Clutch Recall (2/23/23): Clutch Pressure Plate May Overheat -- Affecting 70,000 Manual Jeep Wranglers and Gladiators

[Bbannongmu]

Got the truck back today with the Centerforce dual friction clutch/flywheel and hydraulics installed. Apart from the fact that the dealership fleeced me on the labor, everything so far is great. I drove the truck for about 40 miles (both city start/stop and highway). The dual friction feels heavy, but not overly so, and has none of the vagueness of the stock clutch. The effect of the heavier flywheel is also clearly there - truck does not stall when going uphill on 1st or 2nd gear without throttle. The stock clutch could never manage to do that. So far, I am quite happy with the centerforce kit - I imagine it will make off-road driving much better too.

I will be submitting for reimbursement to FCA Would be good to get back some of my $3K that this ordeal has cost me. I have kept the stock parts and if anyone is interested I will post photos. I am not an expert mechanic, but I am not a newbie MT driver either. I put 200K miles on my 2000 nissan frontier and never needed to replace the clutch, and never felt it slip even when towing, and so I am quite certain it is not my style of driving that caused any of this. Given my experience, I'd advice anyone who felt the stock clutch slip even a little, to check for heating and if they notice that to replace with a solid aftermarket part ASAP. Your safety is not worth waiting for whatever haphazard solution FCA is bound to come up with. They already showed how much they really care with the "software" update fix - I don't have much faith that they will come up with a robust/safe solution this time around.

Thanks to StevenInOrlando and especially to BrianKay for the advice. I am crossing my fingers that the the techs bled the clutch correctly so that I will have no more problems.

Congrats! You’re gonna love it. It’s a beast offroad in the rocks and I can tow and back a trailer up with no slipping or stalls.

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[loganjeeps]

I will be submitting for reimbursement to FCA Would be good to get back some of my $3K that this ordeal has cost me.

keep us posted on this status of this part of the journey, that's what I'm most interested in

 

[seven30]

With our clutches, we have two options for flywheels. Both are solid flywheels and use a conventional type 11" clutch with a torque capacity of 480ftlbs (if using street discs). No change in the hydraulics required. We also have a step by step install video. Here is a press release:
https://www.advancedclutch.com/arti...or-JEEP-Wrangler-JL-Gladiator-JT-Applications.

Nice looking set. Choice of discs too. Curious how do your two discs rotational intertia compare to the stock twin plate setup? Im thinking syncro stesses here.

 

[redriderjf87]

Got the truck back today with the Centerforce dual friction clutch/flywheel and hydraulics installed. Apart from the fact that the dealership fleeced me on the labor, everything so far is great. I drove the truck for about 40 miles (both city start/stop and highway). The dual friction feels heavy, but not overly so, and has none of the vagueness of the stock clutch. The effect of the heavier flywheel is also clearly there - truck does not stall when going uphill on 1st or 2nd gear without throttle. The stock clutch could never manage to do that. So far, I am quite happy with the centerforce kit - I imagine it will make off-road driving much better too.

I will be submitting for reimbursement to FCA Would be good to get back some of my $3K that this ordeal has cost me. I have kept the stock parts and if anyone is interested I will post photos. I am not an expert mechanic, but I am not a newbie MT driver either. I put 200K miles on my 2000 nissan frontier and never needed to replace the clutch, and never felt it slip even when towing, and so I am quite certain it is not my style of driving that caused any of this. Given my experience, I'd advice anyone who felt the stock clutch slip even a little, to check for heating and if they notice that to replace with a solid aftermarket part ASAP. Your safety is not worth waiting for whatever haphazard solution FCA is bound to come up with. They already showed how much they really care with the "software" update fix - I don't have much faith that they will come up with a robust/safe solution this time around.

Thanks to StevenInOrlando and especially to BrianKay for the advice. I am crossing my fingers that the the techs bled the clutch correctly so that I will have no more problems.

Thanks for reporting your experience. Very interested to hear more on the reimbursement process and how it works out for you.

 

[ACTman]

Nice looking set. Choice of discs too. Curious how do your two discs rotational intertia compare to the stock twin plate setup? Im thinking syncro stesses here.

Great question! There is definitely an increase of Inertia when running a spring center 11" single disc compared to the two 8.5" solid center discs. I can get numbers if you like.
How that affects the wear on syncros is largely up to driver driving habits and the quality of the syncros. We tried to get the JL to lock us out by shifting very quickly and it performed like a champ. We were impressed with the Aisin transmission. I wish my JK shifted like that!

 

[seven30]

Great question! There is definitely an increase of Inertia when running a spring center 11" single disc compared to the two 8.5" solid center discs. I can get numbers if you like.
How that affects the wear on syncros is largely up to driver driving habits and the quality of the syncros. We tried to get the JL to lock us out by shifting very quickly and it performed like a champ. We were impressed with the Aisin transmission. I wish my JK shifted like that!

Sure I love to see them. 2cnd always takes a beating with these "all syncrons on one shaft" designs but then again we are not speed shiftn it either. Are we??

 

[AustinL911]

Sure I love to see them. 2cnd always takes a beating with these "all syncrons on one shaft" designs but then again we are not speed shiftn it either. Are we??

Is that why 2nd is kind of notchy?

 

[seven30]

Is that why 2nd is kind of notchy?

Its not completely obvious at first glance but essenially 2-3 syncros are on the larger of the gear pairs which reduces the mechanical advantage the syncro friction sees. When clutch is deperessd this syncro has to deal with the entire layshaft PLUS all the gear sets that are just messed but not engaged. Because of this and the poor mechanical advantage 2nd gets hammered.

There are other designs that have some the syncros grears on layshaft to help combat this.
I believe the Corvette six speed ZF is one example along with some Porsche manuals.

 

[ACTman]

Sure I love to see them. 2cnd always takes a beating with these "all syncrons on one shaft" designs but then again we are not speed shiftn it either. Are we??

We are reorganizing the shop and moving my testing bench (with MOI tester) today. I should get a chance to get the numbers tomorrow.

 

[seven30]

We are reorganizing the shop and moving my testing bench (with MOI tester) today. I should get a chance to get the numbers tomorrow.

Surely. Very interesting stuff.

 

[ACTman]

Surely. Very interesting stuff.

MOI comparison:
Stock JL = 22.1 lb*in²
ACT JL = 50.2 lb*in²

 

[seven30]

MOI comparison:
Stock JL = 22.1 lb*in²
ACT JL = 50.2 lb*in²

Is 22.1 both discs? Hows the six puck compare? (not really a truck disc I know).

 

[ACTman]

Is 22.1 both discs? Hows the six puck compare? (not really a truck disc I know).

It is going to be higher MOI. I usually don't recommend the 6 puck because it is way overkill for over 95% of the JL/JT's. Basically the same 11" disc we put on many LS powered drift cars (except the splines).

 

[loganjeeps]

Anyone heard of or actually had success getting some reimbursement for aftermarket installs? I suspect once mopar has a "solution" they won't offer a reimbursement and I would frankly rather go halfsies on something quality than whatever they come up with for free.

 

[jc1986]

Anyone heard of or actually had success getting some reimbursement for aftermarket installs? I suspect once mopar has a "solution" they won't offer a reimbursement and I would frankly rather go halfsies on something quality than whatever they come up with for free.

so I have been in Germany for work for the past 9 months. I just saw my wife over the weekend and got the recall letter from Jeep. I have already purchased the centerforce clutch and was planning on having it installed before this recall came out. I sent jeep an email asking if they would install this clutch under the recall and if I could pay the difference in labor. Their response was Great. They said no that they don’t recommend ANY aftermarket equipment and that I should wait until their engineers (accountants) come up with a safe solution. I laughed pretty hard and now I just need to have the centerforce clutch installed Either way. Thanks jeep, I’m sure those engineers are hard at work trying to figure out how to not make clutch packs explode under normal conditions.

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