I'm getting a xtracab with a 3.0 and an auto, I plan on doing the 5spd swap cause my buddy has one laying around, I was just curious as to what is the best bang for the buck as far as clutch kit and master cylinder wise. I found some on ebay for as little as $89.99 but they are $109 on rock auto. What clutch have you liked the best that was super cheap? Thanks!

oh and does brand matter as far as flywheel?

 

Auto zone clutches aren't bad the hd one is pretty long lasting

 

I recommend factory Aisin/Seco. Excellent clutches.

Marlin has them offered in higher than OE pressure. OE is about 900ft-lbs, I believe. I got the 1200ft-lbs kit. Still a factory pedal feel, but great grip when I need it.

 

Well, I've been through this a couple times now. And am getting ready to do it again right now as a matter of fact(different truck than the first 2 times though). Anyhow, the first time(after the original stock clutch in my 88 finally went out with ~215k miles on it) I went with a HD clutch kit from ebay. Which was supposed to be a HD SECO cover and a HD SECO disk. Turned out to be an EXEDY cover with a SECO disk(whether or not either was truly a HD design is debatable). Whatever, it should work good right? I mean Marlin recommends the SECO disks...so they have to be legit. NOT!!! NEVER buying a SECO disk EVER again. Stupid thing blew up on me the first time I wheeled it. And with slightly less than 500 miles on it. Went back to AISIN disks. Never doing ANY other brand of disk again. AISIN ARE TOTALLY THE BEST clutch disks money can buy. But what about the plastic parts on them? Yep! You betcha! So what? Not a problem at all with that personally. That's actually what makes them better(if you do your homework, it's quite obvious a fact). Any arguments to the contrary are basically a bunch of misinformed BS.

And that's pretty much the size of that. So what am I about to install on my other truck(90 3VZ-E)? A 100% AISIN clutch kit. With an AISIN clutch cover(not HD), AISIN clutch disk(not HD), and KOYO bearings. What else? Do you want your clutch to last upwards of 200,000 miles? Then there's no other choice to be made. Go to rockauto and get one for less than $125. Best value in clutch kits you're going to find...PERIOD!!!

BTW, the whole HD clutch cover thing is pretty much a complete waste of time/money too. Not likely to EVER be of ANY real use to ANYONE! I wouldn't bother going that route again either. PURE HYPE!!! Makes no difference whatsoever. In fact, they might even be a worse idea. And I run 35's with 4.30's, so don't go there. I slightly know what I'm talking about here. That combo is not easy on a clutch(disk or cover). Going with the HD crap didn't do A THING for me A TALL!

Oh and the flywheel brand is about as irrelevant as it could possibly be. They are all made in China. I just bought a Sachs flywheel for my new project. I don't recall what brand the one I bought for my 88 was. Just now it was the cheapest one I could find, and it's been working perfectly for me for many many years now.

 

Is there any suggested evidence that the HD cover offered any additional performance/protection over the OEM Aisin? Word of mouth and Yotatech community has always said to stick with Marlin's HD kit.. I personally bought the kit, but it's also the first clutch job I've ever done so I have nothing to compare the quality of the product to. If Rock Auto offers the OEM kit for significantly cheaper than the Marlin kit, why isn't it as advertised and spoken for? Propaganda? I'm still a newbie on the forum here so I probably don't know WTCRAP I'm talking about, but hey! You make a good point.