Thinking about ordering a clutch from horsepowerfreaks.com?
03-01-08, 01:30 PM
#1
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Thinking about ordering a clutch from horsepowerfreaks.com?
Don't.
I bought their 6-puck sprung disk only a few months ago, and thought it sounded like an excellent clutch. It was streetable, made little to no clutch chatter, and would support the power I would be making when I convert to a single turbo. Without my tune, I have to be making less than 300rwhp, and this disk supposedly was used in their 800hp Supra.
So I put the clutch in(along with replacing everything else in the area... flywheel, PP, bearings, etc), and use it for about 2000 miles before storing it for winter. Super Bowl Sunday was a nice day, and since my Giants had made it to the Super Bowl, I considered it a "special occasion". But on my way back from picking up the food for the event, my car stopped shifting while running. I could shift when the car was off, and even start it in gear, I just couldn't change gears if the car was on. Thinking it was a throwout bearing, a friend and I drop the tranny. Come to find out, the clutch became welded to the flywheel. Not only that, but this garbage clutch disintegrated ON TO the flywheel, as well as chewing deep grooves into it. Now I have mountains of clutch material welded on my flywheel, along with a worthless clutch. Just take a look at how deep the chunks missing from the clutch are... and the pictures don't even do it justice, the chunks missing are far larger than they appear in the photos...
Do you think I can just resurface the flywheel, or will I have to buy a new one? Should HPFs be liable to alleviate this situation, considering it has now cost me hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to fix this?
And a VERY special THANK YOU to Alex(ALNY93R1) for driving almost an hour to my town on his day off to help me drop my tranny, it is very much appreciated!
I bought their 6-puck sprung disk only a few months ago, and thought it sounded like an excellent clutch. It was streetable, made little to no clutch chatter, and would support the power I would be making when I convert to a single turbo. Without my tune, I have to be making less than 300rwhp, and this disk supposedly was used in their 800hp Supra.
So I put the clutch in(along with replacing everything else in the area... flywheel, PP, bearings, etc), and use it for about 2000 miles before storing it for winter. Super Bowl Sunday was a nice day, and since my Giants had made it to the Super Bowl, I considered it a "special occasion". But on my way back from picking up the food for the event, my car stopped shifting while running. I could shift when the car was off, and even start it in gear, I just couldn't change gears if the car was on. Thinking it was a throwout bearing, a friend and I drop the tranny. Come to find out, the clutch became welded to the flywheel. Not only that, but this garbage clutch disintegrated ON TO the flywheel, as well as chewing deep grooves into it. Now I have mountains of clutch material welded on my flywheel, along with a worthless clutch. Just take a look at how deep the chunks missing from the clutch are... and the pictures don't even do it justice, the chunks missing are far larger than they appear in the photos...
Do you think I can just resurface the flywheel, or will I have to buy a new one? Should HPFs be liable to alleviate this situation, considering it has now cost me hundreds upon hundreds of dollars to fix this?
And a VERY special THANK YOU to Alex(ALNY93R1) for driving almost an hour to my town on his day off to help me drop my tranny, it is very much appreciated!
03-01-08, 02:25 PM
#4
Rotary Freak
Damn, how did you manage that one???? I think HPS will only go as far as replacing the defective clutch. Who knows maybe theyre "nice" and will offer to spec the flywheel/resurface if possible?
good luck with that!!!!!!
BTW, which clutch is that? I have a similar one from clutch net.
good luck with that!!!!!!
BTW, which clutch is that? I have a similar one from clutch net.
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03-01-08, 05:22 PM
#8
I installed the whole setup. I actually drove if for the first 100 miles. I made sure A-Rod broke the clutch in for 500 miles. Since there was no meets going on it was extended to 700 miles.
I really hate horsepower freaks, they screwed me for 4 months on their drop ship methods... If A-Rod doesn't call them I'll be forced to give them a call my self.
I really hate horsepower freaks, they screwed me for 4 months on their drop ship methods... If A-Rod doesn't call them I'll be forced to give them a call my self.
03-02-08, 01:46 PM
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It would be nice if this would happen, but I highly doubt it will. If a company believed everything people told them "happened" to their products, the company would make no money. Unfortunately, I have a very real problem that will probably be completely dismissed. The best they'll probably offer me is a replacement disk, AFTER I send it back for them to look at blah blah blah. I need this clutch disk NOW, as I am preparing my car for the upcoming spring season. I was hoping to have the car ready and on the road by April, but it doesn't look like that is going to happen, now.
What's funny is that of all the problems I am having, none of them are really "FD" problems... they're more like "wtf shitty expensive products" problems.
03-02-08, 06:55 PM
#14
Shitty!
You shouldn't have any need to resurface that f-wheel unless the rivets were hitting. I don't know what our resident machinist is talking about... maybe he thinks that's a gouge and not a deposit of clutch disc material.
Emery cloth would do that just fine if you scrape off the clutch schmutz.
I've had bad experiences with aftermarket clutches myself, not even mentioning the horror stories I've heard.
I have always had great experiences with Exedy/Daiken clutch products (Mazda OEM supplier). They feel great and hold up to abuse well. Every time I've strayed from Exedy I've had a problem with the clutch quality. It's amazing what crap some companies will sell as a usable product. No quality control and shitty materials.
You shouldn't have any need to resurface that f-wheel unless the rivets were hitting. I don't know what our resident machinist is talking about... maybe he thinks that's a gouge and not a deposit of clutch disc material.
Emery cloth would do that just fine if you scrape off the clutch schmutz.
I've had bad experiences with aftermarket clutches myself, not even mentioning the horror stories I've heard.
I have always had great experiences with Exedy/Daiken clutch products (Mazda OEM supplier). They feel great and hold up to abuse well. Every time I've strayed from Exedy I've had a problem with the clutch quality. It's amazing what crap some companies will sell as a usable product. No quality control and shitty materials.
03-07-08, 08:25 PM
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Alright, an update:
I finally got in touch with HPFs. I sent them pictures of the damaged items, and explained how unhappy I was with their product. The salesman asked me if I was using an aluminum flywheel, which I was. He said "Ohh, yeah, they don't work too well with aluminum flywheels." While he was on the phone, I went to the site, checked all appropriate categories for my car, and checked the clutch area. No mention of it not working well with aluminum clutches. I pointed this out, and he offered me $40 off the purchase of a different clutch. Being disappointed with his offer, I asked to speak to a manager. I explained my situation to the manager, and explained how costly and tedious it was for me to remove my transmission and have a destroyed clutch/flywheel combo after only 2000 miles. I know 6-pucks have significantly shorter lifespans than full-faced disks, but 2000 miles is absolutely ridiculous, especially for the power I was making. He seemed to agree with me, but pointed out that 1) The item was considered a "race" item, therefore there are no warranties on it and 2) The item was purchased 7 months ago. However, he seemed to fully believe my situation, so he offered me $111 off of the clutch I was planning on purchasing(ACT SS). I suppose this is much better than what they could have offered me (nothing), but I have to admit that I am still somewhat disappointed. I feel like a paid a good amount of money for a product that failed almost immediately after installation, and the cost of the install plus the cost of the damaged clutch/flywheel is going to make this a costly lesson.
I finally got in touch with HPFs. I sent them pictures of the damaged items, and explained how unhappy I was with their product. The salesman asked me if I was using an aluminum flywheel, which I was. He said "Ohh, yeah, they don't work too well with aluminum flywheels." While he was on the phone, I went to the site, checked all appropriate categories for my car, and checked the clutch area. No mention of it not working well with aluminum clutches. I pointed this out, and he offered me $40 off the purchase of a different clutch. Being disappointed with his offer, I asked to speak to a manager. I explained my situation to the manager, and explained how costly and tedious it was for me to remove my transmission and have a destroyed clutch/flywheel combo after only 2000 miles. I know 6-pucks have significantly shorter lifespans than full-faced disks, but 2000 miles is absolutely ridiculous, especially for the power I was making. He seemed to agree with me, but pointed out that 1) The item was considered a "race" item, therefore there are no warranties on it and 2) The item was purchased 7 months ago. However, he seemed to fully believe my situation, so he offered me $111 off of the clutch I was planning on purchasing(ACT SS). I suppose this is much better than what they could have offered me (nothing), but I have to admit that I am still somewhat disappointed. I feel like a paid a good amount of money for a product that failed almost immediately after installation, and the cost of the install plus the cost of the damaged clutch/flywheel is going to make this a costly lesson.
03-07-08, 09:37 PM
#17
03-20-08, 10:07 PM
#20
03-30-08, 01:35 AM
#24
I hope that flywheel got both surfaces machined...the friction surface AND mounting surface.
The friction surface is normally stepped above the mounting surface by X amount. IF you take some of that friction material away but leave the mounting surface alone, there is now less tension on the clutch disc/pressureplate as a result, as slippage can occur. The proper procedure is to 2 step machine the flywheel, maintaining the X step distance and thus the clamping load on the clutch.
It doesnt look to me like they did it 2 step, though.
The friction surface is normally stepped above the mounting surface by X amount. IF you take some of that friction material away but leave the mounting surface alone, there is now less tension on the clutch disc/pressureplate as a result, as slippage can occur. The proper procedure is to 2 step machine the flywheel, maintaining the X step distance and thus the clamping load on the clutch.
It doesnt look to me like they did it 2 step, though.
04-06-08, 04:05 PM
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I'm a little bit confused on what you mean by the "mounting surface"... but I'm going to guess that it wasn't done.
And a VERY special thank you to rxrotary2 7 for moving this thread to the wrong section!
And a VERY special thank you to rxrotary2 7 for moving this thread to the wrong section!