Clutches! Weddle Vs KEP

[Fullthrottleguy]

Sounds like stage 4 is the way to go...

it does have CNC swing pedals, not sure on the master cylinder size.... but it is a bigger car w/ 36 paddles, and would guestimate it to weight 2750ish lbs 

swing pedals have a better ratio  - I doubt you'll feel any difference  from the Weddle

Don't forget to change the throw pout bearing at the same time - thats just best practice  becaue you know you will change the clutch and that will go bad 3 trips later and out comes the engine again ,...

 

[EmpirE231]

swing pedals have a better ratio  - I doubt you'll feel any difference  from the Weddle

Don't forget to change the throw pout bearing at the same time - thats just best practice  becaue you know you will change the clutch and that will go bad 3 trips later and out comes the engine again ,...

Yep trans is @ rancho right now being serviced… will get a new TO bearing along with a new second gear lol 

 

[Squatcher]

so with my current car, S4S around twin turbo 800HP @ the crank, should I be going with a stage 4 or stage 3?

you should be fine with a stage 3 Call Kennedy they are very helpful.  I was very surprised that for a 415 at 600+ hp they told me to get a stage 2. Stage 2 was told went up to almost 600 whp.  I had an extra 100hp I could add if needed.  Was very surprised with how much a stage 2 could handle.  I have a stage 3 triple in a 800hp SC car with no worries at all. 

 

[BrapBraap]

I went with the Weddle over the Kennedy primarily due to it having spring mounting instead of solid disc. Made sense to me that it would reduce the shock/impact loads through the drivetrain and help with drivetrain longevity.

 

[EmpirE231]

I went with the Weddle over the Kennedy primarily due to it having spring mounting instead of solid disc. Made sense to me that it would reduce the shock/impact loads through the drivetrain and help with drivetrain longevity.

How does this help protect the actual drivetrain/ tans? From my understanding, when the clutch is engaged, everything is spinning at the same speed of the motor with no slipping allowed, unless you press in the clutch? 
 

am I missing something?

 

[Rockwood]

How does this help protect the actual drivetrain/ tans? From my understanding, when the clutch is engaged, everything is spinning at the same speed of the motor with no slipping allowed, unless you press in the clutch? 
 

am I missing something?

A sprung hub will absorb the initial couple of degrees of rotational energy into the springs. You won’t notice a huge amount in aggressive driving, but you will notice it when you’re just trying to pull out of camp with some clutch slip and it chatters rather than smoothly slips.   

I’ve always done unsprung hubs for weight and simplicity. The springs reduce the amount of steel connecting the hub to the friction ring, and the steel surrounding the spring can fail and bind up the clutch. 



Not sure if this is a Weddle problem, but it definitely doesn’t happen without springs. :biggrin:

 

[EmpirE231]

A sprung hub will absorb the initial couple of degrees of rotational energy into the springs. You won’t notice a huge amount in aggressive driving, but you will notice it when you’re just trying to pull out of camp with some clutch slip and it chatters rather than smoothly slips.   

I’ve always done unsprung hubs for weight and simplicity. The springs reduce the amount of steel connecting the hub to the friction ring, and the steel surrounding the spring can fail and bind up the clutch. 

View attachment 82480

Not sure if this is a Weddle problem, but it definitely doesn’t happen without springs. :biggrin:

So not really something that helps for hammering whoops / driving aggressively? More so helps for low speed stuff?

 

[Rockwood]

So not really something that helps for hammering whoops / driving aggressively? More so helps for low speed stuff?

I've only noticed something at mild clutch use (pulling out of camp type thing), don't really notice any difference in aggressive driving in the dirt. 

So, might absorb a little bit of initial shock from whoops, never really pondered that.  Can't imagine it's a huge amount.

 

[SeanRitchie]

Never had good luck with Center-Force Products,  Kennedy for my has been super solid,  easy to work with, 

Best part is on the 9'' KEP, you can send it the discs and will repuck them for around $80.  

Jason,

Weddle clutch assemblies are made by Centerforce, but they are not the same as what you purchase from Centerforce. These have our ideas and designs integrated into them to help them last as long as possible in an off-road car, where many other high performance street clutch packages have proven to be unreliable over the years. We know because we have sold them all. 

Our Weddle 9" clutch packages were produced to offer a better product over the common KEP units that leave a lot on the table in terms of new technology and operation. Our friction material allows for a little more forgiveness and does not grab quite as abruptly at the KEP discs.

Our pressure plates use the Centerforce centrifugal weight system that allows for a lighter hold, softer pedal pressure at idle RPM, as the engine spins up in RPM, the spring pressure on the discs increases for more hold. Our pressure plates feel closer to a KEP stage 3 at idle RPM, but will increase to more than a stage 4 holding pressure at higher RPM.

The discs also have sprung hubs to help alleviate the shock loads on the back of the engine, and to the input shaft of the trans. This helps components on both sides of the clutch to live just a little longer. These springs will eventually wear down and start to loosen/rattle with use. We have done just about all that we can to get as much life into these springs as we can with the available space we have. 

We have customers that put 10k-15k miles on these clutch's in prerunners. Some guy named Rob Mac uses one in his pre-runner. Look him up, he's somewhat accomplished. 

A sprung hub will absorb the initial couple of degrees of rotational energy into the springs. You won’t notice a huge amount in aggressive driving, but you will notice it when you’re just trying to pull out of camp with some clutch slip and it chatters rather than smoothly slips.   

I’ve always done unsprung hubs for weight and simplicity. The springs reduce the amount of steel connecting the hub to the friction ring, and the steel surrounding the spring can fail and bind up the clutch. 

View attachment 82480

Not sure if this is a Weddle problem, but it definitely doesn’t happen without springs. :biggrin:

That is not a Weddle disc. We have completely encased our sprung hubs in a steel ring to prevent this sort of failure.

 

[Sandkist]

A sprung hub reduces driveline shock. It eliminates the harshness at engagement (either on or off) that is typical of an unsprung puck style disc.  When unloading your driveline (on/off throttle, wheels in the air) I would think a sprung disc would also absorb some of the shock when you applied load again.  I have tried quite a few different clutch packages over the years and when using a solid disc have always found them to have fractures in the metal. I switched to Weddle’s sprung hub and no longer have that issue.  I haven’t experienced the chatter or grenading of hub springs that was mentioned in an earlier post. That is due  to the quality of Weddle’s clutch package. 

 

[Rockwood]

A sprung hub reduces driveline shock. It eliminates the harshness at engagement (either on or off) that is typical of an unsprung puck style disc.  When unloading your driveline (on/off throttle, wheels in the air) I would think a sprung disc would also absorb some of the shock when you applied load again.  I have tried quite a few different clutch packages over the years and when using a solid disc have always found them to have fractures in the metal. I switched to Weddle’s sprung hub and no longer have that issue.  I haven’t experienced the chatter or grenading of hub springs that was mentioned in an earlier post. That is due  to the quality of Weddle’s clutch package. 

View attachment 82488

Yeah, that’s not gonna break out. :biggrin:

Great discussion 

 

[EmpirE231]

Jason,

Weddle clutch assemblies are made by Centerforce, but they are not the same as what you purchase from Centerforce. These have our ideas and designs integrated into them to help them last as long as possible in an off-road car, where many other high performance street clutch packages have proven to be unreliable over the years. We know because we have sold them all. 

Our Weddle 9" clutch packages were produced to offer a better product over the common KEP units that leave a lot on the table in terms of new technology and operation. Our friction material allows for a little more forgiveness and does not grab quite as abruptly at the KEP discs.

Our pressure plates use the Centerforce centrifugal weight system that allows for a lighter hold, softer pedal pressure at idle RPM, as the engine spins up in RPM, the spring pressure on the discs increases for more hold. Our pressure plates feel closer to a KEP stage 3 at idle RPM, but will increase to more than a stage 4 holding pressure at higher RPM.

The discs also have sprung hubs to help alleviate the shock loads on the back of the engine, and to the input shaft of the trans. This helps components on both sides of the clutch to live just a little longer. These springs will eventually wear down and start to loosen/rattle with use. We have done just about all that we can to get as much life into these springs as we can with the available space we have. 

We have customers that put 10k-15k miles on these clutch's in prerunners. Some guy named Rob Mac uses one in his pre-runner. Look him up, he's somewhat accomplished. 

That is not a Weddle disc. We have completely encased our sprung hubs in a steel ring to prevent this sort of failure.

good info.. I'm liking everything I read about the weddle clutch, and it worked good for me... just having a hard time meeting at that price tag.

 

[J Alper]

Jason,

Weddle clutch assemblies are made by Centerforce, but they are not the same as what you purchase from Centerforce. These have our ideas and designs integrated into them to help them last as long as possible in an off-road car, where many other high performance street clutch packages have proven to be unreliable over the years. We know because we have sold them all. 

Our Weddle 9" clutch packages were produced to offer a better product over the common KEP units that leave a lot on the table in terms of new technology and operation. Our friction material allows for a little more forgiveness and does not grab quite as abruptly at the KEP discs.

Our pressure plates use the Centerforce centrifugal weight system that allows for a lighter hold, softer pedal pressure at idle RPM, as the engine spins up in RPM, the spring pressure on the discs increases for more hold. Our pressure plates feel closer to a KEP stage 3 at idle RPM, but will increase to more than a stage 4 holding pressure at higher RPM.

The discs also have sprung hubs to help alleviate the shock loads on the back of the engine, and to the input shaft of the trans. This helps components on both sides of the clutch to live just a little longer. These springs will eventually wear down and start to loosen/rattle with use. We have done just about all that we can to get as much life into these springs as we can with the available space we have. 

We have customers that put 10k-15k miles on these clutch's in prerunners. Some guy named Rob Mac uses one in his pre-runner. Look him up, he's somewhat accomplished. 

That is not a Weddle disc. We have completely encased our sprung hubs in a steel ring to prevent this sort of failure.

I live down the Street from Rob and worked for Rob for a 1/4 of my life, they dont get used like a sand car, KEP has been doing clutches for longer than me and you have been alive,  They know a little about clutches, just like you guys know a about Transaxles.  Robs puts more parts into his Alumi, than my car does its full lifespan, not really the same comparison, 

 

[KLC]

Weddle's full sized 11" clutch is the cat's meow. Anything else is just poopoo.

 

[Fullthrottleguy]

Weddle's full sized 11" clutch is the cat's meow. Anything else is just poopoo.

Assuming you have the bellhousing ton accept it ... the Weddle 10.4" dual disk is the best clutch I actually have ever seen - dead reliable IMO,  one car I did with that and albins regularly over 1000 ft lbs tq and no issues and  the pedal pressure is  very reasonable 

Its good to have choices ...

 

[Sandkist]

Assuming you have the bellhousing ton accept it ... the Weddle 10.4" dual disk is the best clutch I actually have ever seen - dead reliable IMO,  one car I did with that and albins regularly over 1000 ft lbs tq and no issues and  the pedal pressure is  very reasonable 

Its good to have choices ...