10.5 clutch abuse talk

How much horsepower and weight have you thrown at a 10 1/2 clutch ???

I'm running a McCleod 10.95 clutch with 10.5 130 tooth flywheel. I bought these from Jamie Passon. They are behind a 645 hp 620 ft lb 528 Hemi. This set up is light for that combo but I only street drive the car. I also run bfg ta radials so they go to smoke long before the clutch does. So far it has held up fine with about 2500 street miles and quite a few massive burnouts. I do hope to upgrade to his 855 5spd and a more stout clutch set up in the future though. The car is a 70 Challenger vert with a 373 gear probably around 3600-3800 lb car I'm not real sure on the weight.

Clutch only transmits what the tires can hold.

R.

I'm running a 10-1/2" clutch in a '70 Roadrunner convertible with street tires & 3.91's. I'm pretty darn hard on my clutch for a street car....make that very hard on the clutch.... and I think I'm around 3800# or so. My car spit out a Hays streets/strip clutch the first time I made a hard 1st-2nd shift with only about 30 miles on the clutch. I replaced it with a 10-1/2" Centerforce and it has held up well so far (without using slicks or the nitrous).

Clutches don't seem to be made as well as they used to be. I had good luck in the past with both Hays & Zoom, but at least for Hays, their quality has dropped way off.

11" clutches will hold better and I would have switched to an 11", but my motor is already balanced with my 10-1/2" flywheel (& not separately balanced)... changing the flywheel would force me to re-balance the engine.

When I 1st put my B'cuda together(years ago)it had a over cammed thrown together 383 and parts store clutch. Even with the weak motor the clutch didn't live long at all. I replaced it with a 10.5" dual friction Centerforce. It's still there only now it's behind a 470" low deck. The street BFGs don't stand a chance through the 1st,2nd and much of 3rd so I'm not worried about the clutch. Sticky tires may prove the clutch to be a weak link(along with a few other pieces...lol) but it's just a street beater so I'm happy with the Centerforce.

592 HP/687 ft lb with a 496B. It is in ~3600 # Challenger set up for handling with 200 TW tires and sees extended WOT in 3'rd and 4'th on the track. The clutch is a single disc setup from Silver Sport with iron face pucks on one side and Kevlar/copper on the other from memory.

This replaced a simpler clutch... basically a 10.5" Chevy clutch with high friction lining from old Keisler. That clutch held OK but was starting to crack in the web around the disc hub.

When I had the engine freshened (+ new clutch), torque increased and I am actually exceeding Silver Sport rated clutch torque capacity. It works OK as long as I fully lift on shift. I'll get something stouter next time... probably twin disc/dual friction of some type.