Is there any other companies besides dte that are selling aftermarket clutch packs. I tried to order from dte, but they dont have any right now. Something about end of 3rd quarter or some crap so they are keeping all of them for their rear ends. Sounds pretty ridiculous that you would pass up a sale to give somebody a false sense that your doing better than you really are.

 

There is a very specific reason we're temporarily out of additional stock....

Our heavy duty differential clutch pack kits include our *OWN* specifically engineered, aftermarket pre-load springs that are produced to our specifications of very high quality tool steel. When we state our HD Clutch Pack Kits are unique in their design, they actually are; compared to our diff. builder competitor's claimed "HD preload springs", they use that really aren't, but are just simply 2006-up stock parts. We feel that if you're buying a HD clutch pack kit, than that's what you should get- not just a bunch of stock parts thrown together being called "HD" in name only.

Our next run of pre-load springs won't be completed for appox. 7 weeks and the kits we do have in stock are currently ear-marked for the pre-existing 17 differential orders that are in our schedule now.

If we wanted to make a "quick buck" by selling you stock "HD" parts when they really aren't, we would have- but that's not what we're about here and we feel our customers deserve better. We have higher integrity/ethics than that.

We just simply don't have any extra clutch pack kits available at the moment...that's all! No need to be rude and make crass, inaccurate statements like this just because you didn't get what you wanted.

If you'd like to wait until our next pre-load spring run is completed, than we can help and we'll put aside a set specifically for you. We'll not cut-corners here at your expense just to "make a quick sale", as there are never any benefits to short-changing customers just to make a quick buck.

 

Not trying to be rude. I understand the reasoning, Im sure you guys build a bunch at a time to try and reduce the price as much as reasonably possible. However I think it would be more beneficial to spend the money regardless of what time of the year and keep the products that you sell in stock so there is a potential you can make money. If you dont make any because it will "look bad" on paper for your company then you definitely wont make any sells if you dont have a product to sell. I have researched your products and understand how your products differ from others, hence I was trying to order a set. If you were to make a smaller batchs of your products to keep them in stock and production cost were slightly higher, Id still pay that. And then you would still be making some money. And as far as my statements be inaccurate thats what I was told by your personnel when I tried to order a set.

 

Nope, no reason we're temporarily out of stock as you've "analyzed" the reason to be, other than we're just simply out at the moment... That happens in any business sometimes whether one is selling hot dogs or auto parts.

The next production w run will be completed in approx. 7 weeks as stated.

 

This is what the DTE HD pre-load springs look like after ~10,000 miles. The car never had slicks or drag radials. I was told by DTE that I didn't change the fluid often enough! Then they told me it was caused by using the GM synthetic oil & additive. As the pics show, the pre-load springs only apply pressure to the clutch packs. The clutch discs are splined to the side gears, thus there is no way that the springs are spinning against the side gear or clutch disc.

I was lucky that I caught this before the diff locked up at highway speeds! I installed stock GM clutch packs and put on at least another 10,000 miles with out any trouble. I hope that DTE is using different pre-load springs (I purchased these in Dec 2004)

Russ Kemp

 

We very adamently warn against using poor quality GM lubricant and non-synthetic GM LSA with our differentials and/or our HD clutch packs for this very reason. Our pre-load springs apply approx. 34% greater clamp load per side than the cheap stock parts do and absolutelly require the use of Redline 75/140w fully synthetic lubricant with 13% Redline fully synthetic LSA blended in. If someone fails to heed our warnings of what the proper lubricant is to use, uses something different on their own accord and then has failures because of that refusal to use the correct fluid; than you're on your own, as you *WILL* have premature clutch pack failure, we warn about, we assure you.

Addtionally, that clutch pack had to get *EXTREMELY* hot for those preload springs to fail, as our products are produced of very high quality of AISI D3 high carbon, high chromium wrought tool steel.

Lastly, you're wrong on how the pre-load springs function.... The pre-load spring is not splined and does indeed float between the dual-surface, top pressure plate friction disc and the side gear; therefore, the point of high friction occurs between those surfaces on turns or while doing burnouts.

 

When I ordered the pre-load springs, there was no mention about using their "specially blended oil"

If the clutches did get "extremely" hot, why is there no discoloration of the clutch discs & pressure plates? All the scoring was caused by the broken pieces of pre-load springs grinding against the clutch disc.

Re-read my post, I said that the clutch discs are splined, not the pre-load springs. Please explain how there is going to be friction between the springs & clutches when turning or doing burn outs. BTW, I don't do burnouts with my car.

Lastly, thanks to your $50.00 clutch springs, it cost me $600.00 in parts to rebuild the diff. Good thing I own an auto repair shop as the labor would of been ~$550.00.

Russ Kemp

 

Russ, when someone orders an internal (anything) component like this that's usually installed by qualified differential builders/professionals, it's understood that if their making an internal component purchase like this, than they would/should understand how to install them and/or how to maintain them and/or what lubricant to use. If they don't know the answers to their questions if they're novices/DIY'ers, they always ask to get the correct information (which we freely provide) so they don't assume something that isn't correct. This simple concept is no different than if you're purchasing internal components like pistons, rings, cranks, heads, blocks, transmisison parts, or whatever.

As we clearly stated in the first post to you- the point of severe friction occurs at the pressure plate/side gear interface via the pre-load spring and the only way that type of severe heat can be generated is if the wheel speed from one side to the other was excessive- i.e. burnouts, road racing, auto-x'ing, etc. Driving "straight" won't do this... Also, one should *ALWAYS* change their differential and/or transmission lubricant anytime their car has been run hard no matter what the venue, because oil is cheap- replacement parts are not...

Everyone always changes their engine oil after running the car hard and often "just because", to protect their investment, but then those same folks won't go near the differential to change that oil; because even after extended/hard use since it's "out of sight, out of mind", it gets neglected until their is a failure.

I already did above.

Running the differential with the proper lubricant would have been even cheaper for you, since you would not have had to repair anything and Redline synthetic diff oil is *FAR* cheaper than that GM synthetic "grape" fluid that you used in that differential.

Sorry you had troubles, (it's never fun for anyone) but the problem you've had wasn't native to our product, had the correct lubricant been used form the beginning. We've been continually preaching for years now that these high performance Corvette IRS differentials *REALLY* *DESPERATELY* need high performance aftermarket lubricant to survive for the long term~ even for stock differentials, but some folks still use the poor GM fluid for HP applications with often expensive results... That lube just isn't up to the task to support the kind of power/friction we generate with these cars now-a-days.

Don't take my word for it~ Go to the C6Z section and see how many folks are having problems with *STOCK* differentials that use GM lubricants! GM has been chasing around a real corrective solution to those problems for the last 2 years, with no real success yet.....


Phil