South Bend clutch not very happy!

[darkstar]

Okay here is my story may be a little long but if you are going to buy a new clutch you need to read this specially if you are thinking about going with a SBC OFE SS.. Okay so i bought a new clutch back in about August of last year. That clutch i bought was defective come to find out after my syncros where shot in first gear after 3 days of driving.. so then i call up the company i had install it they tell me its the clutch! I'm not to sure after hearing about How great this clutch is.. so i call up Andy at SBC.. he tells me it had to be something with the install they have never once had a problem with the clutch.. mind you when i took my car in there the transmission was in perfect working order.. so now I'm sitting here with both of them pointing the figures at each other and myself.. i drove the car like a damn grandma! i put 500 miles on it and the tranny was shot! anyways we all come to an agreement Andy confesses and tells me they had a bad batch gives me like 400 bucks to put to wards my install and tranny! that doesn't even cover the labor to put a new clutch in.. so i get my new SBC OFE SS and i get it in with a new used tranny.. we all came to an agreement i pay 1000 i get a new tranny, fly wheel, clutch... so i pay my money get my car back... here i am 4000 miles later in the same fucking boat! today my car is hard to get into every single gear the car chatters in first gear i am very very upset! i drive my car like an old man! I'm tired of wasting my money on some companies poor manufacturing skills! something need to be done here! people are getting taking advantage of! this isn't right I'm calling SBC out! something needs to be done! I'm pretty sure my stock clutch out preformed this "racing" clutch! this is a bunch of bullshit! so if this has happen to you please post in here! something needs to happen! you cant do this to you customers and get away with it!


thanks for listening!

Billy

[martini]

I installed mine myself and it has been flawless

did they say exacgly what was wrong with the clutch? is it slipping, is it not releasing...etc

[darkstar]

The first one i recieved the lining was to thick. right now it doesnt want to go into any gear pretty much.. it will be okay sometimes.. i hear that this has happen with other OFE SS owners..

[kpatz]

If you have trouble getting into gear or your synchros are getting messed up it's because the clutch isn't disengaging completely. Either because the lining is too thick or because the hydraulics aren't disengaging the clutch completely (master cylinder, low fluid, air in lines etc.)

[Don Supreme]

The first one i recieved the lining was to thick. right now it doesnt want to go into any gear pretty much.. it will be okay sometimes.. i hear that this has happen with other OFE SS owners..

I had the same thing happen on my SBC.

PM me if you want details.

[passatkid]

Is there anyway to find out when the effected clutches were produced. I have stage 4 waiting to be installed.

[SlvrB6Turbo]

I have been running my OFE SS for over a year and couldn't be happier. The first 2,000 miles I noticed that it was harder than normal to shift into 1st and 2nd gear. That went away eventually, and I am very pleased.

[BarryT82]

I had the Stage 4 OFE cryo treated in my B5 and it worked great.

[darkstar]

Well it seems like it a hit and miss thing.. i was fairy happy with my clutch until today.. i kept my mouth shut about the previous problem thinking it was a fluke.

I also hear that there are iron deposits being left on the fly wheel from the clutch lining, causing chattering..

Don i PM'd you!

[rocknrims]

damn that sucks man....

i just got mine installed 2 weeks ago... the first few days it was hard to shift into 1st and 2nd... now its fine. Smooth shifting.

i hope it stays that way....

[3thrd_a_4]

I have a little chatter between shifts but other than that everything seems fine

[Doss]

Hmm... mine is 100% fine. I did the install myself. I inspected everything before install (I'm a little too meticulous sometimes). Everything looked within spec.

So, my question is how much do you trust the work of the shop you had do the install?

I don't mean that as an insult to them or anything, it's just a question.

I'd say you are just in a chain of bad luck (though I don't think luck is real).

[F16HTON]

His install was done by 2Bennett Audimotive, they are extremely respected.

I have had the same symptoms as Billy and I know Charlie's car did the same thing while I was driving it.

[05A$SE]

bringing back an old thread. i have a stage 4 ofe ss in a 2005 a4 1.8t. last week my slave blew, audi dealer diagnosed it as failed slave and failed master. so i took it to an audi vw shop. they replaced the slave, then the master, found a leak. fixed that. bled the system. and now the slave is blown again. theyre trying to tell me at the shop its due to a clutch failure. they think that the clutch is to much pressure for the slave. ive never heard of this but im lost. my cars been down for about 12 days and i just moved and ive been stranded in my apt haha. SOMEONE GIMME SOME GOOD NEWS!

[Tgr_Clw]

all I know is that I hate my SB FE SS. way too stiff for daily driving.

[Papachristou]

knock on wood for me but after hearing about the OFE problems, i just got the FE SS. Ive had it for 25k i think, maybe 35k, i cant remember when i put it in. Anyhow, i did it all myself, measured everything, had SB resurface the flywheel but it all in with all new hardware and its been flawless. Ill agree it is pretty stiff, especially after i drive my wifes S4 but i like it on the highway, in town, not so much. I think your problem is you said you drive it like a grandma! i give mine so much hell its not even funny. Countless launches, donuts, rough downshifts etc. Anyhow, ive been pretty happy with SB so far. I hear of problems with just about every clutch company.

[jonan]

damn man, i remember you and i had the same exact problem at the same time, we both had a clutch from the defective batch...i just called it quits with the clutch mods and had a stock one put back in...been fine ever since...did the lining separate again?

link to old thread

[kbasham03]

I have the same symptoms, had my ofe ss installed by a respectable shop. Shudders like hell taking off in 1st, hard to get into gears. I had a thread about this awhile back and emailed sb about it, sent them a link to the thread. They blew me off, never emailed me back. Shit company if you ask me. Shit product, no customer service. Here's the link http://www.audizine.com/forum/showthread.php/306959-SouthBend-OFE-SS-shudder

[ZimbutheMonkey]

For what it's worth, I have a SPEC stage 3+ with an unsprung clutch hub and a 9lb aluminium fidenza flywheel and I love it. Being that that nothing is sprung in the entire clutch assembly and with a light flywheel I was worried about it being like a lightswitch and engaging rough. It's nothing like that at all. It feels just like any other manual I've driven.

Also, it's very easy to engage, given that it has a 510 ft/lb holding capacity. When I first installed my 5 speed, bled the lines and depressed the clutch for the first time it moved so easily I actually thought there was air in the lines still. Perfectly livable in stop and go traffic.

The only issue is that it chatters some when you let off the throttle, however given it's other benefits, that's a perfectly fine tradeoff in my mind.

I know SPEC has had some problems about 5 years ago, however I'm really happy with my setup thus far (knock on wood) so maybe you'd want to give them a call.

[old guy]

I have the same symptoms, had my ofe ss installed by a respectable shop. Shudders like hell taking off in 1st, hard to get into gears.

Read this thread for more info: Clicky click Be sure to read post 15 on the hard to shift issue.

[doublezero30]

dude your problems havnt even started. ive had my OFE SS in for 20-30k now and its been fucking miserable. after 1000 miles i have had the same transmission problems as you. not to mention the fact that my "brand new" throwout bearing they gave me was shot and making rattling noises. i dont have the money to have the shit fixed, nor do i think either company (installer or southbend) would be of any help. and do exactly what they did to you. point fingers at each other. basically its a big FML situation, so i just tell anyone looking for a clutch to get anything BUT southbend.

SOUTHBEND CLUTCHES FTL.

[Dolphin18T]

Haven't had mine for in for long (<1k miles) but it's been fine so far. SS-Stage 3 Daily. Not too hard of a pedal, but stiffer than stock. It was installed by a very reputable shop and the flywheel was resurfaced.

[teg2audi]

I've had mine for 8-10k miles. Feels just like OEM no problems yet?

[Shayneduboulay]

I have had mine in for over year now and it still works well. I don't like how its still a bit stiff going into first and sometimes second gear from a stand still. The engagement point if so stupid because I hardly lift my foot off the clutch and it starts engaging. My clutch pedal has to be all the way to the floor before going into any gear and I hate that a lot! not good for a DD. I read so many good things about SB before I bought my clutch so I had no issues with spending $1000 on it. I'm not trying to say it s the worst clutch out there but for the people getting a new clutch I would try something different personally.

[AudiHere04]

I had 2 OFE SS (one was fused, got a new one from SB) in my old set-up...now on the Clutch Masters Twin Disc...i love clutch masters...no more stiffness, it grabs great. just gotta live with some noise.

[kbasham03]

Read this thread for more info: Clicky click Be sure to read post 15 on the hard to shift issue.

Thanks og, so your saying doing a couple 5k launches, takes care of it?

[old guy]

Thanks og, so your saying doing a couple 5k launches, takes care of it?

So far it has worked for me. About once a month I give it a pretty good launch and it seems to smooth it out. However, I wouldn’t recommend starting with a 5k launch. Try something a little less and see if it helps. If not do a few more, each a little harder. If you slip the clutch too much you run the risk of fusing the clutch plate to the flywheel. Not fun :-(

[kbasham03]

So far it has worked for me. About once a month I give it a pretty good launch and it seems to smooth it out. However, I wouldn’t recommend starting with a 5k launch. Try something a little less and see if it helps. If not do a few more, each a little harder. If you slip the clutch too much you run the risk of fusing the clutch plate to the flywheel. Not fun :-(

Yeah I'm sick of the Shudder, I'm going to try just dumping it at 3500, hopefully it won't fuse to the flywheel. Were you dumping it or riding it, to get rid of the shudder?

[old guy]

Yeah I'm sick of the Shudder, I'm going to try just dumping it at 3500, hopefully it won't fuse to the flywheel. Were you dumping it or riding it, to get rid of the shudder?

I let it slip a little at first and then quickly let it engage.