Someone said... Got that feeling in the clutch pedal, I know it time to replace it

[MajHazard]

I wanted to ask the person that commented something similar to the title in a thread what he meant by that.
I had a rumbling feel in my clutch pedal that showed up when I installed the Centerforce TOB. I associated it to the TOB. Does the pedal start to rumble when the clutch is getting wore?

 

[EF1]

I didn't write that subject line, but for me it was when I went to downshift from 4th to 3rd at 7400 rpms going into a corner at Barber and the pedal stuck to the floor.

 

[MajHazard]

That's funny, this could turn into a fun stories thread.

I have had clutch issues every since I did a 2 to 1 shift at 6800 rpm and ripped the back disk off. Replaced it, but didn't replace the TOB, which turned out to be damaged, replaced it, now 6th synchro went out, found odds things with the clutch not fully contacting the PP and the throwout bearing would BARELY slide on its shaft.
Starting over.

 

[EF1]

I was lucky with with the factory parts. No problems with the stock MT82 and clutch for the first 92,000 miles. Installed a Boss intake and retuned the car with the rev limiter set to 7400 rpms and the first time out the pedal stuck to the floor. It ruined a weekend at Barber. This led to a cascade of problems that took a season to work through.

 

[MajHazard]

I'm planning to head to Barber for the Mustang 60th anniversary in April 2024 with the Mustang Club of America. They are planning a National car show in the area and a trackday event at Barber. Should be a big turnout of Mustangs for the 60th!

 

[NGOT8R]

I wanted to ask the person that commented something similar to the title in a thread what he meant by that.
I had a rumbling feel in my clutch pedal that showed up when I installed the Centerforce TOB. I associated it to the TOB. Does the pedal start to rumble when the clutch is getting wore?

Did these issues occur before or after your transmission was rebuilt?

 

[MajHazard]

Before. I just got my trans back this Wed.
These are the parts for starting over. I'm going with the Motorcraft TOB, Centerforce clutch again, specific length clutch line like the Motorsport version but made by JM Racing, one piece drive shaft and carbon fiber synchros.
Hope all should be good from the start this time.


I didn't like the universal clutch line because it left a loop at the top that I was always concerned may gather air bubbles. I had it zip tied to hold it down. My clutch pedal wouldn't always return all of the way to the top when it would get hot, just the last half of an inch of the pedal. Thought this might have contributed, but more likely due to the bad CenterForce TOB or combo.

 

[JDee]

Guys, the stock Ford clutch is useless for track work. If you're going to put your car on a road course and push it at anything above highway speeds you need to put a good racing clutch in. The stock one will kill the already marginal MT82 in no time.

You might get by if you're going to religiously shift well below the red line, like never anywhere near 6000rpm but eventually it will get you. You likely won't hear a thing happening due to all the wind and road noise, but that clutch is ruining your gearbox.

 

[Track_Art]

Guys, the stock Ford clutch is useless for track work. If you're going to put your car on a road course and push it at anything above highway speeds you need to put a good racing clutch in. The stock one will kill the already marginal MT82 in no time.

You might get by if you're going to religiously shift well below the red line, like never anywhere near 6000rpm but eventually it will get you. You likely won't hear a thing happening due to all the wind and road noise, but that clutch is ruining your gearbox.

Have a recommendation? I’m into my second season with my track-only R and haven’t had an issue. Using redline fluid in the trans and endless brake fluid. 8 track events this year with 8k shift points…shifts like butter.

 

[funksouljon]

I second the Q above. Not a 2023 project, but something I am looking at upgrading at some point in the future BEFORE a failure.

 

[blacksheep-1]

I've been on this forum since the Boss 302 was introduced, there seems to be a common thread with clutches, and MT82 trannies, It seems that as long as the clutch is functioning at 100% the trans lives a long life, as soon as the clutch degrades, so does the trans, to the point that.. if it grinds once or twice, its time to do the tranny as well as the clutch because it won't be long before the trans goes tits up. If I owned a car equipped witht he MT82, I would just go out and buy a Exedy Hyper single and install it, along with an MGW shifter. I think the Hyper single is the go to clutch for these applications, sure, release is a bit harsh, but we've put thousands of race miles on these with no issues what so ever. I'm so sold on single disc clutches that when the one in my 07 GT500 went south (a factory twin disc) and Exedy didn't have an application, I was able to source a similar model from Spec. there has never been any issues since, and that was 40K miles ago. I like simple clutches, even though they may be more harsh, and harder to hold down, because they have less crap rotating around the bell housing, I don't really see a need for a twin disc clutch unless you may be drag racing it. The Spec clutch in my Shelby is good for over 600HP, and it's a single disc. Once the trans starts to go it would seem that the Calimer is the only game in town (or at least Calimer parts built by someone else). I looked into doing this but was talked out of it by Joe Aquilante himself, he calls things straight, and he pretty much said it wasn't worth the time to RnD an Mt82 because they just send it out to Calimer and let him worry about any warranty issues. So if Phoenix is using Calimers, then that's good enough for me. They don't seem to have many failures, but again.. the Hyper Single and MGW shifter is used on their cars as well.
One last thing, the guys at Forte's in St. Petersburg do resto rods as their main line of work, they are starting to go back to cable operated clutches instead of hydraulic for a couple of good reasons, 1, for some reason, hydraulics are adverse to being power shifted, I've seen this before back in the 70s. reason #2 is that a cable clutch offers much more adjustability than the hydraulic, when they are playing mix n match with different engine and tranny combinations, they sometimes have to pull tha trans back out to get the correct shim, or customers drive the car for a year and the clutch is low, so again, they have to go back in and add a shim. None of that happens with a cable ( or mechanical) clutch,

 

[Track_Art]

I've been on this forum since the Boss 302 was introduced, there seems to be a common thread with clutches, and MT82 trannies, It seems that as long as the clutch is functioning at 100% the trans lives a long life, as soon as the clutch degrades, so does the trans, to the point that.. if it grinds once or twice, its time to do the tranny as well as the clutch because it won't be long before the trans goes tits up. If I owned a car equipped witht he MT82, I would just go out and buy a Exedy Hyper single and install it, along with an MGW shifter. I think the Hyper single is the go to clutch for these applications, sure, release is a bit harsh, but we've put thousands of race miles on these with no issues what so ever. I'm so sold on single disc clutches that when the one in my 07 GT500 went south (a factory twin disc) and Exedy didn't have an application, I was able to source a similar model from Spec. there has never been any issues since, and that was 40K miles ago. I like simple clutches, even though they may be more harsh, and harder to hold down, because they have less crap rotating around the bell housing, I don't really see a need for a twin disc clutch unless you may be grad racing it. The Spec clutch in my Shelby is good for over 600HP, and it's a single disc. Once the trans starts to go it would seem that the Calimer is the only game in town (or at least Calimer parts built by someone else). I looked into doing this but was talked out of it by Joe Aquilante himself, he calls things straight, and he pretty much said it wasn't worth the time to RnD an Mt82 because they just send it out to Calimer and let him worry about any warranty issues. So if Phoenix is using Calimers, then that's good enough for me. They don't seem to have many failures, but again.. the Hyper Single and MGW shifter is used on their cars as well.
One last thing, the guys at Forte's in St. Petersburg do resto rods as their main line of work, they are starting to go back to cable operated clutches instead of hydraulic for a couple of good reasons, 1, for some reason, hydraulics are adverse to being power shifted, I've seen this before back in the 70s. reason #2 is that a cable clutch offers much more adjustability than the hydraulic, when they are playing mix n match with different engine and tranny combinations, they sometimes have to pull tha trans back out to get the correct shim, or customers drive the car for a year and the clutch is low, so again, they have to go back in and add a shim. None of that happens with a cable ( or mechanical) clutch,

Does Exedy make a kit for the GT350?

 

[blacksheep-1]

Does Exedy make a kit for the GT350?

I do not know, but if they don't, I'm sure Spec does

 

[EF1]

I second the Q above. Not a 2023 project, but something I am looking at upgrading at some point in the future BEFORE a failure.

The 2008's were not plagued with the clutch/transmission problems that the 2011-204 S197's were, The earlier S197's had a Tremec not the MT82 and the clutches held up much better.