[BOOMER]

guys-i pulled my tranny this wekend to find out why the slave cylinder was toast & to install a new centerforce clutch kit & aluminum flywheel. i am not an engineer for Tremec transmissions, but i should be! the stock slave cylinder is a piece of **** plastic hunk of junk. the entire mechanism save but the throw out bearing endplate is ALL PLASTIC!. i have ordered one for a GTS viper which is all cast alloy. why in the f&*k would they put a plastic slave cylinder in ANYTHING not to mention a heavy truck is beyond me.
if youre haveing clutch trouble, dont even bother to bleed it. it is the fisher-price slave cylinder. make them replace it with a viper slave. EVERYONE IS GOING TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM EVENTUALLY!

 

[fstjack]

Slave Cylinder

How funny, even Hot Wheels knows that certain things cannot be made of plastic as they MELT and distort. I would like your driving impressions of the light wheel as to initial start/launch, in regard to street driving and performance launch. Also did you use dual disk or single disk clutch? How hard was it to change out as to degree of difficulty> How many other parts or pieces did you have to move or remove to get the clutch/tranny out. Did you do it on the ground or on a hoist. Did you have a tranny jack. Approximately how long did it take you to do the job. Thanks Jack

 

[9 seconds]

Boomer,
Are they sure the hose will be long enough on the Viper slave? I'm curious.

Steve

 

[SRT10x3]

guys-i pulled my tranny this wekend to find out why the
if youre haveing clutch trouble, dont even bother to bleed it. it is the fisher-price slave cylinder. make them replace it with a viper slave. EVERYONE IS GOING TO HAVE THIS PROBLEM EVENTUALLY!

My dealer is installing a new centerforce clutch, and flywheel as well. Just called up there, and they confirmed with their tech the Viper GTS Slave cylinder will work fine, so they are going to perform that as well.

THANKS BOOMER!

Craig

 

[HDVIPER]

Do you think they will change it even if you aren't having problems... Yet? Also too, are they going to charge me for the Viper slave???

 

[BOOMER]

Boomer,
Are they sure the hose will be long enough on the Viper slave? I'm curious.

Steve

yes, as the hose comes on the master cylinder, not with the slave. (i know since i ordered 2 slave cylinders, and they got me master cylinders by mistake) i will post part number for slave cylinder tomorrow.

 

[BOOMER]

How funny, even Hot Wheels knows that certain things cannot be made of plastic as they MELT and distort. I would like your driving impressions of the light wheel as to initial start/launch, in regard to street driving and performance launch. Also did you use dual disk or single disk clutch? How hard was it to change out as to degree of difficulty> How many other parts or pieces did you have to move or remove to get the clutch/tranny out. Did you do it on the ground or on a hoist. Did you have a tranny jack. Approximately how long did it take you to do the job. Thanks Jack

cool. i have to go to minnesota on business tomorrow, so i wont be able to drive it until the weekend. i have since become a dealer for the clutch and flywheel stuff. it was a dual friction with the centrifugal weights on the pressure plate. very bad ass! degree of difficulty is a 6 on scale of 10

 

[9 seconds]

yes, as the hose comes on the master cylinder, not with the slave. (i know since i ordered 2 slave cylinders, and they got me master cylinders by mistake) i will post part number for slave cylinder tomorrow.

Doh!...........When you wrote about all the plastic, my mind went to the clutch master, not slave. What a dumb place for plastic.

Steve Ueligger
17 yrs
Plastic Research
Dow Chemical

 

[BOOMER]

How funny, even Hot Wheels knows that certain things cannot be made of plastic as they MELT and distort. I would like your driving impressions of the light wheel as to initial start/launch, in regard to street driving and performance launch. Also did you use dual disk or single disk clutch? How hard was it to change out as to degree of difficulty> How many other parts or pieces did you have to move or remove to get the clutch/tranny out. Did you do it on the ground or on a hoist. Did you have a tranny jack. Approximately how long did it take you to do the job. Thanks Jack

it took about 4 hours, the cross memeber comes off, drive shaft, a few plugs on the tranny. remove the tranny from the bell housing, then remove bell housing. not a hard job. after you do that, wrap your pipes in heat barrier wrap to keep heat from the clutch in the future.

 

[Titan]

This is a total outrage! WTF would they put plactic in a HiPro clutch assembly. If something needs to be recalled this would be it.

 

[INTREPER]

Yup, I was probobly the first to experience this. Run a search on "clutch problems" and you'll find some more info.

 

[toohighpsi]

Why the slave cylinders are different...

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REPLACE SLAVE CYLINDER WITH VIPER CYLINDER. The hydraulic ratios are completely different to work with the truck master cylinder. If you replace the truck slave with a viper one, you will not get sufficient release and will effectively drag the clutch and will destroy it. If you attempt to replace both the master and slave with viper components, the pedal efforts will be much too high for city traffic applications.

To boot, you will most certainly void your warranty as well.

Trust that the engineers know what they are doing and that the SRT team has tested the components to ensure their long term durability.

 

[SRT10x3]

DO NOT ATTEMPT TO REPLACE SLAVE CYLINDER WITH VIPER CYLINDER. The hydraulic ratios are completely different to work with the truck master cylinder. If you replace the truck slave with a viper one, you will not get sufficient release and will effectively drag the clutch and will destroy it. If you attempt to replace both the master and slave with viper components, the pedal efforts will be much too high for city traffic applications.

To boot, you will most certainly void your warranty as well.

Trust that the engineers know what they are doing and that the SRT team has tested the components to ensure their long term durability.

Thanks for the heads up. My viper slave cylinder came in today. The dealer called to tell me, that the pressue fittings were the wrong size, and it wasn't not going to work. Additionally he said my slave cylinder was made of a composite (quartz & zinc?), so they are completing the install of my new dual friction centerforce clutch and flywheel with the factory slave cylinder.

Craig

 

[Marc T]

SRT10x3

Let us know how it turns out. I have ordered my Centerfoce clutch for installation. Will have it in about a week.

 

[SRTFirefighter]

Sorry, I'm fairly new to this, but what are the pro's of a Centerforce clutch? Cons?

 

[sanchoba]

i haven't had any problems with the clutch, my thinking is don't mess with something thats been tested time and time again by the engineer's at DC (a murphy's law?),as far as the "plastic slave cylinder", looks like plastic but is some exotic material.

 

[SRT10x3]

i haven't had any problems with the clutch, my thinking is don't mess with something thats been tested time and time again by the engineer's at DC (a murphy's law?),as far as the "plastic slave cylinder"

The guys at DC definately screwed the pooch on the tranny in the SRT10's. For starters according to the numbers I have 70% or better have improperly torqued pressure plate screws. Air in the slave cylinder, etc.. The clutch is only rated for 380 hp (I might be off slightly).

Depending on how aggressive you drive your truck, and the alignment of the planets, you may or may not have trouble with it. All three of my trucks have clutch issues. The black didn't start until around 3000 miles. It would launch sideways at 3500rpm, through 2nd gear and bark 3rd hard. Red, no way, Silver no way. The black is on the 3rd clutch, this time a Centerforce is going in.

If your clutch smells, you have a problem.
If you just sit there when you let off the clutch, you have a problem.
If white smoke billows from underneath the middle of the truck, you have a problem.
If 3rd gear is hard to find/hit, you have a problem.
If you downshift and the engine fails to rev up, you have a problem

Craig

 

[9 seconds]

The guys at DC definately screwed the pooch on the tranny in the SRT10's. For starters according to the numbers I have 70% or better have improperly torqued pressure plate screws. Air in the slave cylinder, etc.. The clutch is only rated for 380 hp (I might be off slightly).

Can you share with us where the numbers you have come from? 70% of the people on this forum aren't having clutch problems so that sounds high. Clutch and pressure plate are the same as on a Viper (500 hp). Slave is different. Where can I find the torque rating for this clutch? Mine works quite well. Even after smoking it at the drag strip. Now I know why these trucks just have a 3/36 warranty.

 

[SRT10x3]

Can you share with us where the numbers you have come from? 70% of the people on this forum aren't having clutch problems so that sounds high. Clutch and pressure plate are the same as on a Viper (500 hp). Slave is different. Where can I find the torque rating for this clutch? Mine works quite well. Even after smoking it at the drag strip. Now I know why these trucks just have a 3/36 warranty.

Yup, but the SRT10 RAM is 2000 lbs heavier though.

From the South East Regional Manager of DC.

There are some photos floating around the net, of semi truck car carriers full of SRT10 RAMS with X's taped on the doors sitting in a railroad yard waiting to be loaded. They are all defective in one way or another (clutch, cam bolt, etc).

Don't get me wrong, I love my trucks, and am bidding on a Blue VCA model now.

Craig

 

[9 seconds]

There are some photos floating around the net, of semi truck car carriers full of SRT10 RAMS with X's taped on the doors sitting in a railroad yard waiting to be loaded. They are all defective in one way or another (clutch, cam bolt, etc).

Yuck! That would be a sad site. Let us know if you come across the picture. We have to take the bad with the good.

Good luck on the VCA Ram. The rarest of all SRT's.