A Warning about ACT clutches to eveyone
Newbie
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 16
Likes: 0
From: United States
DONT GET THE ACT HDSS Clutch KIT Ive had one on my car for 30k-40k and now my car lives its life on jackstands! After dropping over a grand on the HDSS and the ACT street lite fly wheel and then shelling out anouther 675 to have it installed, the throw out bearing went out. So now I have to eather pay to have my ACT rebuilt all over again when it should have been good in the first place. SO instead Im just going to get an Exedy clutch and flywheel now and throw my HDSS in the garbage. Having to pay for a clutch twice is the worst so make sure to save your self alot of time and money by not getting a clutch from ACT or youll have to pay the price like I did.
Thank you to those who took the time to speak out in support of ACT. Although I usually have a thick skin for this sort of thing, SwishSweet felt it necessary to start a thread to bash our product after I took time over my busy weekend to contact him, so I couldn't just let this go. Readers should also understand that this came after I PMed him regarding a post mentioning his failed TO bearing. My intent for the PM conversation was to find out about the failure, which bearing he purchased and if there was any way I could help. This is the entire PM conversation I had with SwishaSweet prior to this thread:
ACTman:
I saw your post about having a TO bearing failure. I am sorry for the problem. We have had very few issues with bearings, so I would like to look into this for you. We have actually changed brands away from the OE due to quality and reliability so if yours is the newer brand I would like to know. Do you still have the bearing? Do you know when the clutch kit was purchased and by who? (some retailers buy their own bearings) My email address is dstarksen@advancedclutch.com.
SwishaSweet:
I bought this kit on 2/6/2008 from lancershop.com as item # MCT.MB7-HDSS ACTstreet clutch kit for $767.95. I also purchased the Street flywheel 13lb for $288.15. Installed by a great shop 30k-40k miles ago I cant remember exactally. As of the last few weeks my car has been on jack stands while I try to get the cash for a new clutch, flywheel and throw out bearing. When I finally get my car fixed ill gladly ship out the bearing for you to look at.
ACTman:
Humm, I am not sure when we changed bearing manfacturers but it has to be close to that time. I would definitely like to take a look at it.
I am not sure of your goals with the car but if you are trying to save some cash, you may want to consider rebuilding the existing parts. This is not something we advertise, but we certainly can do it. The only part that will need replacement is the clutch disc. At the very least, you can have the flywheel resurfaced locally rather than replacement. Let me know if we can help.
SwishaSweet:
I just want all the ACT parts out of my car. My car is my everyday car that has never even seen the track. I live on the Menominee Indian reservation so it’s not like I ever even see a stop and go light either. I’m willing to bet the throw out would have went out much sooner for the average driver but because I live in the middle of the woods and never have to stop, it is under very little stress. I’m not building my car or anything like that I’m just trying to get it working again. All it has is a few bolt ons so im going to switch to the Exedy single and the Exedy flywheel to fix the problem.
ACTman:
Flywheel won't matter as long as it is flat, balanced, etc. Besides the TO bearing issue, what problems are you having that need to be fixed? Are you talking about putting the stock Exedy clutch in the car or the Exedy Stage 1? The stage 1 isn't much of an upgrade but for your needs either one will probably work fine.
SwishaSweet:
My problem is i payed over 1500 to get a clutch in my car that is now undrivable becuase of a bad throw out bearing that came in the kit. So i just burned over 1500 because of a cheep throw out bearing that was offerd in the HDSS kit. Any clutch would be better than one that makes the car undrivable by falling apart after 2 summers worth of driving. I dont race or track i just drive to get where i need to go and the car isnt even on the road for 3-4 months out of the year in the winter.
ACTman:
We have had less problems with the newer bearings than with the OEM bearings we used to supply, but I don't know exactly when we changed. It had to be close to the time you purchased the kit, probably after the change, if it was early '08.
Regardless, it is not like we have been supplying cheap bearings in either case. If it is the early bearing, it is the same bearing as Mitsu. The later bearings have been tested and analysed, and it I feel they are of better quality than the factory bearing, and we have experienced less issues than before, not that the stock bearings were that troublesome. I know that doesn't help your situation, but I didn't want you to think we supply some sub-standard bearing.
Do you have the car apart yet? Once again, what other issues were you experiencing that need to be fixed? What symptoms were you having? Why do you feel that you need to change the flywheel?
It turns out that we were supplying the OE bearing at the time he purchased the kit so ACT=Mitsu for the TO bearing at that time. As I stated in my PM, one reason we changed manfacturers is to improve the quality/reliability. I will not continue to post onto this thread, but I am glad to help anyone with anything clutch related. Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email or PM me directly.
ACTman:
I saw your post about having a TO bearing failure. I am sorry for the problem. We have had very few issues with bearings, so I would like to look into this for you. We have actually changed brands away from the OE due to quality and reliability so if yours is the newer brand I would like to know. Do you still have the bearing? Do you know when the clutch kit was purchased and by who? (some retailers buy their own bearings) My email address is dstarksen@advancedclutch.com.
SwishaSweet:
I bought this kit on 2/6/2008 from lancershop.com as item # MCT.MB7-HDSS ACTstreet clutch kit for $767.95. I also purchased the Street flywheel 13lb for $288.15. Installed by a great shop 30k-40k miles ago I cant remember exactally. As of the last few weeks my car has been on jack stands while I try to get the cash for a new clutch, flywheel and throw out bearing. When I finally get my car fixed ill gladly ship out the bearing for you to look at.
ACTman:
Humm, I am not sure when we changed bearing manfacturers but it has to be close to that time. I would definitely like to take a look at it.
I am not sure of your goals with the car but if you are trying to save some cash, you may want to consider rebuilding the existing parts. This is not something we advertise, but we certainly can do it. The only part that will need replacement is the clutch disc. At the very least, you can have the flywheel resurfaced locally rather than replacement. Let me know if we can help.
SwishaSweet:
I just want all the ACT parts out of my car. My car is my everyday car that has never even seen the track. I live on the Menominee Indian reservation so it’s not like I ever even see a stop and go light either. I’m willing to bet the throw out would have went out much sooner for the average driver but because I live in the middle of the woods and never have to stop, it is under very little stress. I’m not building my car or anything like that I’m just trying to get it working again. All it has is a few bolt ons so im going to switch to the Exedy single and the Exedy flywheel to fix the problem.
ACTman:
Flywheel won't matter as long as it is flat, balanced, etc. Besides the TO bearing issue, what problems are you having that need to be fixed? Are you talking about putting the stock Exedy clutch in the car or the Exedy Stage 1? The stage 1 isn't much of an upgrade but for your needs either one will probably work fine.
SwishaSweet:
My problem is i payed over 1500 to get a clutch in my car that is now undrivable becuase of a bad throw out bearing that came in the kit. So i just burned over 1500 because of a cheep throw out bearing that was offerd in the HDSS kit. Any clutch would be better than one that makes the car undrivable by falling apart after 2 summers worth of driving. I dont race or track i just drive to get where i need to go and the car isnt even on the road for 3-4 months out of the year in the winter.
ACTman:
We have had less problems with the newer bearings than with the OEM bearings we used to supply, but I don't know exactly when we changed. It had to be close to the time you purchased the kit, probably after the change, if it was early '08.
Regardless, it is not like we have been supplying cheap bearings in either case. If it is the early bearing, it is the same bearing as Mitsu. The later bearings have been tested and analysed, and it I feel they are of better quality than the factory bearing, and we have experienced less issues than before, not that the stock bearings were that troublesome. I know that doesn't help your situation, but I didn't want you to think we supply some sub-standard bearing.
Do you have the car apart yet? Once again, what other issues were you experiencing that need to be fixed? What symptoms were you having? Why do you feel that you need to change the flywheel?
It turns out that we were supplying the OE bearing at the time he purchased the kit so ACT=Mitsu for the TO bearing at that time. As I stated in my PM, one reason we changed manfacturers is to improve the quality/reliability. I will not continue to post onto this thread, but I am glad to help anyone with anything clutch related. Thank you for your understanding. If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email or PM me directly.
Evolved Member
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 1,630
Likes: 4
From: Columbia, MD
For what its worth, I have had no issues with my ACT clutch so far. It grabs well and has a good pedal feel. Whenever I replace it I will probably go for a twin-disk clutch, but I don't expect it will be any time soon unless I drastically increase the car's power.
I had my first ACT HDSS for 6 years and 109k miles on it. 25+ track days (road racing) and at least 20 launches, I put another one in a few months ago. When it finally gave out, the spring broke, not the surface material.
Thanks for a great product Dirk!
Thanks for a great product Dirk!
Closed, please type a formal review in the review section. For what its worth this sounds like an isolated incident. There are MANY successful ACT clutch owners on the forum. Me included.
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