night7519

I have an 05 GT 5 speed manual and recently I started noticing a "Chattering" noise when in Neutral with the clutch engaged. Took the car in to the dealership where a friend of mine is a mechanic and had him take a look. I was pretty sure it was the throwout bearing (Slave cylinder) and after taking a look he said he was pretty sure that was the source of the noise.

Since the labor required to get to the slave cylinder for replacement is the same as replacing the clutch, he recommended changing both to save me on labor down the road when the clutch needs to be replaced. Car currently has a little over 70K miles.

The Ford dealership wants about $730 for a new clutch kit including the pressure plate, clutch disc, pilot bearing, and slave cylinder with throwout bearing plus a little over $400 labor. Since I don't have a lift, the labor charge doesn't make me cringe too much as it would probably be well worth that price to not have to try to do this job myself on jack stands. The $730 price tag for an OEM replacement clutch kit gives me a little heartburn. I have seen much better prices online for clutch kits that would be an upgrade from the OEM clutch.

So I'm looking for some advice. What clutch kit would you folks recommend for a daily driver? Thanks in advance for your help.

moosestang

I have no experience with Exedy clutches, but their price on the stage 1 is the cheapest around. Check www.americanmuscle.com and send them an email for an additional discount code.

Are you going to be able to reuse the stock flywheel?

Slave cylinder is going to run $179, so if you have to buy an aftermarket flywheel, then it's still coming to $700+

$400 for install is money well spent. My back hurts just thinking about it. I've installed 2 clutches, because I inadvertently contaminated the first one.

night7519

What's the decision point for reusing the stock flywheel? Condition or clutch selection?

moosestang

Both. Some aftermarket clutches have been known to not play nice with the stock flywheel. If there are any hot spots on the stock flywheel, then i would not reuse it.

moosestang

Any of the stage 1-stage 2 clutches should work fine for a daily driver. I had a spec stage 2 (not 2+) and it felt just like stock. I now have the spec 3+ and it's not as nice as the stage 2 for stop and go. Reverse is a freaking nightmare with the 3+, but it only has 600 miles on it, so hopefully it gets better.

Janorton05

I just installed my exedy stage 2 a few Weeks ago. Was as all day project but not to difficult as long as you have a tranny jack. I also just had the fly wheel resurfaced and so far no problems. And the exedy stage two feels a lot different but still very friendly as a daily driver. After 2 or 3 days of learning to drive with it I have to say I love it. If your going to replace you might as well upgrade.