clutch break in

[vboyq]

hey all i have a spec stage 3 with the 6 puck clutch, and i just put it in, questoin is i have seen some places say no slipping during break in. does that mean when i engage the clutch just to let it go right away coming into next gear, making the car jumpy or what? i don't understand, cuz what i do is i let the clutch out a little slow so that the car doesn't jump, am i not supposed to do this during break in?

[mynismo]

weird, i never heard that. you usually just drive it normally for 450 miles and keep the rpms below 4k, and drive moderately (hint: slow).

[SpeedRacer1]

With puck clutches a few hard slips should break it in. The break in period is for street discs. Check out ACT's website for the info on how to break it in.

[vboyq]

well i have the spec stage 3 6 puck, so are you saying that n just need to do some hard slips... the instructions say 475 miles at least. what do u mean by a "hard slip"?

[mynismo]

i'd like to know too, i have a spec 3 6puck and will be breaking it in next week.

[vboyq]

well all i know is just to be sure, im putting like 700 miles on it, before i ever race or anything. im staying under 3000 rpm for the WHOLE break in, im not wasting my money

[Phax]

Breaking in a clutch isn't rocket science. Get it to the point where you need the least amount of gas to get the car to move, then slightly accelerate from there. The rate of acceleration depends on the clutches natural tendency to slip. Obviously you don't want the car to jump. With a grippy clutch, sometimes it helps if you blip the throttle to get a feel for the engine before easing it out.

Why would you get a 6-puck, stage 3 clutch for the street? Aren't those things designed to be dumped at 6000+ RPMs?

[Phax]

well all i know is just to be sure, im putting like 700 miles on it, before i ever race or anything. im staying under 3000 rpm for the WHOLE break in, im not wasting my money

:withstup

I already wasted money once. I had this nice RPS clutch and I totally smoked it. Definitely not one of my more brilliant automotive experiences.

[mynismo]

i have a nice new fidanza to go along with my spec too they only say 450mi, and those ratings are usually overrated for the company's safety. 500mi should be plenty.

the spec stage 3 is great. nice and firm, soft pedal feel, supports lots of horsepower... and is lifetime warrantied from spec

[vboyq]

the stage 3 6 puck is used by alot of the enjukuraing guys for daily use, and they all say its great and no slip. The hub is sprung, mind you, so its still streetable, and in my opinion its only been slightly more than stock pedal feel and the disk grabs great, with no slippage so far(well havent boosted it yet so don't really know) and i heard the stage 2 was slipping with somilar mods to me, so i went with the stage 3 6 puck SPRUNG hub.

[DriftS14]

I know I shouldn't write this cause as soon as I click sumbit my luck will be over. I have had my Spec stage 2 for the last 7500 miles and it has yet to slip on me (knock on wood for the rest of my life). It is extremely streetable and holds on to everything I throw at it. I religiously broke this thing in for 500 miles before giving it any hell and I believe it has payed off. Most others with stage 2's replace theirs at about this point because of failure. As far as 6 pucks, I break in those the same way. No clutch dumping, no downshifting (without rev-matching), and no extended clutch slipping (only enough to get going). Good luck with your new clutch.

[vboyq]

im not knocking the stage 2. i believe the majority of clutch failure or slippage is due to improper break in. IMPORTANT: BREAK-IN PROPERLY!!! and everything should be good. good luck with your stage 2 and continued success to you.Don't knock it unless you've tried it. one last thing i have to say is: i can't stand people talking about "this is the best" or "that's no good" when they have no real experience with it, only what they read on the net from other people.

[SpeedRacer1]

From ACT's FAQ:

Do ACT clutches require a break in period?For organic street discs "00 and SS" we recommend breaking in the clutch for 200-300 miles with mild engagement such as stop and go city driving prior to racing or spirited driving. ACT race discs usually only require a few hard slips to lap in the surfaces prior to normal driving or racing. Do not overheat the clutch during the break in period.

[mynismo]

can you define a few hard slips? like letting it out slowly while driving or in/out?

[Phax]

can you define a few hard slips? like letting it out slowly while driving or in/out?

Got sidestep?

[SpeedRacer1]

Well you just used the term slowly when trying to describe hard slips. What do you think. Letting it out slowly is a slow slip. A hard slip is dropping it from a medium to high rpm and letting it catch.

[nismostate]

dont forget to resurface your flywheel if you are sticking with the stock one. had mine for about 2k and no problems yet. I broke it in properly but i still brought it up to 4k, no launches or downshift. only time it slipped was when i did not bleed my clutch properly and it was slightly disengaged all the time which caused the slip. oh yea, torquing everything down cprrectly is important.

[vboyq]

yeah don't forget the resurface... you can see a HUGE difference, my stock one was all rad and rusty looking, had it resurfaced and it looked brand NEW. it was like looking in a mirror, it was so shiny and smooth!