4x4Lamm

Well, after 200,003 miles my OEM clutch began to slip and glazed over so it was time to replace it. I searched high and low for a good replecement. I looked at dealer supplied clutches, centerforce, ram, and lastly, zoom. After seeing the price for one from a dealer and doing hours of research on the others i decided on Zoom.

The entire kit (standard friction) was less than $300. I did not want an enhanced friction because my engines power output does not warrent it and i would rathet have my clutch slip in 4-Lo off-road than have a driveshaft or axleshaft break. The kit included all the needed bearings and the instal tool.

I don't have garage space, the tools, time or skill to undertake this myself so i took it too my trusty mechanic, Mike. In the past he has taken charges off my bill and bumped me to the front of the line. In exchange, I always use him and try to send people his way. He ordered the parts for me too.

The entire bill came out to almost $1200 ! That sounds bad, but that also included the resurfacing of the flywheel, replacement of transmission/T-case mounts, a T-Case and tranny oil change, the repair of the front drive dhaft ( it had frozen at the splines) and the replacement of my rear main seal. The leaky seal coused all this in the first place. the old, oil soaked clutch disc still had about 15000 miles left on it.

As always, i inspected the progress of the vehicle every day. I also check every part or fluid that goes in. The work was completed in a timely mannor, and the money I had been saving for an ARB Milemarker combo is gone.

The Zoom clutch is great. The pedal is so much lighter, I almost put my foot through the floorboard when I drove away. There is ZERO chatter, and NO slip, even at 4000 plus RPMs or in Lo-Range. I have not driven many standard shift vehicles, but mine feels the best of all now. I have had to learn to drive again but now I have a lot better feel and handling with the clutch. It haz put the "ZOOM" back into my 4Runner, HA HA HA, uh, nevermind.

In short, Zoom is a great clutch, I hate having to shell out cash for work, but if you do, its nice to give it to a trusted mechanic who gaurentees his work. I am very satisfied with everything.

I would be happy to field any questions.

Lamm

evilcow

Your the second person to tell me about zoom clutch's. Everyone else says OEM. I've got over 170,000 miles on mine and its time to replace it. Do you have a link for the zoom clutch?

MorphiasX

What is your guys deal with the centerforce dual friction? My dad has one in his '00 Nissan Xterra 4x4 SE 5spd, has a 3.3L V6, and he loves it. The vehicle sees the trails atleast once a month, including rock crawling and all. He crawls over rocks and such in 4LO with no problem, he loves the centerforce dual friction. It is what i was planning on putting in my truck in the near future. I just want to know why people are steering away from it.

4x4Lamm

As far as finding out more, google.com. search for "zoom clutches"

I mostly based my decision on talking to sales reps and reading handouts at the Super Summit car and truck show.

As far as a cenerforce, if you wan't it, get it. I have herd lots of good stuff about them with only a few complaints about high speed low RPM slipping. (prob. because it gets its holding power from rotational speed). Having the 3.slow however, I see no need to pay more money for a clutch that can outperform my engine. It would be just a waste of money. if you have a screamer of an engine though, get a high friction clutch.

See what I mean now?
Lamm

keisur

Centerforce DF's are really tough on the driveline and have been known to snap axles and shafts on Toyotas, that's why nobody with a Toyota likes them much. Most people who get the Centerforces stick with the Centerforce I's.

I'll be doing mine soon too. I'm sticking with OEM though. Through 1sttoyotaparts.com I can get everything disc, plate, both bearings and a rear main seal for around $300-$400. I just like that I've gone this many miles on the OEM one and in my opinion, I don't want to be doing this job again for another 100k or so. My clutch would be fine if I hadn't pulled an F350 out of the mud and smoked the clutch a few years back. no everytime I wheel I smell it's burning desire to be changed. it still holds fine in regular driving but the bearings have started grinding and squealing so it's getting close to replacement time. I'll be doing the work myself so I;m not that concerned with saving money. I'd go TRD with the flywheel but that is a bit out of my range, I was just going to resurface the stock flywheel since they are quite pricey too.

kyle_22r

i've never heard of anyone snapping a u-joint because of their clutch on a toyota. never heard of a rear axle breaking unless in double low with dual cases and slamming on the gas, but even that's pretty rare. high angle driveline uses toyota u-joints in their drivelines that go behind healthy v8s.

i wouldn't hesitate to run a centerforce if:
1.) i had the money in hand
2.) i had a more robust transmission

i'm putting in an L52 transmission which as many of us know isn't the strongest toy tranny made. it's basically a shorter G52 which will bolt into an early truck without redoing the drivelines. if i had, say, marlin's L52-HD(L52 with G54 guts), a G54, W56 or R151F i wouldn't think twice about a centerforce.

keisur

That's because nobody runs the dual friction ones. Like I said, centerforce I's are ok in my opinion but even centerforce recommends not using the DF version. just my 2 pennies.

dragr1

iTrader: (3)

Does TRD make a heavier flywheel? b/c no other companies make one for the 3.4. I'm in need of a clutch soon too, I'll probably go with a Marlin-it's basically OEM but slightly modified and I'll have him resurface my flywheel also b/c he has a trick there to get more holding power. I plan on also going with 4.88's-think I'll be good with the 4.88's and 33's to pull a 3600 pound popup camper? (thinking of a newer model than the one I have)

gwhayduke

They made a heavy duty clutch kit for the 3.0 with a 5lb. heavier flywheel. I have it and it made the 3.0 a lot better on takeoffs. Imagine letting your clutch out without slipping it, the engine at idle and have a 4000+ lb. 4Runner just take off. That's what the heavier flywheel does for you.

I emailed TRD asking them if the 3.4 heavy duty clutch kit came with a heavier flywheel. No reply in a couple of weeks.

keisur

All the info I can find on it is for Toyota cars and not trucks. if somebody knows a place for the truck ones can they post it please?

TRD Flywheel:

http://www.trdsource.com/printable.php?parts_id=167
http://www.toyheadauto.com/TRD_Clutc...formation.html

keisur

I believe you can get a clutch kit both with or without it.

keisur

how long will it take you to ship it out there and get it back and installed? you doing the install yourself?

4.88's will be fine, I have them and they;re great.

dragr1

iTrader: (3)

I don't know how long it will take, when I do it, I will try to arrange it ahead of time where it is an immediate turn around. I won't be doing the install myself, rather a friend of mine in Opelika. Do you ever tow anything heavy with the 4.88's? What kind of gas mileage are you getting? (mine sucks right now with the 4.30's)

Have you ever run a gps to see how far off your speedometer is?

keisur

no. but it's off by 1/10 per mile. when I travel 1 mile (between interstate sticks) the speedo only shows 9/10 of a mile.

gas mileage sucks but that's just how it is with these. I don't tow much with it but towing would be alot better with the 4.88's than with the stock 4.10's. ya know.

I know Opelika. and Opp too, hehe.

dragr1

iTrader: (3)

So basically ten percent, when you're reading 70 mph, you're actually going 77 mph. That is what mine reads now. Anyone know where to get different speedometer gears?

keisur

well, it's not linear. the slow you go the less the difference between speedo and true speed. the faster you go, the greater the distance. but going 70 is really going about 77 yea. but 35 mph is more like 37, see what I mean. you can do a simple calculation (I wrote a spreadsheet and made a column from 1-100 mph) and see how the speed difference changes between the two tire sizes. you can't change speedo gears, it's computer controlled. you can get a recalibrator thing though, I'll have to find the link and post it.

man, looks like we hijacked this thread pretty good. better get it back on track:
Clutch. haha.

dragr1

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, oops, sorry about the hijack. Back to clutches.