I dont get it Zeus, you asked ACTman so many questions on their setup and you went with CM? Do yourself a favor and return that thing and get yourself an ACT clutch. Unless you're planning on drag launching your car alot then the very best clutch is the ACT, hands down.

 

For a clutch that is two years old and has 32000 miles on it, I wouldn't think that they would warranty the parts but that's my opinion. Many OE clutches are lasted a fraction of that. Of course they are not suffering the catastrophic failure like this.

It appears that CM is using Exedy's medium size center hub (a Mazda disc) which is not all that bad really. We choose to use the larger Exedy center hub on our discs which is stronger but a bit more expensive. There is a slight tradeoff of weight with ours or course. Still I don't fault CM for their choice of hubs. Sometimes we don't have a choice. We have used the same size center design as theirs on some other pretty high powered applications with positive results.

There can also be contributing factors. Anything that causes misalignment or will increase torsional vibration will beat up on the disc center. Things like: increased boost, lighter flywheel, aftermarket crank pulley, loose pressure plate bolts, loose engine to trans bolts, etc. No part is perfect, but I don't think a CM bashing is in order.

Do I recommend you buy a CM clutch? Of course not! But I have a slight bias.

 

Sorry to hear the bad new man!!!

 

As Dirk has mentioned, Clutchmasters, ACT and many other performance clutch companies use our manufactured parts when "piecing together" their kits. They all have a very good product and modify to their own market needs, but as Dirk said some run Mazda discs in Mitsubishis, some run Toyota discs in Nissans.

Regardless, we sell whatever parts to repackagers that they request. We don't manufacture for them per se, but since we manufacture such a wide range of OE standard clutch components, there's a good chance if you buy an aftermarket clutch kit, it’s going to have one or two of our components included in the kit.

Bottom Line - Exedy can't accept responsibility on a disc which fails that we manufacture - the disc is not only modified, but often times installed in a car which it wasn't originally designed for .


We do however manufacture for a few companies, Cusco and Ralliart being two prime examples.


However, most performance kits are merely pieced together with existing OE parts that are modified to each clutch packagers specs.


Our performance clutches, such as our Stage 2 Ceremetallic and Hyper Twin are engineered from the ground up as PERFORMANCE clutches. NOT pieced together from existing parts - all our performance clutches have upgrades that separate them from our OE parts i.e. Torque Stopper Springs, Upgraded Friction Materials, and Increased Pressure Plate Capacity. All this is done to increase the holding power / toque capacity of our sports / performance clutches.



Keep this in mind next time you buy a clutch.

 

Matt,
You sound like a commercial. What's with this:

Are we a clutch packager? Is that how you describe what we do? Merely piece together existing parts and slightly modify them? Humm, well I guess you could put it that way for many of our parts. It depends on how you define the word modify but that's getting technical.

I guess if it is good enough for Jeff Hill to run 9.7's and for John Shepherd to run 8.7's, and Brent to run mid 7's on merely modified parts... then I will accept that. Dang it, now I sound a commercial! I just need to add the "keep that in mind next time..."

Friends: Don't take me too seriously. Matt and I talk at all the shows and races (recently at NOPI, AZ) and I have the utmost respect for Matt and the other folks at Exedy. I just like to poke fun from time to time.

Hey Matt, how's that sunburn?

 

Whay are you talking about Dirk? Commercial? Remember when I saw you on Sunday-Sunday-Sunday. I told you Exedy is SLASHING PRICES and didn't even mention anything about everything that MUST GO!

But seriously, as for what you do - I don't mean to belittle it by any means - you guys, Clutchmasters, and many other clutch companies do a great job at what you do. But I don't want to give away any of your trade secrects.

As for the sunburn, Bernie said he isn't paying workers comp for my injuries!

See ya soon bud...

 

I actually just purchased my CM FX400 clutch last week, got it in the mail today. There is a 90 day warranty on the clutch, however the person I talked to specifically said that they will honor defects even after the warranty expires. He said they had some clutches in shop that were long past warranty that they are working on. If it were me, I'd make a phone call as CM isn't on the boards.

 

hey actman seeing as you are biased on this matter and that the clutchmasters lasted 32000 how many miles are the acts usually good til? i dont want to be buying a clutch every other year

 

That is very difficult to estimate, since the wear rate is totally relative to the driver's influence. Just like the stories of stock clutches lasting only 2000 miles or over 100,000 miles.

What I can say is that our clutch has a broader working range than stock (more clamp load over more distance) and we feel that our friction material is better. How that translates to longevity is relative to why the clutch is wearing in the first place. For instance, if the clutch is wearing because you tend to overpower or overheat the friction material, our clutch has better torque capacity and better heat tolerance so it should improve clutch life dramatically. If it is wearing because of frequent shifting (stop and go traffic) without overpowering or overheating, then you may only experience a slight change in clutch life.

 

Hey hey hey Gil, ease up. I have recently put some miles on a friend's Evo with the CM stage 3 unit installed. Then, I had a brand new stage 3 Clutchmasters Kevlar clutch fall in my lap for LESS than an ACT. Let me go one step further to explain my personal feelings on the subject... I've made my mind up that the ACT is the best bang for the buck out there. Hands down! The CM kit does drive better (far nicer engagement/pedal effort) than the ACT. It drives like butter with a nice grab at the end. Pedal engagement is not "stock like", but like stock or less pedal effort... with a PP with about the same clamping pressure as the ACT. Now we know that with a Kevlar lining and the same clamping force that I'm not going to get the same torque holding capability as the ACT. Also, from passed DSM customer experience, the CM is not as durable as the ACT units. I just had an offer that I could not refuse on a clutch that FEELS better to drive (remember my knees are not what they used to be) than the ACT. I did this believing that I was taking a step back in the name of comfort. So my choice is not a slap in the face to Dirk, nor would I recommend CM over ACT for average Joe Evo owner.

 

Sorry to hear what happened. I always stay away from clutchmaster's products as I hear bad things about them all the time. ACT and Exedy are my first choices when it comes to clutch upgrades.

 

Now this is not the kind of thread I wanted to see today. I just installed this CM stage 3 clutch yesterday!

 

I didn't want to make this a bashing session. I probably did jump to conclusions about my whole opinion about CMs. I plan to base my decision off of how well they take care of this occurance. I was just very upset that this whole ordeal took place. Mainly it's due to the fact that now I do not have a car. This makes it a little difficult to make it to work each morning. I am contacting them today and I will update you on how the situation unfolds.

In the meantime I really appreciate all the input from you Clutch Gurus. I will definitely keep all of your advice in mind once I am on the market for a new clutch again.

P.S. I really liked this clutch for the fact of it's nice solid engagement and the ease of daily drivibility. It's just unfortunate that my disc exploded.

 

I just contacted CMs through email not even 2 hours ago. I gave them my contact info and a representative has already contacted me to resolve the issue. I will be sending in the whole assembly for them to look at. The rep actually told me that they switched designs on their disc hubs due to this being a possibilty for failure. So all of you who recently bought a clutch from them shouldn't have any worries.
I will have to admit that their customer service is A+ to have contacted me so quickly and on a friday at that. He also added to tell me that they offer a 90 day warranty, but in most cases they will warranty way beyond that point.
So far I am pleased with the way this is going, and depending on what the cause of failure was and how they handle my case, I may consider them again in the future. Again, I was very happy with the way the clutch held up.

 

That's nice to know... both about your service, and the claim of them using a different hub. I'm about 5 mins away from looking at mine that is on the table. I'll compare it to your pictures.