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Clutch Kits Compared
Here's what Ron Salmon of
The Bus Depot had to say (2001 prices):
The "entry-level" one, at around $114 with listmember
discount, is the basic Sachs kit, same as sold pretty much everywhere
else under the sun. This is what the vast majority of Vanagons have
on them now, and is what I have on my own Westy. There have been some
claims on this List in the past that the Sachs kit can be prone to "clutch
chatter." In many cases, the cause turned out to be unrelated,
such as worn motor mounts, a flywheel that was not resurfaced, etc.
I have had not one iota of trouble with the Sachs kit on my own '89
Westy. On the other hand, I had the identical kit in my '85 Vanagon
a few ears earlier and it did chatter. Worn mounts? Uneven flywheel?
Hot spot on the disk? Who knows. Personally I'm not convinced that the
Sachs kits have any real problem with clutch chatter that couldn't be
explained some other way, but some would disagree. Maybe for some odd
reason they're more susceptable to it, who knows. Which is why I started
carrying the LuK kits. If you want to blame the Sachs kits as being
more
"chatter susceptable," or just "don't want to chance
it," buy the LuK.
The "middle" kit is the stock LuK kit, at $143 with discount.
This is LuK's competition to the Sachs kit. (For any who are unaware,
both Sachs and LuK are OE suppliers to VW, so they both have equal legitimacy,
although Sachs has a better-known aftermarket name here in the US.)
I have not yet heard any reports of clutch chatter with the LuK kits
at all. (Of course there is a far smaller installed user base of them,
so it would follow that there would be vastly fewer complaints anyway.)
Certainly there is no downside to the LuK kit as compared to the Sachs.
So, best case, you get a more reliable kit, and worst case, you wasted
the extra $29. Not a lot of money considering the cost/hassle of the
clutch job as a whole.
The "high-end" kit is the heavy-duty LuK kit, which is $190
with discount. This kit has been erroneously referred to on the List
as a "Syncro only" clutch kit. In reality, it is the kit that
VW switched to in mid 1989 (and used thru the end of Vanagon production
in 1991) on both 2WD and Syncro models. Neither LuK nor Sachs sell this
kit in the U.S. anymore; instead they now "supercede" it to
the earlier version (the two kits above). So I have to import this one
directly from LuK in Germany. As I understand it, the main improvements
in the later style were a slightly stronger center hub area, and a slight
redesign that reduced the required travel of the clutch pedal. This
may be a nice benefit, as I must admit that I am guilty of sometimes
failing to push the pedal all the way to the floor when shifting; it
does have quite a bit of travel with the original design.
As I said, I have the Sachs kit in my Vanagon and have not had a problem
with it. That said, if I were going to do it again, I'd buy the $190
kit. (At the time I installed mine, I did not yet have the LuK kits
available, so there was no choice.)
Why? Well, a clutch job is a major pain-in-the-ass that I don't want
to go through often. My line of thinking is that considering the small
difference in price (about $75 between the cheapest and best options),
weighed against the cost of having to do the job again prematurely (or
worse yet, losing my clutch 300 miles from home), it's just money well
spent. Replacing a part that takes half an hour to replace (and won't
be dangerous if it fails)? Might as well try using the cheapest part
because you have little to lose Replacing a part that will take half
a day to replace again if it fails, and might even leave you stranded?
Not worth cutting corners on that one. With any big repair I think it's
just good insurance to use the best quality parts possible. At the absolute
minimum I'd go the middle ground and get the $143 kit.
But as I said, the vast majority of Vanagons have the cheaper Sachs
kits (since almost nobody but me sells the LuK ones) and they work just
fine. And of course there's no saying that if you put in the most expensive
part, you still won't be the one in 1000 who gets a bad one. So in the
end, as always, it's your money and your decision.
- Ron Salmon
The Bus Depot, Inc.
(215) 234-VWVW
www.busdepot.com
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