South Bend Clutch - Stage 2 Clutch, 1st look and impressions

Recieved a UPS package yesterday. Much to my suprise, my South Bend Clutch stage 2 clutch arrived a mere 2 days after ordering! Why would I change my clutch right now? Short answer is I wouldn't, except for the fact that my 7mt like many others makes the "cold grinding noise", and I have a trans on order at the dealership. Seems a perfect opportunity to try out a "high perf" clutch! Otherwise there is NOTHING wrong w/my original, and I will save it in the box in case I can't get used to this one, or something goes wrong w/it.
So after thinking about it I decided to go "stage 2" or "endurance". Endurance sounded like something that works well on an offroad rig...something that takes a beating...but I didn't quite know what that meant...now I do! The clutch disc is a high perf puck style on the flywheel side and conventional on the PP side. Dunno how well thats gonna work, but sure looks cool! Party side:

Business side:


Cool idea! I would assume "race" is party on both sides, and "daily" is all business...dont have those to compare, but makes sense now. The pressure plate has a sachs part # on it, so may cross over to other applications...I don't have catalog info to cypher, but maybe somebody reading this does:



In another thread @kodiakisland asked why they come with flywheels, and the reason for that is to do away with the dual mass flywheel. Engineers love dual mass flywheels, but engineers don't have to work on 100k + mile vehicles. As a profesional, I 100% approve of the included flywheel! It is THE BEST part of this kit! Single mass, completely flat, and dowel holes drilled all the way through! Its like they read my mind on what I wanted! Starter gear teeth are beveled too! Very nice piece!



And of course they include alignment tool and flywheel/crank bolts. They are torx(ugh), but oh well, can't have everything! I have an electronic scale, but batteries are dead, otherwise I would get some weights, by feel the weight of the full assy is at least 40lb, and UPS listed the box as 45lb. Dont know how that compares to stock, but doubt its any lighter. The flywheel is probably a bit lighter, but the PP feels quite beefy. Only other thing I noticed is in pics on the website it shows a pilot bearing In the flywheel, but there isn't one in the kit. Don't know if i was supposed to get one, or if I reuse my original or what. Plenty of time to figure that out as my trans won't be going in till I get back from Moab in May.



EDIT: After reading the shop manual, the pilot bearing on this type (like most) is in the end of the crankshaft, not the flywheel, so I should not need one. The picture on SBC's website shows a completely different flywheel:


here's the shop manual pic:

So what I received is completely correct

Interesting. Keep us posted.

Subbed, definitely wanna hear how it turns out

Does anyone here know of a heavier flywheel for rock crawling? Turn our broncos into tractors basically...

Really interested to see the difference the flywheel makes in the 2.3L.

Will it sound like a buzzsaw? My old A4 with a single mass sounded like one the first two gears, loved it

Can't wait to see how you like it. Glad people like you are out there to test stuff before I dive in blind lol

I did reach out to SBC about the stages/usage, and what I said above is more or less correct, except there ARE 3 different pressure plates. Stage 1, 2, 3 indicates pressure plate stiffness, and "daily", "endurance", and "drag" indicate disc type...conventional, 50/50, and full "high perf". Glad I got stage 2, cause I don't wana end up crying in traffic cause my hamstring is cramping up! Would like a little stiffer feel tho!

I use a SB Stg 3 Daily with a single-mass 20lb steel flywheel in my TT, its outstanding and holds no problem

orion said:

Does anyone here know of a heavier flywheel for rock crawling? Turn our broncos into tractors basically...

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A tractor was my very first impression on driving the 7mt

I3lackRose said:

A tractor was my very first impression on driving the 7mt

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Now if only it wasn't sitting in the shop waiting for FORD to fix their poor design, back log of faulty 7MT and no parts.......

Sooooooo

I’m still curious if the dual mass is part of the noise……..

I’m very interested in where this goes.

Bmadda said:

I did reach out to SBC about the stages/usage, and what I said above is more or less correct, except there ARE 3 different pressure plates. Stage 1, 2, 3 indicates pressure plate stiffness, and "daily", "endurance", and "drag" indicate disc type...conventional, 50/50, and full "high perf". Glad I got stage 2, cause I don't wana end up crying in traffic cause my hamstring is cramping up! Would like a little stiffer feel tho!

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Very interested if your clutch pedal goes from barely any feel to 2008 medium JK feel.

My luck I’d upgrade the clutch and the go to take it in for the noise and they’d be like no can do warranty voided.

But I think they’d install it for me if they already took the transmission off for repair.

UM_Ftown said:

My luck I’d upgrade the clutch and the go to take it in for the noise and they’d be like no can do warranty voided.

But I think they’d install it for me if they already took the transmission off for repair.

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I think your “luck” would have nothing to do with it. Warranty voided - no doubt.