Spec III Clutch Help

Installed clutch and it is really just an on and off switch. but thats not my problem my problem is that when I down shift the tranny starts to chatter really bad and the low traction light comes on. its not a real hard drop ill be doing 50 in 5th and just go to third with 3.73 im just doing it to slow the car down for a turn and I noticed that it does it in every gear. if I am agressive with it like coming out of 5th and nailing third hard no chatter but it broiles the tires i just want to know that is this normal cause i dont want to break anything.

help

did you give it the allowed break in time

yes the clutch has 1000 miles on it

When I installed mine it did the same thing that you are discribing. After about a half a year of driving it the chattering stopped. The way I combated the problem was by just matching the rpms when I down shifted. Didn't chater then. I think that it is very common with the clutch.

Try bleeding the slave clyinder, and see how it goes from there.

Whats happening is when you down shift your rear tires are locking up ,causing the low traction light to come on, your clutch to chatter, and im sure your rear end is hop'in as well. I ran the same clutch for a few years. The on off switch either gets better or you get used to it and dont even notice it. If you keep going like you are now, your going to blow your rear end out, like i did. You need to watch what rpms/speeds/gears your using to engine break. If you drove it the same way before the clutch install and this did not happen, your clutch must have been worn enough that it just slipped instead of causing a lot of stress on your drivetrain. With any clutch that isnt shot, and any manual, you can make the same thing happen. Take it from someone who has learened the hard way with the same things your dealing with. Leave the hard engine breaking for the 18 wheelers.

help



Also, give more than 20 minutes before you TTT, HELP, or bump your thread up. There is a sticky stating this from the big guys at the top of the page...

you need to rev match when you engine brake. as far as the chattering goes, mine was really bad at 1000 miles, and i thought it would have been broke in by then but it wasnt. I got pissed at it and went out and did a few hard launches and WOT runs with it and got it hot to the point i smelled it. the next day it drove at least 50% smoother.

Spec sucks. all thier good for is chatter

mine chatter's like a mo fo. I only have 600 miles on it so hopefully it gets better. and yes if you beat on it, for some reason it drives better afterwards. Make sure to match your RPM's when you are engine braking. LIke it was stated before, thats a good way to break that weak 10 bolt.

Spec sucks. all thier good for is chatter



I thought my stage III was well worth the money. It did exactly what i wanted it to. Streetable for a daily driver? depends..I dont drive sports cars as daily drivers... They set in the garage. I had two rear ends worth of hard clutch dropping launches, and lots and lots of burnouts, power shifting, and drag racing with that spec. Its still in the car after i sold it with over 30k on the clutch. I think it served its purpose. I once heard the life expectancy was around 15k. If you want a clutch for a car you drive everyday, get a stock clutch.

Your comment is like saying "all big cams are good for is to surge."

thanks alot guys. ill try not to engine brake as much. see i own a landscapeing company and I own 3 duallies with deisels that we have autos but i have added jake brakes so its almost like im used to it or something. I can deal with the issue i just wanted to make sure that i didnt screw up anything on the install. this is my 3rd car with a 6 speed and ive put a clutch in all 3 of them and the other two had centerforces that didnt do this so i was just a little worried. I appreciate all of your guys input haveing this forum sure does make car diagnosis alot easier. I owned a vette for about 8 months and those guys on that forum are not very helpful. most of thier responses to peoples problems are " just take it to the dealer" yeah they wont screw me

Once you get to Stage III I think chatter is the nature of the beast. I have a Stage IV and it is "on/off" but I have yet to encounter chatter unless in reverse. I've had a RAM that chattered, but I just needed to relearn my clutch engagement technique and it was fine as a daily.
One thing you can check is to make doubly sure the slave cylinder pushrod is properly seated on the clutch fork lever.
My Spec has about 10K on it now and has not let me down yet. I am getting another one for my 396 build.

i had a spec 3 for about 2 yrs. i think i remember a good bit of chatter at the beginning, i know it was for a good bit, but don't know if 500 miles (but then again i drove it 24/7 to brake it in for the next weekend, so may have just seemed) but i loved it. even gripped perfect when did cam/4.10s.

and honestly. i drove my friends stock z the other day, i think the spec3 is a HELL of a lot easier to drive over stock(or am i just weird?)

cory

I drove my friends stock z the other day, i think the spec3 is a HELL of a lot easier to drive over stock(or am i just weird?)

cory

Yea, Im goona have to call weird on that one.

Remember, brakes are for braking. This topic however gets alot of press. For everyone who likes a Spec clutch, there is another that doesn't. I don't like Centerforce for example. I do like the STGIII. Mine is much more forgiving now with a few Kmiles on it. For a reference, I like a big thumpin cams, open exhaust and the smell of C-16 in the morning as much as riding in a plush luxury ride. Good luck.

my car is on its 2nd spec stg II in 8k miles. the next time will be mcleod street twin. i wouldve saved money in the long run if i wouldve went with that in the first place

all you guys with chatter have spec flywheels or stockers

stockers, let me make a note here as well this not just a chatter i mean it shakes the whole tranny and rear of the car. I checked every bolt and i know that i installed the clutch right so i hope that this is normal. its like a wheel hop almost on downshift

i have the spec flywheel also... but honestly. to me its easy as hell to drive

stockers, let me make a note here as well this not just a chatter i mean it shakes the whole tranny and rear of the car. I checked every bolt and i know that i installed the clutch right so i hope that this is normal. its like a wheel hop almost on downshift



EXACTLY!! wheel hoping on downshift is the best way to describe it. This will happen with any manual, wether it be a car, truck, or even a motorcyle. If you are running at a high speed, and put it in a low gear, without rev matching, it will hop. Hell my lawn mower does it sometimes! It will shake the car, the whole drivetrain, everything!. If you keep it up, something WILL break!! Best of luck to you... I dont know if there is any help out there for you except learning it the hard way. Having pieces of your ten bolt blow through the housing or throwing a driveshaft through the floor, or your transmision going out...Everyones told ya the same thing.

And yes, most guys on vette forums ARE infact dicks... Im learning this the hard way too. I got the vette, and would prefer to stay over here on the fbody forum.

Man how many times must I say stay away from SPECS junk. Especially thier Stage III.

Man how many times must I say stay away from SPECS junk. Especially thier Stage III.
What's your story?

Man how many times must I say stay away from SPECS junk. Especially thier Stage III.



Yea why don't you please enlighten us on Specs being junk...are you basing this on personal experience?

just do a search for spec 3 and you should come up with a bunch of stuff from my experiences, and problems with them. maybe even some pictures. I posted tons of times about them over the years.

mine has been fine for 8K miles (more than 2 years) and its been used the way its meant to be. Probably 25-30 track passes on it, plus street use. Ive never noticed any problems with downshifting though, but Im a natural at rev matching :shrug:

just do a search for spec 3 and you should come up with a bunch of stuff from my experiences, and problems with them. maybe even some pictures. I posted tons of times about them over the years.




If you do a search for everyone that has spun a bearing after a higher mileage cam install your going to get alot of feed back as well. Does this mean that the majority of people do this? Yeah there are some people out there that dont like them that bitch on here. There are lots of people on here that do like them, have had good luck, and just dont post. So of course, your going to hear about something more that is not liked and goes wrong than things that are liked and gone right.

just do a search for spec 3 and you should come up with a bunch of stuff from my experiences, and problems with them. maybe even some pictures. I posted tons of times about them over the years.
Is this only regarding the Spec III? If so, you really can't throw out a blanket statement saying Spec sucks. I too have heard from different boards about the chattering problems people encounter, but after having a Spec IV in my car for over 2 years now I've never come close to having a problem with it. The others I've known and read about who've had the same clutch as mine are just as slap happy.

There's plenty of guys that had the same problem. I just experienced some of the same problems that other had as well with chattering, dissengagement problem, weaing out in under 5K miles of us... broken springs. I ran through about 3 of thier clutches before I quite. And you can't compaire a spun bearing to a defective compenent supplied by the same manufacturer. I don't get paid to talk about spec, I just thought I'd try to help a few people from going through what I did. Having a clutch blow apart on you at 100mph in the middle of a race is not fun, it's dangerious.

I ran through about 3 of thier clutches...
Were they all Spec Stage III clutches?

2&3

both prefessionally installed, and by myself.

I've done dozens of clutch swaps with no issues.
They were found to be defective after being reviewd by SPEC.

2&3

both prefessionally installed, and by myself.

I've done dozens of clutch swaps with no issues.
They were found to be defective after being reviewd by SPEC.


So that gives you every right so say Spec clutches in general are "junk" because? Do you get my point?

when a stage 1 goes bad in 10k, w/ 90% highway driving and NO track time, i would say junk. they wouldnt even offer me a replacement because it was past 120 days. when it went, the throwout bearing litterally broke in 3 pieces also. it also destroyed a brand new fidanza alum. flywheel.

So that gives you every right so say Spec clutches in general are "junk" because? Do you get my point?


yes it does.

out of X amount they produce they have X amount of failure.

I had 3 clutches of thiers fail. That their engineers noted as defected. Others with the same problem have noted the same issues that I experienced. Again this is about 2-3 years ago. In my opinion their products are horrible. you can think otherwise that's your opinion. But after spending over 2grand swapping failed clutches I don't reccomend them at all. You see my point. Bad customer experience, equals bad review and that's not going to change. I now use a spung hub clutch that equals the power of thier springless 4-5I series or what ever they call it, and it is by all means far supperior to their products. instead of swapping disk, I just swap pressure plates...now that my friend... is a good clutch. I mean if you want to use a Spec and it works for you cool, but there have been allot more complaints on this board about thier clutches than praise. usually about chatter problems, dissengagment problems, early wearout. ETC. Rarely in my years here on this board have I seen so many complaints about any other manufacturer.

I purchased one of the first Spec_3 clutches (early when they were first in the bizz) and their Alum flywheel. It chattered alot @ first, then got better after break-in. On down shifts, I always double clutch and add engine rpm. (heel&toe + D_clutch on corners) Helps the gear transition, and, less drag on the clutch disc. But it started to make noise (like a rivet dragging). Pulled the trans. I called then for a replacement disc. They did not have one for the old clutch assembly. I had to purchase a brand new Spec disc/ press_plate, and a Alum fly wheel disc insert (far more $ than I wanted to spend). So far OK on #2, but, they do chatter alot, so, I usually drive them hard and try not to slip them. They seam to work better that way. In reverse, they can chatter big time when you slip them. (97SS 383 - D1 MM6)

yes it does.

out of X amount they produce they have X amount of failure.

I had 3 clutches of thiers fail. That their engineers noted as defected. Others with the same problem have noted the same issues that I experienced. Again this is about 2-3 years ago. In my opinion their products are horrible. you can think otherwise that's your opinion. But after spending over 2grand swapping failed clutches I don't reccomend them at all. You see my point. Bad customer experience, equals bad review and that's not going to change. I now use a spung hub clutch that equals the power of thier springless 4-5I series or what ever they call it, and it is by all means far supperior to their products. instead of swapping disk, I just swap pressure plates...now that my friend... is a good clutch. I mean if you want to use a Spec and it works for you cool, but there have been allot more complaints on this board about thier clutches than praise. usually about chatter problems, dissengagment problems, early wearout. ETC. Rarely in my years here on this board have I seen so many complaints about any other manufacturer.
LOL... whatever dude. No it really doesn't give you any right to throw out some generic statement saying Spec is junk. Just because you had bad luck with two types of clutches doesn't make you a resident expert to call all five of their clutches junk.
You are throwing around all these generic statements claiming the clutch you have now is far superior to their Stage 4 and 5? How do you know? You've never had one therefore how can you rightly say it's better? You can't.

Well, sounds like people who can drive a stick, rev match on downshift etc, its ok. I've got a stg3 in mine, but have yet to drive it as the car is all torn apart still. Hopefully it'll all work out, though if it chatters, not to worry too much.

LOL... whatever dude. No it really doesn't give you any right to throw out some generic statement saying Spec is junk. Just because you had bad luck with two types of clutches doesn't make you a resident expert to call all five of their clutches junk.
You are throwing around all these generic statements claiming the clutch you have now is far superior to their Stage 4 and 5? How do you know? You've never had one therefore how can you rightly say it's better? You can't.

What ever dude??? lols... You don't put out defective products and send replacements for them unless you know something is wrong with that particular line. Your on here talking from assumptions, I'm talking from experiences with the manufacture and thier products, and that's to different ends of the spectrum.

How can I say that thier 4-5i clutches are inferior to other manufactureres? easy... because they need to loose springs to achieve the capabilities of a clutch with a more simplistic design. The clutch I'm using now is made to hold 500+hp has the street manors of the stock clutch, disengages up top, and doesn't chatter at all. It's been in the car for almost 3 years now, and last time I pulled the transmission, it looked like it was barely worn. Now name a spec clutch that equals that same performance? There are hardly any members on here even running the 4-5's from Spec. Most of the guys on that level have purchased an ST for a reason, becasue they work.

I mean what is your angle realy? your arguing because you don't like the fact that I was dissatisfied after having thier product fail on me several times?
What idiot is satisfied with a poor quality product? What do you work for Spec or something?

I reguraly race my car, and I've tried all brands of clutches for the car except for centerforce, and of them all Spec was the one that gave me the most problems. You don't have to take my word for it. Just do a search for SPEC and see how many complaint post there are. I'm done here. C-yah

What ever dude??? lols... You don't put out defective products and send replacements for them unless you know something is wrong with that particular line. Your on here talking from assumptions
Me owning a Spec clutch for the last 2 plus years talking from assumptions? :lol:
There are hardly any members on here even running the 4-5's from Spec.
All the more reason why you, being the experienced clutch installer that you are, cannot make "assumptions" that all of the Spec brand clutches are "junk". Is that too hard for you to understand?

You've had "experience" with two of their clutches. That's fine. Good for you. However to say how "Spec is junk..." when you haven't had experience with all of the clutches they offer has no merit because it is false propaganda. You're happy with your clutch. I'm happy with mine as well as many others being happy with theirs with at least one of them I personally know who had a Stage IV stand up to 1.5 60' times running mid to high 10's, racing every weekend on his daily driver.
To say the Stage III is junk is probable. To say "Spec is junk.." when the only "experience" obtained was from two different style clutches is downright retarded.

Oh.. and... Bu-bye!

did you happen to read my post about the stage 1? on a car with my mods and NO track time, a stage 1 should have held up fine. i drive my car about 80 miles round trip to work, mostly highway might i add, and it lasted a measely 10k. Being my DD, i do not have time to and money to to ship a crap disc back and forth HOPING for a tech to determine it was defective. this disc also destroyed a $400 flywheel within that time. They wold do absolutely nothing to help, except give me a SMALL discount on a new setup. so that is 3 levels of thier clutch, not 2 that could be considered "junk".

Well gee golly whiz... just like the Comp R's that have been in my engine for the last two years along with a Spec clutch that has been on there even longer I must be that lucky!
And like I've told all those who've experienced lifter failures... For the amount of disgruntled people who've had a bad experience there's been twice as many with a good experience.
Besides with clutch installs it's really hard to prove who is at fault when all you have are words on the internet. If you don't have the money then why in the HELL did you have a $400 flywheel in a nearly stock car?

because when i bought the setup i had the money to buy it. where my money comes from is not the concern and none of your business, and the setup was installed by master tech. the reason for the flywheel?, i didnt plan on the car beiong stock for long, but when you have to dump anothe grand on a clutch install 6 months after you just put one in, kinda kills your savings for h/c swap. you've had good luck with yours, thats great. i dont see anyone bashing your opinion. i personally think they're junk and would never use one again

You should really do the work yourself. That would save you a chunk of money. I just asked a simple question since you put it out there you had such an expensive flywheel and no money.
To say one particular clutch is "junk" I have no problem with. But bashing an entire line of clutches when you haven't used them all is just dumb.

My clutch chatters like hell but I love the thing. I've launched it with Drag Radials spraying out of the hole and it GRABS. That is what I was looking for and that is what I got.

man did not know that this topic was going to cause such a stir, well its been about a week with the new clutch and me and my good friend MEANLT1
went cruising on sat. and that was the longest i have driven the car since the heads and cam and clutch, I must say that i am getting the hang of it and i am really happy. i mean with just the mods i have in my sig i can chrp3rd hard and if i roll slowly into 2nd and stand on it it smokes the tires and these are new treads so im very impressed and happy. thanks alot for everyones help and advice you guys are great

So......heatmaker never did say which clutch he uses now, did he?

So......heatmaker never did say which clutch he uses now, did he?

2&3
...

man did not know that this topic was going to cause such a stir, well its been about a week with the new clutch and me and my good friend MEANLT1
went cruising on sat. and that was the longest i have driven the car since the heads and cam and clutch, I must say that i am getting the hang of it and i am really happy. i mean with just the mods i have in my sig i can chrp3rd hard and if i roll slowly into 2nd and stand on it it smokes the tires and these are new treads so im very impressed and happy. thanks alot for everyones help and advice you guys are great
Glad things are working out and that you've learned a technique to keep your teeth in your head. :)
Now all you have to worry about is the diff. :)

Glad things are working out and that you've learned a technique to keep your teeth in your head. :)
Now all you have to worry about is the diff. :)
yea you definitely do need to adapt to a spec clutch to minimize the chatter. I let mine out pretty quick when i take off, and sometimes it even chirps the tires a bit... but its a lot less chattery that way.:) Spec 3(and above) clutches are designed to be in or out... theyre engineered not to slip, so naturally theyre not gonna like it when you try to slip them.

yea you definitely do need to adapt to a spec clutch to minimize the chatter. I let mine out pretty quick when i take off, and sometimes it even chirps the tires a bit... but its a lot less chattery that way.:) Spec 3(and above) clutches are designed to be in or out... theyre engineered not to slip, so naturally theyre not gonna like it when you try to slip them.
Yes I had to do the same thing with the RAM. Engagement was short and sweet most of time having to double clutch when in traffic or at a light.

Let's dig this thing back up. My SPEC experience... 5 years ago I installed a stage II clutch. It lasted for 3 weeks before a piece of it broke off which caused it to be continually engaged. Thought I might have been the problem so I took it to a professional. He took it out and installed a stock clutch. It lasted 70K abusive miles. This time around (1 week ago) I still had that SPEC stage II sitting in my garage from 5 years ago and thought I would utilize my free clutch. It has been in since Thursday and is chattering at idle in neutral and I have a serious driveline vibration between 2500 and 3000 rpm when going through the gears. I am going to my exhaust shop to see if the guy that put the clutch in left some of the exhaust touching the chassis somewhere. Some rpm's it's quiet as heck, nice and smooth, other rpms it's like driving a damn jack hammer... The clutch might have 200 miles on it now. We'll see. If it keeps it up I don't know what I will throw in it. $1300 for McLeod is a little high right now.