Racing Beat clutch vs. ACT
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From: Round Rock, TX
Racing Beat clutch vs. ACT
I apologize if this is the wrong forum to post this comparison. I realize that RB is a sponsor of this forum, but I believe the experience we had with a customer's 94 RX7 and his clutch issue is worth mentioning.
I did cross post this in the RX8 club forum as well.
This particular incident happened with a 94 RX7 wherein one of our customers purchased and has us install a Racing Beat clutch disc (the street version) which didn't fit.
We pulled his transmission and was ready to go back in with the new RB disc when we test fit it on the transmission splines. No go. It didn't fit at all. We lubricated the splines and it slid on a few millimeters at most. The stock disc slid on and off without problem so we called the customer and told him his RB disc didn't fit. We sent it back to RB and then got a phone call from Jim Tanner. He told us basically that there was nothing wrong with the disc. They tested it for fit there at their facility as well as one of their large customer's shops down the street from them.
We told Jim that it simply did not fit on our customer's car and he basically told us that we didn't know what we were doing because Mazdatrix had no problem installing it (which i highly doubt. i'll share why later). He then said that it would not be warrantied nor the money returned to the customer because we had put on a lubricant to help it slide on. Why lube would void its warranty is beyond me, but that was something the customer would deal with.....and he has.
Tanner sent back the disc and our customer ordered a disc from ACT. I have used ACT for years and am a true believer. When it arrived we did a little video using all three discs for comparison purposes.
The stock disc (worn out) slid on the tranny no problem. The brand new ACT HD disc also slid on no problem. The RB disc? nope, wouldn't budge a bit. We tried to help it on a bit with a mallet...still no go.
Mind you, sliding a disc on and off is not rocket science. either it fits or it does not. Their little plastic alignment tool fit all three, but an RX7 transmission is not supplied with plastic splines
Buyer Beware. The ACT is a top notch piece that we'd recommend to anyone. The RB, I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy. The time wasted during all of this ordeal has cost the customer greatly. not financially, since we didn't charge the shop time it sat in the back of the shop, but for being without his car for weeks at a time and missing a track event at TWS.
I'll have some video available soon when i upload it to my computer from my camera.
Was this a single incident? or a bad batch? ClutchNet / Racing Beat needs to be aware of this because if it is a bad batch, there are other potential RX7 customers who are in for a rude awakening when they try to fit it on their nose splines.
Dan Pedroza
www.jcautospec.com
I did cross post this in the RX8 club forum as well.
This particular incident happened with a 94 RX7 wherein one of our customers purchased and has us install a Racing Beat clutch disc (the street version) which didn't fit.
We pulled his transmission and was ready to go back in with the new RB disc when we test fit it on the transmission splines. No go. It didn't fit at all. We lubricated the splines and it slid on a few millimeters at most. The stock disc slid on and off without problem so we called the customer and told him his RB disc didn't fit. We sent it back to RB and then got a phone call from Jim Tanner. He told us basically that there was nothing wrong with the disc. They tested it for fit there at their facility as well as one of their large customer's shops down the street from them.
We told Jim that it simply did not fit on our customer's car and he basically told us that we didn't know what we were doing because Mazdatrix had no problem installing it (which i highly doubt. i'll share why later). He then said that it would not be warrantied nor the money returned to the customer because we had put on a lubricant to help it slide on. Why lube would void its warranty is beyond me, but that was something the customer would deal with.....and he has.
Tanner sent back the disc and our customer ordered a disc from ACT. I have used ACT for years and am a true believer. When it arrived we did a little video using all three discs for comparison purposes.
The stock disc (worn out) slid on the tranny no problem. The brand new ACT HD disc also slid on no problem. The RB disc? nope, wouldn't budge a bit. We tried to help it on a bit with a mallet...still no go.
Mind you, sliding a disc on and off is not rocket science. either it fits or it does not. Their little plastic alignment tool fit all three, but an RX7 transmission is not supplied with plastic splines
Buyer Beware. The ACT is a top notch piece that we'd recommend to anyone. The RB, I wouldn't recommend to my worst enemy. The time wasted during all of this ordeal has cost the customer greatly. not financially, since we didn't charge the shop time it sat in the back of the shop, but for being without his car for weeks at a time and missing a track event at TWS.
I'll have some video available soon when i upload it to my computer from my camera.
Was this a single incident? or a bad batch? ClutchNet / Racing Beat needs to be aware of this because if it is a bad batch, there are other potential RX7 customers who are in for a rude awakening when they try to fit it on their nose splines.
Dan Pedroza
www.jcautospec.com
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Round Rock, TX
Thread Starter
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2003
Posts: 3
Likes: 0
From: Round Rock, TX
oh no worries. there's always one in a crowd. i was more upset for our customer than anything but wanted to pass it along in case someone else was about to get in the same boat as he.
d
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