Any way to tell which one we have? I would hope since I just got mine a month ago that it is a nice new one that will not have a spline issue.

 

I will really not know what the problem is until I tear the car down next weekend. This was just a theory presented to me by the Tech and Tilton.

I forgot to mention. This will only be an issue on some EVO's. It all depends on how well your EVO's transmission shaft is aligned. Some were very good from the factory and others were not. The one's that have an alignment problem are the ones that shear the splines on the disc pack.

I purchased mine in June 06.

Shad

 

Is the center hub with the splines black or silver? Black is the newer heat treated design.

 

This clutch has a hydrolic shift unit.
Makes it real good for nolift shifting.

 

I have the Tilton carbon / carbon and I like it. It's a little nosiey though. I don't mind it at all and I drive it through Atlanta's traffic like it's my beeatch!

It also holds the power well. I had a ATS triple carbon and like the Tilton MUCH better. We'll see how long it will last...

 

On which part are the splines black, I think I have one of each.

 

Here are 2 pics of the splines in both old/new disks.
The silver ones are the originals (My old Hybrid). The black ones are the up-date ones (I converted to full Cerametallic).

So you guys know, the color is one diffeence. The other is the new up-dated disk weights double the original one. The metal used in the new ones is much biffy.

You should not have one of each. They probably would not work together. The weight difference of each is significant.

 

Ok so I looked at it to night and I do have a silver and a black spline. It appears that I have a hybrid instead of the cerametallic twin I thought I was getting.

 

The spline wear problem is not unique to Tilton clutches. It is seen on most multi-plate clutches that use seperate hubs of each disc, rather than a sprung hub. It can even happen to a single plate solid hub clutch. Tilton carbon clutch doesn't have the problem because it uses one hub (with a long spline area) to drive both discs.

A sprung hub is designed to absord the harmonics/vibrations caused when the engine fires. The more cylinders an engine has, the smoother it will fire and will have created less harmonics/vibrations. The EVO creates a lot of vibration/hamronics, especially if the cam has been changed. These harmonics caused the clutch disc/hubs to rattle on the input shaft splines. The sprung hub will absord it, but a solid hub will not and can begin to "beat" the splines from the clutch hub.

In addition, there can be great differences in alignment tolerances of the engine/transmission between cars of the production lilne. It is not cost effective for car manufacturers to makes sure the alignment in ideal and is another reason a sprung hub disc is used, as it will adjust for misalignment. Misalignment will be uneven load on the clutch hub splines and cause them to wear.

Lastly, the input shaft in the EVO is a "floating" design. It is not supported by a pilot bearing in the flywheel. Because it is not support, the input shaft will flex and alignment will change. The flexing of the input shaft will magnify as power increases. Becaue the alignment (betweem the input shaft and centerline of the crankshaft) is changing, uneven load is placed on the clutch hub splines.

There is basically a lot working against the use of a solid hub disc in the EVO. Some solid disc hubs users may be 50,000 miles while others may only get 500 miles. There are many variables that can effect the life. It is a trade-off. A sprung hub will absord the harmonics and adjust for misalignment, but it limited on the amount of power/abuse it can handle. It also has a higher inertia which will negatively affect high RPM shifting.

 

I have the cera twin from Tilton. I like it to be honest. Yes its loud and chatters alot.

 

I love my Tilton <3

 

I see where the confusion is. You are thinking the organic disk, which is sort of black, and the ceramic disk which is light in color are the black and silver we are talking about. But it is not. The splines are the middle part (the hole) in the disk it self. You can see the pic on the right, the sorounding area around the holes is silver. On the pic on the left, the sorounding area around the hole is black.
But, one thing is clear. You do have a Hybrid. The thing is, check the color of the splines. Silver lining is original disks, black lining is updated disks.

 

Dude, I am impressed! Awesome post. I can't say that I agree with everything you wrote, but you actually get it. I can't say how many times I have attempted to explain torsional vibration and related issues and it falls on deaf ears. My hat is off to you.

 

Dirk, is this explanation like the one my brother got on the DSM clutch install he did about two weeks ago? You know the one that told him to double check his install on a 1g DSM? Let's see, he's installed clutches in DSM's since 1989, probably a 1,000 of them by now.............

It's all good, we put a Centerforce DF in the car and it fixed it instantly.

Buy the Tilton, you'll like it.

 

Since the tilton and most other dual/triple plate clutches dont offer a pilot bearing, tilton does offer a pilot bearing to try and center the input shaft into the back of the engine. I can't remember the cost of it but if memory serves it's right around the $77 mark.

Also while at PRI I was asking a few questions and they also offer a type of valve that reduces the fluid flow to the release bearing so the clutch doesn't slam into the flywheel everytime.

Since my tilton (hybrid) is almost on it's last leg i will be trying both of these and see if they lengethen the lifespan a bit more. I will be upgrading to a full twin ceremetallic.