absolutely laughable. some clutches seem to work ok like 96sleepers, and some explode and total vehicles and almost take people's feet off.

 

oh crizzap.

I'm pretty much done modding the max, im saving up for the lexus. No more fwd drive clutch bs.

 

so I guess its a hit or miss with spec then?

side note:wanna go at it with my sc400 when i get it together?

 

Wha clutches do u guys recommend then becuz now I have heard bad news ablout Spec ACT and Exedy, so pretty much all aftermarket clutches have a bad reputation in my book

 

Get a XTD clutch kit from ebay. They are cheap as heck, and they are holding up against my modded 3.5 swap pretty well. I got the stage 3 XTD clutch it for 130 bucks.

XTD is an ebay brand company out of ACT's divisions. So I guess they are semi-reliable. Well, the clutch itself is pretty good, hold up pretty tight, but this stage 3 is a chatter box. It chatters all the fricking time. So it's up to you.

I've had spec stage 2 before, not much problems with it not chattering, but it was the udp combo'ed with it that made it stick-slip on the rev. It wasn't really Spec to blame, it's my setup.

I've also had spec stage 3 after the stage 2, thought it slipped, but it was again my udp's weight characteristics. Altogether, I dont' think Spec sucked that much, the lightweight pedal feel is what impresses me because my gf can drive my car. Well, I then simply gave away that clutch to one of my friends here, then I went for an XTD stage 3, the chatter box. LOL.

-Peter-

 

You only need an aftermarket clutch if you have any of the following:

1. A 3.5 swap with significant power adders
2. A turbocharger or supercharger
3. Lots of nitrous
4. A big hard-on for aftermarket clutches

Otherwise, it doesn't matter what mods you have: Get the 5th gen clutch. As far as what's common knowledge, no one has ever built a naturally-aspirated 3.0L that a 5th gen clutch couldn't handle -- and that includes DE-Ks.

 

SO who all is messin with the lexus's? I just met a guy up at school that has a 2jz powered gs300!!! It was sick nasty! made me drool! That makes me wanna stop messin with the max altogether.

also I was looking at the xtd clutches on ebay, but didnt know if there was any quality to them. There is an f1 stage 3 on there as well..

 

Nah, stick with the XTD's. So far, I have heard of 3 maxima guys with it, and none of which have troubles, yet. Only thing is their drivability, and that's just a side effect of having an aftermarket clutch.

 

drivability meaning chatter?

 

Ehhhhh... Auto-only FTL...

 

I would NEVER buy a clutch off of ebay.

Stick with Clutchnet 6 puck. Great clutch, Great Company, Made in the U.S.A

Sorry to hear about your Spec. Give them a call and send them an email with your pictures attached. Theres a chance they will come through will either some new products or possibly a refund. Worth a shot.

-matt

 

Yep, chatter, and bouncy engagements are low rpms.

 

clutchnet,southbend, and ram clutches are good.

 

hmm this scares me. Ever since day one this thing has had BAD chatter(worse than I have ever had) and sometimes makes a nasty metallic sound when launching. I may go with tav's route and buy a clutch disc and reuse the PP.