McLeod RXT Clutch Installation

[VoodooBoss]

but its def not sticking to the floor correct?

After removing the helper spring it no longer sticks to the floor. I drove it pretty hard yesterday and it was hot in the afternoon. It worked flawlessly.

 

[ArizonaBOSS]

I may be pulling my helper spring as well. The clutch pedal is so light compared to stock with the twin disc.

 

[Justin]

I installed the GT500 pedal assembly.....its the same as the boss minus the assist spring.....but did make it much smoother to drive.

 

[VoodooBoss]

I installed the GT500 pedal assembly.....its the same as the boss minus the assist spring.....but did make it much smoother to drive.

How did it make it smoother to drive? I just got back from a short drive after cleaning 1,000,000 bugs off my car from my track day Friday. The clutch is getting easier to engage smoothly. I pulled the helper spring on Friday at the track. Many complained about the feel of the engagement after pulling the spring with the stock clutch. After driving mine for a couple of hundred miles with the spring out now this is a good match with the RXT clutch. The engagement feel between the RXT and stock clutch are completely different and removing the spring feels pretty good with the RXT. I really didn't want to pull the spring for fear of how bad it might feel but with the RXT it feels fine to me.

 

[Justin]

it made it smoother for me cause the centerforce is so light of a pedal that I can feel that transition where the assist spring binds for a little bit then "assists" and my engagement point was right at this spot. so with the GT500 pedal assembly or the spring removed it feels much better and is about what the pedal was stock effort wise. I didnt like it at all out with the stock clutch.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Yep the RXT is also lighter than the stock clutch so there is now more feel with the helper spring out.

 

[Domestic Product]

Yes the spring is going away here also. Smooth is good I have been driving around town with my new RST set up for the last 3 days not so smooth. Looking for stop signs and stop and go traffic to get the clutch working. Yes at first it was so light I thought something was wrong, hard to drive. As I drive it more , it is getting better all the time. Feels like its grabbing way up high but if you find a empty parking lot or something and start out in first gear no gas just idle and let the clutch out slow you will see that it starts grabbing in the middle you just cant feel it. As I get more miles and clutch use I can already feel it moving down a little. Starting to feel more normal but still light. I'm starting to like it a lot. I'm also getting used to the Ford racing shift kit. Very nice , super short, nocthy in a good way feels like a race car.
On the spring, when we remove the helper spring are we making the pedal resistance stiffer? Harder to depress and more spring back up after depression? If the spring removal, adjustment is stronger then the sticking force then is that what is the cure? But is still masking what ever is causing the pedal to stick in the first place. Thought I read somewhere that drive line flex at high rpms might be causing the transmission to act up.

 

[VoodooBoss]

Yes the spring is going away here also. Smooth is good I have been driving around town with my new RST set up for the last 3 days not so smooth. Looking for stop signs and stop and go traffic to get the clutch working. Yes at first it was so light I thought something was wrong, hard to drive. As I drive it more , it is getting better all the time. Feels like its grabbing way up high but if you find a empty parking lot or something and start out in first gear no gas just idle and let the clutch out slow you will see that it starts grabbing in the middle you just cant feel it. As I get more miles and clutch use I can already feel it moving down a little. Starting to feel more normal but still light. I'm starting to like it a lot. I'm also getting used to the Ford racing shift kit. Very nice , super short, nocthy in a good way feels like a race car.
On the spring, when we remove the helper spring are we making the pedal resistance stiffer? Harder to depress and more spring back up after depression? If the spring removal, adjustment is stronger then the sticking force then is that what is the cure? But is still masking what ever is causing the pedal to stick in the first place. Thought I read somewhere that drive line flex at high rpms might be causing the transmission to act up.

The spring helps depress the pedal to make the action with the stock clutch feel lighter. I'm sure chassis flex contributes to shifting lock out. I think another issue is the stock clutch was not fully disengaging at high RPM's. This allows you to get the car out of gear easily enough but you can't get it into gear until the RPM's drop. Friday was the first time I've tracked my car with no miss shifts. A better test will be Sonoma in two weeks where I get lock out from 2->3 coming onto the front straight.

I thought the organic RST would have a larger engagement movement and not be as grabby as the ceramic RXT. Sounds like RST has a similar engagement as the RXT.

 

[Champale]

I've been following all of the clutch issue threads for a while now and I was just curious as to why you guys went with McLeod over other brands like Exedy, ACT, Spec, etc? Any insight would be appreciated.

John

 

[Justin]

Yes the spring is going away here also. Smooth is good I have been driving around town with my new RST set up for the last 3 days not so smooth. Looking for stop signs and stop and go traffic to get the clutch working. Yes at first it was so light I thought something was wrong, hard to drive. As I drive it more , it is getting better all the time. Feels like its grabbing way up high but if you find a empty parking lot or something and start out in first gear no gas just idle and let the clutch out slow you will see that it starts grabbing in the middle you just cant feel it. As I get more miles and clutch use I can already feel it moving down a little. Starting to feel more normal but still light. I'm starting to like it a lot. I'm also getting used to the Ford racing shift kit. Very nice , super short, nocthy in a good way feels like a race car.
On the spring, when we remove the helper spring are we making the pedal resistance stiffer? Harder to depress and more spring back up after depression? If the spring removal, adjustment is stronger then the sticking force then is that what is the cure? But is still masking what ever is causing the pedal to stick in the first place. Thought I read somewhere that drive line flex at high rpms might be causing the transmission to act up.

here is what the spring does. this is a decent video on it he says at the end the GT500 pedal assembly is the fix....cheaper fix and same results is to remove the assist spring.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg1h7Y__Vcc[/youtube]

 

[Justin]

I've been following all of the clutch issue threads for a while now and I was just curious as to why you guys went with McLeod over other brands like Exedy, ACT, Spec, etc? Any insight would be appreciated.

John

I went with centerforce DYAD twin disc because I have used there DF clutches in the past and have always been really happy with their products. I have tried Spec and ACT in the past on the same car and those clutches IMO didnt hold a flame to the holding power/streetablity and pedal effort that you get with a centerforce.

That said if there was no Centerforce DYAD clutch I would have went with the Mcleod because they have been making streetable twin disc clutches longer then anybody else.

 

[Champale]

Thank you for the reply, Justin!

Can I ask what it was about the other brands that you didn't like? You mention holding power - were they slipping too much?

I'm a big believer in "If you're going to do it, do it right" so if I eventually decide to go with a new clutch, I won't try to save a few bucks on a clutch if it's not going to be acceptable to me in the long run. But by the same token, I am not sure that I need to spend 1500 bucks on a clutch designed to handle a gazillion hp if I won't ever need it's capability.

 

[Justin]

Thank you for the reply, Justin!

Can I ask what it was about the other brands that you didn't like? You mention holding power - were they slipping too much?

I'm a big believer in "If you're going to do it, do it right" so if I eventually decide to go with a new clutch, I won't try to save a few bucks on a clutch if it's not going to be acceptable to me in the long run. But by the same token, I am not sure that I need to spend 1500 bucks on a clutch designed to handle a gazillion hp if I won't ever need it's capability.

The spec clutch was a stage 2. it held decently for a about 6 months then started to slip...in a stock 96 cobra. then the ACT was about the same but the pedal effort was kinda harsh. The centerforce felt lighter then stock and lasted me a long time. was still in the car when I sold it.

 

[VoodooBoss]

I've been following all of the clutch issue threads for a while now and I was just curious as to why you guys went with McLeod over other brands like Exedy, ACT, Spec, etc? Any insight would be appreciated.

John

I picked the McLeod for two reasons. Another member who tracks his Boss a lot (until he sold it) was having shifting lock out on track and after installing the RXT didn't have any issues. The second is I'm familiar with McLeod and know they have a good reputation. I think choose the brand you like or familiar with. As Justin mentioned he has had good success with the Centerforce and other members have used the Exedy with success. I'm not familiar with ACT but know of another member considering a Spec.

 

[Champale]

As always, thank you Rick and Justin. I'm not quite at the point where I am going to pony up for a new clutch because my '13 has fewer issues than my '12 did (MGW on the '13, Steeda shifter and bushing on the '12) but I am keeping an eye on these threads so that if I decide to go with a new clutch, I will have a decent working knowledge of the solutions.

I'm going you yank out that spring and see how I like it.

 

[zzyzx]

If interested in Exedy, here's my write-up:

https://trackmustangsonline.com/index.php?topic=4085

Note that the Exedy I have is a single disc identical in function to the OEM clutch, whereas Rick and Justin have twin discs. In retrospect and reading up on what Rick has posted and learning about McLeod, I probably would have went with an McLeod RST which would have resulted in a more stock like pedal effort.

 

[Domestic Product]

here is what the spring does. this is a decent video on it he says at the end the GT500 pedal assembly is the fix....cheaper fix and same results is to remove the assist spring.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg1h7Y__Vcc[/youtube]

Thanks for the video Justin. Makes me want to grab my vice grips and get that spring out right now! Very helpful. I plan on removing the spring this weekend.

 

[Domestic Product]

I've been following all of the clutch issue threads for a while now and I was just curious as to why you guys went with McLeod over other brands like Exedy, ACT, Spec, etc? Any insight would be appreciated.

John

John, went with the McLeod mainly because the speed shop that I have used for years likes them and recommended over others. Well made and made in America is another.

 

[Domestic Product]

here is what the spring does. this is a decent video on it he says at the end the GT500 pedal assembly is the fix....cheaper fix and same results is to remove the assist spring.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eg1h7Y__Vcc[/youtube]

OK, could not wait and took the spring out tonight after work. The car felt right as soon as I used the clutch to back up on my way out for a test drive. The car now feels like it has a normal clutch (still light)but easy to drive great feel and feed back. I'm no longer thinking about letting the clutch out. My pedal feel to me is vastly improved. This reminds me of the clutch delay valve that BMW used and it messed up the clutch feel so bad that every one was taking them out. Many times less is more.
This has me excited so tomorrow night I will install my SRP racing pedal set to finish off the driving experience making heel toe easier and enhancing the clutch even more. Thanks again for the video.

 

[Champale]

Ok enough of you guys have chimed in about the positive effects of removing the spring that I have got to try it out. Maybe we should start a new thread entitled something like "Clutch Spring Removal Experiences" for people to post up positive or negative experiences since they have done it?

I appreciate all of the feedback that people have been giving in this thread and other clutch-related ones!

Thank you.

John