Southbend slow shifting

97singlecab

97singlecab

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Does anyone else have trouble with the 2-3 shift on there five speed with a southbend dd. I have a 3600dd 6cb lever clutch. It takes me forever it seems to shift this damn thing between gears, and it makes a growling noise when I have the clutch pushed in. I thought this was normal till I installed another one in my buddies truck and it shifts just as fast as the stock clutch. The only difference is his is a 3600 12cb diaphram clutch. The other thing is I can't keep this thing from glazing, almost everytime I 4wd launch it the clutch glazes over and I can't get it into third then either. Could it be possible that the quill that holds the throw out bearing in is in backwards? My buddies clutch came with a bunch of warnings on it about installing it correctly but mine didn't so I don't know if its right or not. Sorry about the long post but I am getting pretty frustrated about getting beaten by alot slower trucks purely because I can't shift.
 
well if there is the thought of possibly installing something backwards..... i'd go look...
mine shifts fairly well. gotta understand that there is alot of mass spinning in there.
 
I've got a 3600 unsprung 6 CB lever style clutch in my 24v, and a 3250 sprung 12 CB diaphragm clutch in my 12v. The diaphragm clutch definitely shifts quicker. The 2-3 shift is a bear in my dually. Did you remove the washer underneath the pivot ball on the throwout lever? I've heard that not removing it can cause poor shifts. I talked to Peter when I put my 3250 in, and removing it wasn't needed, but I believe he said it helps on the lever style pressure plates. That will be something I try next time I happen to have my tranny out.
 
I did remove the washer. I really like the clutch just wish it would shift faster. Even if i just need to change to a diaphram style or whatever i need to do. I'm gonna call peter on monday and see what he can hook me up with.
 
I would check to see if the fork is installed backwards.

Rick
 
I have 3600 12 cb sprung hub, lever style SB clutch and it also is slow to shift.
 
My 3600 sprung 12cb lever style was slow as hell to shift also...
 
i have a 3850 and it is the same way, my buddys mcleod however is like stock other than the grab that it has. i dont think that you will get one of these damn things to shift fast. i personally hate this clutch, but thats another thread...
 
I have ran quite a few brands of dd clutches. I Have owned a Kenney's, SBC, Haisley, EEP, and now run a Powerparts Eng. clutch. Kennys, SBC and Powerparts are all basically the same clutch. The haisley and EEp were the older non sfi units.

The Kennys clutch was terrible. You couldnt get it in gear for nothing and that was with the hydro upgrades. It took two hands and a foot to get into first gear. In his fairness, this was one of his first clutches though. It was a 3800 12 cb lever on a billet flywheel.

The haisley was a diaphragm street puller with sinterd iron disc. It held power good but was extremely jumpy and would build alot of heat and crack the disc all the time. I know several guys that had cracking issues. But it did drive smooth once you got it going. It shifted rolling almost like stock.

The EEP was one of the old style "Bobs" clutches that used the four long skinny finger type pressure plate. This clutched worked really well and held up to tons of abuse from 4th and 5th gear burnouts in a six speed. The day we removed it it was still holding good but it had a broken crower style floater plate that ended up costing us a tranny too and it was non sfi.

The southbend clutch is a 3850 12cb unsprung with bronze inlay and it is great. Notchier shifting than stock but you can bang gears if you want to. It has alot of hooks and third gear burnouts on it and when we pulled the tranny to fix a bearing, the clutch still looked great and is getting ready to start the second season of pulling without being rebuilt.

The Powerparts Eng in my dually is a 3850 6 ceramic super button lever style and has only two hooks on it but so far it isdriving just fine. Pretty close to the sbc actually. I have another experimental clutch in my ppump 24v that is not finished yet but it is a 4200 crower sintered iron disc lever style on a billet flywheel. Going to see how much abuse this will handle year.

This is a long stinking post i know but maybe will help some people by giving some insight to what i have seen with clutches. My only questions is, i read in a previous post that removing the washer helped with shifting. I dont understand this because all that is doing is making the distance between the levers and throwout bearing greater. That means less effective stroke on the pp fingers which i think could make it shift harder by not releasing enough. I do know some clutches require a little extra room so your bearing is not spinning all the time. I do know this too, all clutches with 3800+ pp loads will make you legs tingle if you set in stop and go traffic very long. Tim
 
I also run a Con FE South Bend in my 04.5, the only thing I like about it is the fact that it holds the power. It rattles in neutral at an idle, and it shifts so much slower than stock, and yes I also replaced the hydrolics. I hate at every stop or red light having to find fifth or sixth gear first then move back to second to start, sure you could eventually get it in second but youd get people honking behind you first, this has been very annoying for the past 30,000 miles but I live with it due to it holds the power very well. JMO
Ryan
 
stock600 said:
I also run a Con FE South Bend in my 04.5, the only thing I like about it is the fact that it holds the power. It rattles in neutral at an idle, and it shifts so much slower than stock, and yes I also replaced the hydrolics. I hate at every stop or red light having to find fifth or sixth gear first then move back to second to start, sure you could eventually get it in second but youd get people honking behind you first, this has been very annoying for the past 30,000 miles but I live with it due to it holds the power very well. JMO
Ryan
Click to expand...

A single disc shouldnt do this. The thread was about Dual Disc shifting slowly.
When I had my SB Con OFE it shifted just as smooth and fast as the stock clutch.
 
Ive read where many others have the same issue with the FE, and that most dont with the OFE? If the idle could be raised just 75 rpm or so the loud rattle would go away.
Ryan
 
I had a Valair 13" organic clutch that shifted just as fast as stock. It didn't hold all of my HP at the track so I went with their FE. The FE holds the power but is just like Stock 600's, it's hard to get into gear when idling and it is slow shifting. I bought the upgraded hydraulics and they helped a little but it's still a little tough for gear shifts and idle shifting.

I think it's related to the ceramic facing, almost as if it welds itself to the flywheel or pressure plate and causes the input shaft to continually spin.

I bet I could break into the 13's in the 1/4 mile if I had a faster shifting clutch. 2-3 and 4-5 shifts kill me every time!
 
in my 5 speed i started in 3rd to avoid 2nd to 3rd shift lol...... had a sb 3850 first and a valair 4000 lb both drove great but i like the valair a lil better. and i broke my shifter off 3 time shifting the thing as fast as i could.....
 
I took my clutch out last night. Its trashed, the disks are severely burnt with big chunks missing out of them. All the buttons are worn down to the rivets, and the lining in the flywheel is cracked and burnt. This clutch has only been in my truck for four months and less than 2k miles. I am waiting to hear back from peter about what to do with it. The crazy thing is this clutch still didn't slip under load. So was I wrong in thinking that you can slip a dd on the line to spool the turbo with out hurting it? Or maybe I just need a bigger clutch. I am in no way trying to bash south bend i think they make a great product. Just a little frustrating to have to pull it out all ready when I haven't even gotten to take it to the track yet. Sorry for the long post i'm just a little frustrated.
 
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