biglar

??? ??? You guys sold me pretty thoroughly on the South Bend clutches, so went to see my buddy who owns a local transmission shop, and asked him to order me up a SB. He absolutely won't hear of it, and insists I get a LUK clutch. Says he's installed many of them on highly BOMBED Dodges, and that they're bullet-proof. I didn't even know LUK make clutches for Dodges..............thought they were PowerSmoke specialists. Sooooo............does my buddy have rocks in his head, or is the LUK a good choice for my mighty Cummins ?? He is gonna give a VERY good price on it, as well as on the installation. Confused Lar.

admin

I would call Peter if I were you. MANY MANY of our users have had very good luck with him and his products. OR, you can go to http://www.southbendclutch.com. <br><br>I don't know about Luk, but I HEAR that the SBC is a better unit. I have an auto so I can't tell you for sure. I think you'll get some good solid responses to this question though as many of our members use SBC.

sixpack47

I've heard nothing but good things about SBC's. As a matter of fact, I almost have enough mad money put together to get one. ;D

drawson

I had a LUK Pro Gold in my truck after the pilot bearing started making noise. It did ok until about 325 HP then slipped. At first just in 5th then in 4th and right before I replaced it it slipped in 3rd also. South Bend is the only way to go!!!! The Con O held better than 425 HP!!!!!! I haven't found the Max HP level for the Con OFE yet. Peter gives super customer service and not only has a great clutch but is doing his best to keep a head of us HP junkies...

Scotty

I too had a Luk Pro Gold...with the 5th wheel on and about 340 HP it was toast.<br>I have the FE with my 6 spd and I am at or near or maybe a bit over [ ;D ] 500 HP...holding solid with 40K on it.<br><br>

Big Bob

[quote author=biglar link=board=7;threadid=10593;start=0#101169 date=1044499474]<br> Sooooo............does my buddy have rocks in his head, [/quote]<br><br>YES!<br><br>If you have over 350 HP, South Bend is the only way to go! <br><br>The clutches are first class and their customer service is unbeatable! <br><br>When South Bend first started modifying clutches to meet our needs with the High Powered Cummins, I bought a Con O from them. I was at 406 HP. After about 6 to 9 months, Peter sent me a new OFE clutch for nothing. He just stated that he felt I needed to have the latest and greatest clutch. After that, I increased the HP and was having a little slipage in cold weather. Again, Peter send me another clutch (free). He sent me a 13&quot; FE with a new flywheel and it is been great! This is the kind of service you receive from South Bend!<br><br>Now, is your friend going to give you this kind of service when the Luk fails? and believe me it will!<br><br>I would not waste my time or money on the Luk. JMO.

Don M

The LUK clutch is fine if you are stock or lightly bombed. Personally I would skip the LUK and go straight to a Southbend. Tell your buddy that the pressure plate that Peter uses is a LUK anyway. Peter does slightly modify the LUK PP to add additonal holding power and it also lowers the pedal effort too. peters friction materials are far superior to the LUK Pro Gold as well.<br><br>For some wear rates on the Pro Gold- I have a friend here in the DFW area that just roasted his Pro Gold in 1 year with just 325HP. He has a Drof too. Your Dodge has more power potential than Drof ever will <br><br>Don~<br>

Hired Gun

I have the SB FE. It holds everything I can give it. I am hard on it, and it smiles and keeps going.

oldred97

Had my Southbend for a month and am LOVING it. No way would I get anything but the SB.

TxDieselKid

That's BS, tell your friend at the tranny shop that you want the SBC, don't settle for anything that YOU don't want.

biglar

Thanks to all of you for your thoughts. I went in 1st thing this morning, and told him, &quot;NO LUK ! ! !&quot; I want &quot;Good Luck,&quot; so I insisted on the SBC. He grumbled some and said something to the effect of, &quot;If I can get one.&quot; &quot;Aha,&quot; said I, (to myself)........&quot;this is the reason for the resistance.&quot; I missed him on the way home from work tonight, but will check again tomorrow morning. There WILL be the SBC clutch going in there. Thanks again. Lar. <br><br>[quote author=TxDieselKid link=board=7;threadid=10593;start=0#101573 date=1044569818]<br>That's BS, tell your friend at the tranny shop that you want the SBC, don't settle for anything that YOU don't want. <br>[/quote]

admin

Good luck with it. From what I hear, you made the right choice. Please let us know your results.

Bob Beauchaine

I've got a South Bend Con-O in my '93 and it gets better with age. You might want to know that my pressure plate on the SBC is LUK - the disc is Peters own configuration. The entire package is sweet. ;D ;D <br>Bob