king cobra done, centerforce in mind

[mattj92]

I just blew out my king cobra clutch. I hated it anyways, it grabbed hard, but the pedal was hard as a freaking rcok. I would get a leg workout driving around town. I had a centerforce in mind. I heard they're a lot softer pedal than a king cobra and they grab hard. Is this true, and is it a good choice?
I'm diing to have a softer pedal. Any help would be great.

 

[408stroker5.0]

Throw a Centerforce Dual Friction on her. I have used the Dual Friction in the past and was fairly happy with it. If the pedal is as hard as rock something tells me that there could be something else wrong with it, such as a faulty clutch quadrant or cable or something. Overall I have found the D/F to be a fairly comftorable unit so throw that on and see what you think.

 

[matm347]

I like my Centerforce DF, it grabs well.

 

[stangbear427]

I blew up a DF with bolt ons. My SPEC I holds better, was $100 cheaper, and is a softer pedal. Hated my King Cobra too, I feel your pain. I actually replaced the DF with the King Cobra, and considered it a step up from the looks of the parts. Much as I hate to admit an FRPP peice was any good, the quality was much better than the Centerforce. More material, more rivets, bigger diaphram, all around better workmanship. Like I said though- they both sucked compared to this SPEC. I'll never buy another brand again.

 

[bapford]

stangbear, how does the SPEC clutch pedal feel compared to the KCobra? I have the FMS King Cobra on two different cars and the pedal one is fine, but the other is a real pain.

 

[stangbear427]

The SPEC is heavier then stock, but my wife is much happier to drive it than she ever was with the KC in there. It also grabs at half travel where it's supposed to, not right off the floor like the KC tends to. It actually feels a lot like my dad's '01 GT, which has a heavier stock clutch than our Foxes came with. I also noticed that as my KC got a little older, the pressure plate wore out fast and pedal effort got real hard in a hurry. I don't have enough miles on the SPEC yet for a long haul comparison, but based on what everyone who has been running them for years says, they're good to the last drop. I maybe got 5000 good miles out of my KC before it started to crap out on me, and it sure didn't get any better over the next two years. I've already got almost 4000 on my SPEC, and it still feels great and stickier than ever.

 

[Michael Yount]

I used a CenterForce for 7 seasons in my SCCA racer a few years back. Absolutely flawless performance for me.

 

[408stroker5.0]

There is alot of good clutch setup's out there. The truth is Spec, Centerforce, and Mcleod are probably the best out there. I had no problem's with my D/F for a long time. I now use a complete 11" Mcleod setup, w/Mcleod SFI Steel Flyheel on my Stroker and it works awesome. The only problem is it was quite an expensive setup and in traffic on hot day's it grab's hard. But otherwise it hold's like you woudn't believe and it feel's just about as good as stock. Personally I have never used a SPEC Setup but I have heard a lot of good thing's about them. But if you got lot's of cash flow, I would spend the money on a nice Mcleod Setup. A lot of hardcore racers use Mcleod Product's for their unit's.

 

[blk92stangg]

For my pretty much stock GT, the KC seems pretty good. We will see as the HP increases in the future

 

[itltrot]

wow my king cobra had alot let pedal effort than the stock or even the ram hd clutch i have now...

but i will upgrade to a spec when i do

and cyclical on here sells them Spec

 

[stangbear427]

I didn't mention McCloud- I ran one of their kevlar discs for a good year, and that thing was amazing. It held no matter what rpm it was hammered with, and I put over 50,000 daily driven hard miles on it with a mismatched pressure plate- it never fully disengaged so at every stoplight, etc, I was riding it and it was still trying to grab with the pedal to the floor. Not many clutches can last in that environment, I have nothing but respect for them. When I finally put it out of it's misery it looked like it had some miles left in it too. Not to mention they are the only brand Maximum Motorsports recommends- you all know how I feel about that. MM is the voice of God. If I had the money when I pulled it and did my SPEC clutch/billet flywheel setup, I would have gone McCloud for sure. But alas... ching ching...

 

[thompsonsd]

SPEC Stage 3 is by far the best I've tried!!! Killed the regular Motorsport, KC and Centerforce DF... SPEC put the SPEC in reSPECt as far a clutches go! Stage 3 does have a stiff pedal though, so go with a stage 2 if thats a concern.

 

[whitemustang89]

im gonna go with a spec clutch. my cousin has one in his sn cobra and i love the thing. pedal effort is fine. his is a stage 3 though i liked my kcobra and the pedal wasnt that bad in it either

 

[MUSTANGJOE]

with the dual frictions do you have to modify your flywheels ( get a bigger one )?

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Hmmmm....not sticking up for the KC here, but mine isnt all that hard to engage? I also adjusted mine to let out right about center pedel so that one also surprises me. I dunno, once i fry it i'll try the CF.

 

[SmockDoiley]

The DF is no different than any other clutch so no you dont have to modify anything. I'm using a DF and its holding just fine with 625 horses at the flywheel. They have weights on them to make the pedal super soft. I love it and the customer service is great.

 

[stangbear427]

Hmmmm....not sticking up for the KC here, but mine isnt all that hard to engage? I also adjusted mine to let out right about center pedel so that one also surprises me. I dunno, once i fry it i'll try the CF.

Let me clarify: When I said they tend to grab right off the floor, I didn't mean that it can't be adjusted out with the right linkage kit. However, they were designed to- with a thinner clutch disc than normal and a specially designed pressure plate to work with it for that purpose. The idea was that it would feel like it grabs stronger (I think they say 40% stronger than stock?) which is really only blowing so much smoke. It mainly feels like it's stronger, because it grabs so quick that it snaps your neck and takes you by surprise. You either love it or hate it, or if you're particularly brain dead, don't even notice; either way, it isn't a good design. And definately don't put any other clutch disc in there, that pressure plate doesn't allow adequate throw to completely disengage a normal thickness of clutch disc. Been there, fried that. Glad you were able to get yours to behave like a normal clutch. Props.

 

[Black93SVT]

Another Vote for spec... i have a stage 2 and it feels on par with what my centerforce was in terms of pedal effort. But OMG the clamping power and longevity of it is amazing. I put 35K on it and when i took it out it still looked practically brand new! Turned out my cable crapped the bed first lol and it was brand new same time as the clutch! Stage 3 would be overkill way overkill for a stock gt a stage one or maybe a 2 would be more than sufficient until you start heavily modding your car.

 

[Trojan Horse]

My vote goes to the Centerforce DF. I've been running mine for 3 years now. It has a low pedal effort and holds great. On a side note I'll admit that I do intend to try the SPEC clutch when/if the DF dies. I have heard lots of great things about them.

 

[408stroker5.0]

Mcleod Guys..... Mcleod. It's the only way to go if you got the money, it's that simple.