I had a slight rear main drip so out came the trans and a Valeo smf conversion installed. I had my Smarty on a 60 hp tune,285's and an 1800# camper on my stock clutch. Zero slippage. I miss that nearly silent trans. and the dmf.

I have an 05 with 261,xxx
first clutch all stock died at 80k taught new people to drive on it, used as DD and towed heavy in the mountains a few times and heavy in the south a little
second stock clutch died , with help of a bully dog programmer at about 160-170k
south bend dual disk street clutch, that piece of **** failed in 30k of install! Almost no towing!! It wouldn’t release right and stall the truck out so a total of about 200k
south bend sent me a replacement piece of junk after ducking me around for a MONTH that is still in the truck at 261k
my next clutch won’t be a south bend, to back up a load, such as a 3rd gen Cummins on my triple axle goose the clutch bucks so bad it will spin the tires in grass, I have to ride the clutch and brake and try to smoke the clutch to be able to back up my truck with a trailer
jus
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.die...16924eb4f.jpeg
The south bend that failed and no one knows why, it has 30k on it in this picture
t a heads up oh and a dual disk kills your shift time, south bend won’t tell you that when your looking at buying one just fyi
my next clutch will be a single disk aftermarket

Maybe Valair next time around.

Replaced mine last year, didn't even make 70k.

Now I'm running a South Bend Dual Disk and love it. Positive feel, you know when it grabs, and no slipping!



-Kris

clutch problems? learn to drive!!!!

Phoenix friction
 

Does anyone have any experience with the feramalloy stage 6 solid flywheel conversion clutch made by Phoenix friction? It’s built to withstand 1250 lbs/ft & 715 HP I’m considering ordering this after finding the brand online. They have been manufacturing and distributing clutch kits for 30 years. But I really know nothing about them, my 06 5.9 3500!has 113k on it and I recently installed the smarty touch. I’ve never had any issues with the clutch until upping the hp and torque. I’d like to install a clutch that will be able to withstand the horsepower and torque when the tuner is maxed out. By buying this clutch kit this should surely do the trick. thoughts on this? any suggestion or knowledge on this would be great.

My dmf was like new at 37K,35's and early G-56 with Smarty on a 90 hp tune.
I had a slight rear main leak so I went with an SBC OKHD. I've got EFI now set on 90hp,35's and a 2000# camper on all the time.
Zero slippage and near silent operation. I do have the growl putting through the neighborhood in 3rd.

Pretty disappointed, my Southbend Con O Fe is slipping.

Didn’t last NEARLY as long as the factory setup. 😕

Wish I’d just replaced with a factory clutch or similar in the first place.

I have 81k miles on my SB G56 OK-HD. A lot of those miles have been hard. Lots of towing. Still strong and no issues. Smarty on the 100HP tune all the time!

Reviving an old thread again. I replaced the stock clutch at 99,000 miles. It had a good life but, started to slip when I accelerated hard in top gear, at low RPM. So, I installed the Southbend DD 3250 with new hydraulics and ETC... It worked well but, wasn't totally happy with it. The 3250 was more grabby at the low end, and caused the tranny to rattle until the engine RPM exceeded maybe 1600 RPM.

The stock clutch seemed to hold Smarty level 7 in top gear as long I was turning over maybe 1800 RPM before standing on the throttle. The DD 3250 allowed me to stand on it at lower RPM however, the transmission rattle below 1600 RPM always prevented me from running at that speed. Since the stock clutch allowed me to idle down to almost idle if I needed too, I never realized the true benefit of the Southbend.

Coming back across the rockies last week, towing a 6,000 trailer, the clutch started act up on me. The clutch pedal started feeling progressively more and more stiff. At times, it even felt as though the throughout bearing was sticking a little. 2 days later during the same trip, after driving through Los Angeles traffic and driving 2200 miles, I was about 20 miles from home, the clutch slave cylinder let lose. So there I was, driving through Ventura CA traffic with no clutch. I was able to speed shift, a real challenge in stop and go traffic with a G56 but, having a very low 1st gear really helped. I eventually made it into a parking lot. Yes, all while still pulling a trailer.

While waiting to be rescued, I pulled out the slave cylinder and was shocked what I saw. The rod was fully extended (not surprised based on the brake fluid loss). But, I was surprised that the rod was bent and had very clearly been grinding on something.

The truck has 134,000 miles on it, the stock clutch lasted a relatively problem free to 99,000 miles, and the Southbend DD 3250 choked after maybe 35,000 miles of being installed. I want reliability and something that allows me to idle down in gear if I want to. I'm going back to a stock clutch. Probably to a Luk 05-182.

About the truck, I typically run it on Smarty level 7, cat delete, AFE air filter and a PacBrake PRXB. While towing, I dial down the Smarty to level 3 and will downshift if my EGT's begin to exceed 800 degrees (Pyro is post turbo). I don't drag race, I don't sled pull, it's just a daily driver, tow vehicle. And before you comment about the Smarty level, I really only use the power available when I'm on the freeway and need to dodge ricers. ;-)

Yeah there was a lot of hubub about the dual mass flywheel and clutch when the G-56 came out, and I know some people did have failures (particularly if the engine had been run with a misfire).

My 2006 is mostly used for towing and doesn’t have 100,000 yet, and the stock setup has been doing fine. Granted, my driving style is to be gentile on the clutch, and I’m running stock power- but still I don’t think I can complain about the stock clutch. If it failed tomorrow, I’d buy another.