bob95065

I have a 1997 4x4 California truck. It has a #11 plate, 4" straight exhaust, BHAF for mods. Yes, I have gauges too. I use the truck for hauling firewood. I also pull a trailer full of firewood in addition to the full bed on the truck.

I need to replace the clutch. I am looking at these two 13" clutch sets:

South Bend 13125-OK
Valair NMU70279-01-5SCE

Both of these clutch sets seem comparable - 400HP and 900Ft/Lbs. The difference is the South Bend set is another $100 more.

I did a search on this an another forum for the key word "clutch". From what I read it seems like the Valair had more complaints including a thread where people were complaining that the Valair clutch had a Taiwan stamp on the pressure plate. There were an equal number of posts by people who were happy with their Valair clutch.

So, what am I getting that's $100 better at South Bend? Is a Valair a good clutch to get or will I have problems? This is a job I want to do once and not have to worry about it for at least 100,000 miles.

TIA,

Bob

dieselfreak21

They are both good really but I wouldn't by another SBC again after some of the trouble I had but not all their fault and their customer service isn't bad either, but my dual disk broke at only 60k and hardly any abuse. But they replace the parts with upgrade for cheap so really can't complain just not sure I would get another of their products for what I invested in it and as well as it held up. But I am only one person.

Lil Dog

I have been on the Cummins related forums since 98. I will only buy one clutch that has been there since the beginning, SOUTH BEND CLUTCH. Peter has been the best for customer service and support over the years and builds a good product.

I purchased my FE clutch back in 2006 and ran it for around 80,000 miles and a strange failure occurred. The springs in the center section of the clutch broke. I called Peter to ask what could cause that, over torque, bad harmonic balancer, abuse, he asked for photos. He then promptly sent me a whole new clutch set AT NO COST! (To Canada isn't cheap). SBC has swallowed over $1M dollars in cost for a bad set of center sections he had over the years and has replaced every one under warranty.

Sorry for the rant, but I will not say one bad thing about SBC and I have found very few that do. Peter took care of me from the beginning and I am truly grateful.
I am not a product pusher or have any financial connection to any performance products or venders.

Jason.

Purplezr2

I would not buy another South Bend, the truck is a pain to drive with a trailer hooked to it, the clutch is super grabby, I have the clutch that is suppose to be closest to OEM.

Danderson

Would that be the Con O?

Lil Dog

Aftermarket performance clutches require a little different operation off the start. Typically a raise in rpm to 1000 before engagement fixes that. There is a trade off for having the ability to hold power and not burn out. If you want to have a nice soft clutch, the oem Luk is the ticket.

Lary Ellis (Top)

South Bend All the way! You get what you pay for and Peter stands behind it

gorms

I've always beleived in you get what you pay for. Hence I have a Valair clutch! I smoked the first one (12 1/4 full ceramic) on a sled pull, I understood it wasn't made for that and so did they, but they still gave me the right clutch for my application, which isn't always driving empty, for 1/2 price after that. So now I have a 13" kevlar/ceramic button type kit, and it has held up well, about 20k I think on it now. I tow a 7500# camper a few times a year, load the bed to the bump stops several times a year, plow in the winter....etc.

If I had the dough, I probably would have bought a SB, but I am very happy with the Valair and their service. Good luck!

bob95065

Check out this deal: http://www.xtremediesel.com/southben...lflywheel.aspx

With the 10% off coupon the clutch came to $654.75 shipped. I have one on the way!

Lil Dog

Going with South Bend you won't be sorry. Good Deal! Back in the day my FE clutch was $1150.

Common

Man, a year or whatever ago my FE was $1100.

Diesel Dave2

As I remember...my Con OFE kit was $850....that was 6 years ago....I think the kit is around the $600 range..

primal13

i gotta say SB, they took care of me when i broke the center section on mine. i would suggest the ofe over the fe, as it engages a lot easier. also my buddy has a double disc set up, that feel's like a stock set up.

Southtowns27

I have South Bend Con-OFE. It's great. It engages easy, doesn't chatter and holds a lot of power. I've had mine for 4 years, and I'd never get anything else.