Tom Deutsch

Need to replace my clutch (85 GS bone stock). I'm not modiying the car and I don't drive it all that hard. Hopefully all the people who were going to tell me to go spend $400+ on a clutch are bored and have clicked away
Anyhoo, I stopped at AutoZone and they tell me I can get a clutch kit with all the bearings for something like $69.
I want to make sure I don't buy crappy components, especially the bearings. I want something that will last, but I don't need a high-dollar performance clutch. Has anyone bought the bottom feeder clutch kit from Auto zone (or any of the discount parts places)? Can I spend $20-$60 more and get better components from a better parts dealer? Brand names to watch for or stay away from? Moog? Beck Arnley? Timken?

nick812

I am going with perfection heard good things about them.

Box_Man

EXEDY!

http://www.atkinsrotary.com/store/pr...cat=401&page=1

MattG

iTrader: (2)

Is that who Atkins sells?

I didnt know that!

GavinJuice

STOCK i would use an LUK clutch http://www.dialaclutch.com/dac-demo/dosearch.asp

ALSO sell exedy for $30 bucks cheaper than atkins......

Tom Deutsch

OK, $130 or so is reasonable. But will I actually be getting better components than in the $70 (no delivery/handling) kit from one of the big national chains?
Has anyone tried the cheapo ones and found them inferior?

Box_Man

Had a luk clutch on my old motor, replaced it with the exedy on the new motor. The exedy not only feels better (clamping force and lack of slippage) but looks like a higher quality part to me.

Jeff20B

iTrader: (13)

Yes, I just installed a good used Daikin (now called Exedy) pressure plate with a stock style disc and '83-'85 flywheel the other day and it feels great. It's not as strong of a pedal as a Racing Beat 'street strip', but stronger than an Al's/Grand auto or Schuck's/Checker/Cragen parts store special. I quite enjoyed test driving it. Not too hard and not too soft. Perfect.

If you want a pathetic pedal and weak holding power, get a national parts store kit. If you want something decent, get Exedy.

Tom Deutsch

I guess what I'm really asking is this ... my car has 79,000 miles on it and I'm assuming the clutch and bearings on there are original. The car wasn't driven hard, from what I'm able to tell, so that's entirely possible. I must be easy on clutches because I've been driving sticks for 25 years and have never needed to replace one. Even now, the reason I'm needing to replace the clutch is because the bearings are making noise, not because the clutch itself is worn out. So, if I buy the $130 kit, is it going to have different/better bearings than the ones that only lasted 79k miles, or are they from the same fireworks/bearings/garment factory as in the $67 clutch kit?
Thanks for your responses, but I don't especially want a beefier or more aggressive clutch feel, if that's what the LUK offers. I want it to feel like a factory clutch ... is that so wrong?

MattG

iTrader: (2)

There is nothing wrong with that, but its the old saying you get what you pay for.

Just get a stock replacement clutch from a name brand company, and it will be made with better quailty parts.

You could always go to a mazda dealer and have them order you a stock one, but if you complain about $130 clutch I wouldnt suggest doing that.

Just bite the bullet and get a name brand stock clutch.

-Matt

jgrewe

iTrader: (1)

Compare the cost to the PITA the job is. Do you want to do it again in a year? I'd think a $130 clutch set would be about the minimum I'd put in a car.

I had an FB with an original clutch until 270,000 miles. The clutch went, I threw in an aluminum flywheel and new clutch I had laying around, car barfed an apex seal a few months later. It didn't like being revved like a dirt bike.

Tom Deutsch

I believe you often get what you pay for, but there's not always a difference, especially when you consider Auto Zone probably buys 15,000 clutches at a much lower cost than online specialists buy their name-brand clutches. Some identical parts are branded just to make them worth more, but they may not be any different than the name-brand counterpart.
One of you said, buy from a name-brand parts dealer ... what's that? Or rather, what isn't a name brand? AutoZone? PepBoys? Napa?
I'm really not worried about paying $200, $130 or $67 for this important component. I just wondered if anyone actually knows if the bearings/components in a more expensive clutch kit are any better than the cheapest ones, and if so, what to watch out for (because maybe, for instance, the PepBoys one is better than the AutoZone one, or whatever). Haven't heard anybody say why they think the online bearings/components (LUK, Daikin) are better, other than they feel more aggressive and "look" better ...
Not trying to be a PITA, just think it is worthwile to make sure we all get the value we pay for when folks market parts to us as a specialty market. Do we have our eyes open for relative value?

74RX4

iTrader: (10)

I would suggest buying the following from Mazdatrix. The stock clutch disc for $110, a throw out bearing (release bearing) for $34, a pilot bearing for $7 and a clutch alignment tool for $3. There's generally no need to replace the stock pressure plate. For a total of $144 you will have a quality replacement disk and bearings. You may not even need a clutch disk, if bearing noise is the only problem, but removing the tranny without installing a new disk doesn't make much sense.

I've returned some chain store kits because I thought they were junk. I did, however, find a $100 Exedy kit for my 74 RX-4 at Discount Auto Parts several years ago. I don't believe you will get after market bearings that are better than stock. Might be as good, but not better.