leonesm

I had a SBC 3250 installed in my truck last Saturday and thought I would share some initial impressions. I removed an OFE that had 260k miles on it and was beginning to slip under load. I've put about 650 miles on the 3250 since installed. I turned my power down and drove moderately for the first 500 miles or so to break in the clutch.

The pedal feel is MUCH lighter than I expected. My OFE had a significant amount of miles on it and had gotten progressively stiffer as the miles were racked up. Maybe I just don't remember, but the 3250 feels lighter to me than the OFE ever did. The grabbiness of the clutch is slightly quicker but not anything negative or that effects drivability.

This was the first time I've ever driven a double disk clutch for a significant amount of time. It's a little different and I've had to "adjust" my driving style a little bit. It's probably just a little bit slower to shift than the single disk but under normal driving it's not noticeable. Under more aggressive driving is where I can tell a little difference. I've learned that I have to be more precise with the shifts - both in RPM and in actual placement of the shifter. My hand was trained to go to a certain place to shift into 4th and now I have to put it in a slightly different location. I'm sure the fact that the synchros have almost 350,000 miles doesn't help. Once I've learned the differences and how to drive with the new clutch it's really not any different than the single disk except for the fact that it holds the power without question. It does seem to have loosened up and gotten easier to drive as I've put a few miles on it.

Overall, I'm very happy with the clutch and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I would have done this years ago if this product was available. The price difference between the single disk and this is negligible and the DD comes with a new flywheel and heavy duty bearing.

I've never heard anything bad said about Peter or South Bend and I'll continue to do business with them whenever the opportunity arises. They were incredibly helpful throughout the process and answered numerous questions I had. There was a shipping error and I was accidently sent the wrong kit. SBC didn't hesitate to overnight me the correct kit to get my truck back on the road. Mistakes happen and it's how you react to them that makes great customer service and I commend them for it.