ClutchNGo

Hey everyone,

I'm new to the forum and I wanted to know what your takes were on stock vs aftermarket clutches. Mine needs to be replaced and I'm not sure which to go with. I don't need anything high performing, just something that will get me to and from without my left calve muscle being double the size of my right!!! My mechanic said I won't get as many miles out of an aftermarket clutch, but the price of a Ford clutch is almost double the aftermarket. I've had my Mustang for 5 years now and I'm not sure how long I'll have it for, so I'm not sure if I'll still have the car once the aftermarket clutch would theoretically go out. So my questions are...

Which would would choose and why?

How many more miles would I get out of a stock clutch vs and aftermarket?

Thanks for the answers!

Boss_Hotrod

Cant speak on the longevity of stock vs. aftermarket since I havent had either go out on me. I will say this, Ive used spec clutches and love them. I did smoke a stage 1 in my 5.0 though. It was slipping and the car just over powered it. A cheap OE replacement aftermarket clutch is probably not as good as some name brand aftermarket ones though.

whosniffedme

Just look up clutches in your power bracket.

http://www.americanmuscle.com/05-07-...utch-kits.html

They might still be hard to press in though, that's just how the clutches are on these cars are man.

BigDinTexas

CFDF would be my recommendation for an improved clutch feel with a car with minor mods/power adders...

I had one on another car that I turbo charged and it was amazing. Not sure why, but AM doesn't list this clutch, but I know they make one for the 05-10 manual cars as I was about to buy one for my 05, but traded that car in.

Don

05StangZz

I have a Ram stage 2 clutch and i love it. The pedal is definitely heavy now tho. I do believe American Muscle has a Ram OE replacement available as well. Id recommend that.
But whatever clutch you choose. REPLACE THE SLAVE CYLINDER.
I made the mistake of not replacing it along with the clutch and it **** the bed.
Most anyone here will agree. Ebay has them cheap enough.

jthorn9

That's a pretty vauge question. Stock and aftermarket clutches can range drastically.

In general clutches would line up as follows:

STOCK/OEM Replacement - standard OEM feel and grip
Stage 1 - uses similar organic pressure plate as OEM but usually with slightly higher clamping power for increased performance. Wear, and lifetime is similar to stock.
Stage 2 - uses simi organic pressure plate with a higher clamp for even more performance and usually has slightly longer life than stock under normal loads.
Stage 3 - uses ceramic pressure plate with even more clamp for higher torque demands and has longer life than factory. These clutches however do not act like factory clutches and require high RPMs to move the car. Easy to stall in a daily driver.

MadMike1337

I have an Excedy 500 at home just waiting on their fly wheel. Brenspeed recommended it for me. I'll let you know how I like it once i get it installed.

Simon1

The Mcleod RST is by far the most favorite clutch for our car. It probably has the lightest pedal and holds the most power. I have almost 20k miles on mine and that is with over 500 rwhp and a few hundred passes at the track.

JDWalton

Quick correction, not all clutches uses higher clamp pressure. Spec told me directly it's the same pressure plate for stages 1 through 3+. The difference was all in their friction material.

Also, a lot of people you hear with slave cylinder problems are running long tubes right next to their plastic clutch line and similar to the plastic crossover in your breaks, under heat it expands and the slave can't push.

Not to say they dont go, but many get replaced for the wrong reason.

From my personal experience the Spec was nice and near stock pressure. I had a stage 3.

From what my friends have role me the rams are heavy pedal and run into slave issues before others.

The twin disk street uses lower clamp pressure and has a light pedal but gets away with better then stock performance due to being able to spread the load across double the surface area.

kevinmalec

My slave cylinder/throwout bearing went out at 65K miles. I had to replace the slave cylinder/throwout bearing, pressure plate, flywheel, and etc.
I decided to go with the OEM clutch, since the after market was almost $400 more. Ford changed the design of OEM clutch and the pressure plate grabs differently and the clutch pedal is a lot lighter than my original stock clutch. I didn't like the light clutch pedal and it took some time to get used to it.