Mcleod RXT and boosted 90% street use, good or bad combination?

[kenand1988]

I waiting for the rxt 1000 clutch to arrive and did more googling since then. I wasn't really aware that the mt82 isn't that great of a transmission, after all I've put over 10k miles on mine with anywhere between 680 and over 800 rwhp. It's a centri blower so I'm sure that's helped. The stock clutch is still doing fine from what I can tell but I do try to go easy on it to limit any potential issues. Tax season came and I got a refund so I finally decided to put in a clutch actually rated for the power the car makes. I don't personally know anyone who has this clutch but it had great reviews on the site I bought it from. Now that I'm doing more research it sounds like the rxt is maybe too aggressive for the mt82. I was wondering if anyone else has this type of combo and can speak to how it's worked for them.

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[Zrussian13]

If I was you I'd ride the stock clutch out as long as possible. I thought I was having issues with mine so I bought an lpxhd and I've had to drop the tranny 3 additional times adjusting it to get it right. Still doesn't feel great but it works. Only thing left I can do is pull the clutch and send it back to mcleod for them to look at. I DD my car and my son just started driving so I can't take the mustang out of service right now. I started looking around after buying the lpxhd and found lots of guys who had issues. I reached out to as many as I could and most guys I talked to never got good solutions to fix it. They either dealt with it or when with a totally different clutch. That being said, I see plenty of guys installing mcleod with no issues so maybe you'll get lucky. Seems like they are hit or miss. For reference I have 65k on my car. Boosted at 48k. Put the clutch in around 55k miles.

 

[kenand1988]

If I was you I'd ride the stock clutch out as long as possible. I thought I was having issues with mine so I bought an lpxhd and I've had to drop the tranny 3 additional times adjusting it to get it right. Still doesn't feel great but it works. Only thing left I can do is pull the clutch and send it back to mcleod for them to look at. I DD my car and my son just started driving so I can't take the mustang out of service right now. I started looking around after buying the lpxhd and found lots of guys who had issues. I reached out to as many as I could and most guys I talked to never got good solutions to fix it. They either dealt with it or when with a totally different clutch. That being said, I see plenty of guys installing mcleod with no issues so maybe you'll get lucky. Seems like they are hit or miss. For reference I have 65k on my car. Boosted at 48k. Put the clutch in around 55k miles.

What were you having to adjust?

 

[Zrussian13]

What were you having to adjust?

The shims for the floater plate.

 

[kenand1988]

The shims for the floater plate.

This may be a really dumb question but do all floaters need to be shimmed. The install videos I've watched for ram and mcleod clutches didn't mention anything about shims.

 

[Zrussian13]

This may be a really dumb question but do all floaters need to be shimmed. The install videos I've watched for ram and mcleod clutches didn't mention anything about shims.

I'm not sure on that. I've seen a few install videos but haven't looked at instructions for either. With the lpx it directs you to check clearances and contact them if it's out of spec. Then depending on who you talk to that day you'll get different instructions on how to proceed. I figured it would be pretty similar with the RXT being both are made by mcleod.

 

[kenand1988]

I'm not sure on that. I've seen a few install videos but haven't looked at instructions for either. With the lpx it directs you to check clearances and contact them if it's out of spec. Then depending on who you talk to that day you'll get different instructions on how to proceed. I figured it would be pretty similar with the RXT being both are made by mcleod.

Got the clutch in over the weekend. Not a pleasant experience doing it on jackstands. I have done about 100 miles or so. There is some chatter when just starting to move but it is getting better. I did have shims for the floater plate. I counted 3 thin and 1 thicker shim. It was the same on all sides. I phoned mcleod and asked about it. Someone on the tech line basically asked me if when I bolt up the floater plate does the bottom disc have wiggle room and I said yes. He asked if when i remove the alignment tool does the disc drop and I said yes. He then said that's fine. I asked if I needed to make it any tighter and he said no just leave it as is. When I pulled the trans I wasn't that gentle with it, it took some force to really get it all the way out and I tried to keep it supported as best as possible but I'm worried having that much load on the input shaft could have hurt something. Getting it in wasn't as bad I got it about 1/8 of an inch from the motor and did draw it in with the bolts that are where the dowels are. I inspected the rear main seal, it looked fine and the throwout bearing also looked fine. There was the very slightest of play in the input shaft like if pressed on it I could make it move but I couldn't jiggle it around or anything. The new flywheel has its on pilot bearing which looked fine. Now on to a few things I am noticing while driving.

Mcleod says to just put around in stop and go traffic which I am doing. I've done just a few minor pulls in 2nd and 3rd to see how it is holding and in 3rd theres a little slip and then it holds. I think it just needs to be broken in more. The most worrying thing is there is a sound not always present but enough that its got me worried. It sounds like it is coming from directly under the shifter. It's only present when i'm driving along without the clutch pushed in. It sort of comes and goes. Sometimes its there for awhile while im in gear driving and other times it comes and goes quickly. Sometimes I hear it more when turning. I never hear it taking off in 1st its only in the higher gears. It sort of faint and only if I put the exhaust in quiet mode can I hear it. It sounds like a bad bearing sort of like slight grinding. I have no idea what it could be. I did not lube the splines on the discs. The input shaft had factory lube on it from before. I did not lube anything except the flywheel bolts to get the correct torque. I'm wondering how the break in of your clutch was? Did you notice any noises? Also I tried a 2-3 shift at a brisk pace and the trans grinded. Its the only time it has ever made that sounds. The car has 25k on it. I just replaced the trans fluid with bg syncroshift 2 and the diff with amsoil BEFORE the clutch job and drove it like that for 1k miles without any sounds.

 

[Zrussian13]

Got the clutch in over the weekend. Not a pleasant experience doing it on jackstands. I have done about 100 miles or so. There is some chatter when just starting to move but it is getting better. I did have shims for the floater plate. I counted 3 thin and 1 thicker shim. It was the same on all sides. I phoned mcleod and asked about it. Someone on the tech line basically asked me if when I bolt up the floater plate does the bottom disc have wiggle room and I said yes. He asked if when i remove the alignment tool does the disc drop and I said yes. He then said that's fine. I asked if I needed to make it any tighter and he said no just leave it as is. When I pulled the trans I wasn't that gentle with it, it took some force to really get it all the way out and I tried to keep it supported as best as possible but I'm worried having that much load on the input shaft could have hurt something. Getting it in wasn't as bad I got it about 1/8 of an inch from the motor and did draw it in with the bolts that are where the dowels are. I inspected the rear main seal, it looked fine and the throwout bearing also looked fine. There was the very slightest of play in the input shaft like if pressed on it I could make it move but I couldn't jiggle it around or anything. The new flywheel has its on pilot bearing which looked fine. Now on to a few things I am noticing while driving.

Mcleod says to just put around in stop and go traffic which I am doing. I've done just a few minor pulls in 2nd and 3rd to see how it is holding and in 3rd theres a little slip and then it holds. I think it just needs to be broken in more. The most worrying thing is there is a sound not always present but enough that its got me worried. It sounds like it is coming from directly under the shifter. It's only present when i'm driving along without the clutch pushed in. It sort of comes and goes. Sometimes its there for awhile while im in gear driving and other times it comes and goes quickly. Sometimes I hear it more when turning. I never hear it taking off in 1st its only in the higher gears. It sort of faint and only if I put the exhaust in quiet mode can I hear it. It sounds like a bad bearing sort of like slight grinding. I have no idea what it could be. I did not lube the splines on the discs. The input shaft had factory lube on it from before. I did not lube anything except the flywheel bolts to get the correct torque. I'm wondering how the break in of your clutch was? Did you notice any noises? Also I tried a 2-3 shift at a brisk pace and the trans grinded. Its the only time it has ever made that sounds. The car has 25k on it. I just replaced the trans fluid with bg syncroshift 2 and the diff with amsoil BEFORE the clutch job and drove it like that for 1k miles without any sounds.

I did my tranny 3 times on jack stands through my clutch project. Its not fun but I got really fast by the 3rd time. If you getting a slight grind the clutch might still be bleeding some air out. I noticed no matter how many times I pumped the clutch I still had to drive and shift quite a bit to get the clutch feeling solid. I even bought a vacuum bleeder but it still needed drive time. My clutch finally goes into gear good constantly but does come out of lower gears good at low rpm all the time. Driving hard it feels pretty good.

Does your noise sound like a low howl or grinding noise? Mostly under 2k rpms? If so it's probably normal. Mine was pretty loud at first and freaked me out but mcloed said as long as the pilot bearing isn't damaged its most likely just the nature of the unsprung hub. I found a lot of other guys who have similar noise, some worse than others. Mine no longer happens over 1500 rpm and is very minor. I'm almost never at that rpm so I'm ok with that aspect of the clutch. If it happens at higher rpm too it could be the throwout bearing. Did you replace that with the clutch?

I would just keep breaking it in and hold off on any pulls (even baby pulls) until it's finished breaking in. If you glaze the clutch discs during break in it won't shift good.

Unrelated question. How do you like your BMR tune? I'm thinking about going to them for an e54 tune myself but I'm nervous about going local instead of using the big name Tuners.

 

[kenand1988]

I did my tranny 3 times on jack stands through my clutch project. Its not fun but I got really fast by the 3rd time. If you getting a slight grind the clutch might still be bleeding some air out. I noticed no matter how many times I pumped the clutch I still had to drive and shift quite a bit to get the clutch feeling solid. I even bought a vacuum bleeder but it still needed drive time. My clutch finally goes into gear good constantly but does come out of lower gears good at low rpm all the time. Driving hard it feels pretty good.

Does your noise sound like a low howl or grinding noise? Mostly under 2k rpms? If so it's probably normal. Mine was pretty loud at first and freaked me out but mcloed said as long as the pilot bearing isn't damaged its most likely just the nature of the unsprung hub. I found a lot of other guys who have similar noise, some worse than others. Mine no longer happens over 1500 rpm and is very minor. I'm almost never at that rpm so I'm ok with that aspect of the clutch. If it happens at higher rpm too it could be the throwout bearing. Did you replace that with the clutch?

I would just keep breaking it in and hold off on any pulls (even baby pulls) until it's finished breaking in. If you glaze the clutch discs during break in it won't shift good.

Unrelated question. How do you like your BMR tune? I'm thinking about going to them for an e54 tune myself but I'm nervous about going local instead of using the big name Tuners.

You've Mentioned mcleod a few times. Are they the ones that make the lpxhd? Yes it's really only below 2000 rpm and more noticeable when I'm in a higher than I should be gear for the rpm I'm at like if I shift early to 2nd or 3rd and there's high load but low rpm. It doesn't sound like a howling. I'll try to take a video of it but I mean it it's really faint. Only a few times was it sort of loud and it seems to be getting better. I'm also going to try to vacuum bleed the whole system. The clutch feels pretty much the same now to as it did with the oem clutch.

As for BMR I think Rhett done a great job with the car. He's very knowledgeable and doesn't mind explaining more about what hes doing so if you're into that sort of stuff youd like him. He's done a lot of mustangs. The only downside is lack of support after the tune. He's extremely busy. He has a full time job on top of doin tunes for BMR so the after care is pretty much nonexistent or I could take weeks and constant reminders to the shop to get back to you about a concern or question. But I will say I haven't had any issues with the tunes. I myself like to make adjustments so I run into situations where I need his expertise and so I can't blame him for not making that a priority. I do not know if Bill at Arizona elite motorsports would do an e54 tune but I believe he would since he is who ESS worked directly with to create the software for the mustang. He tuned their e54 software.

 

[Zrussian13]

You've Mentioned mcleod a few times. Are they the ones that make the lpxhd? Yes it's really only below 2000 rpm and more noticeable when I'm in a higher than I should be gear for the rpm I'm at like if I shift early to 2nd or 3rd and there's high load but low rpm. It doesn't sound like a howling. I'll try to take a video of it but I mean it it's really faint. Only a few times was it sort of loud and it seems to be getting better. I'm also going to try to vacuum bleed the whole system. The clutch feels pretty much the same now to as it did with the oem clutch.

As for BMR I think Rhett done a great job with the car. He's very knowledgeable and doesn't mind explaining more about what hes doing so if you're into that sort of stuff youd like him. He's done a lot of mustangs. The only downside is lack of support after the tune. He's extremely busy. He has a full time job on top of doin tunes for BMR so the after care is pretty much nonexistent or I could take weeks and constant reminders to the shop to get back to you about a concern or question. But I will say I haven't had any issues with the tunes. I myself like to make adjustments so I run into situations where I need his expertise and so I can't blame him for not making that a priority. I do not know if Bill at Arizona elite motorsports would do an e54 tune but I believe he would since he is who ESS worked directly with to create the software for the mustang. He tuned their e54 software.

Yeah mcleod makes the lpxhd for lethal. If you call for tech support they send you straight over to mcleod.

From what your describing it sounds like your noise is normal. It's below 2k. Loudest in higher gears (mine was the worst in 4th). It's the nature of the solid hub. Mine was kinda loud on day one but by day 2 or 3 of breaking the clutch in it had gotten a lot better. Granted I was throwing 100 plus shifts at each day. Now it only happens under 1500 rpms and it's very quiet so I almost never heat it anymore.

 

[kenand1988]

Yeah mcleod makes the lpxhd for lethal. If you call for tech support they send you straight over to mcleod.

From what your describing it sounds like your noise is normal. It's below 2k. Loudest in higher gears (mine was the worst in 4th). It's the nature of the solid hub. Mine was kinda loud on day one but by day 2 or 3 of breaking the clutch in it had gotten a lot better. Granted I was throwing 100 plus shifts at each day. Now it only happens under 1500 rpms and it's very quiet so I almost never heat it anymore.

Did you break it in with traction control off like they say to do? I feel like since the material is ceramic it wouldn't matter if it got heated up.

 

[Zrussian13]

Did you break it in with traction control off like they say to do? I feel like since the material is ceramic it wouldn't matter if it got heated up.

Since my new clutch install Ive always turned traction and advance trac off. Long story short I was told I needed a clutch because of some bad false knock I was getting on the 2-3 shift. Turns out it wasn't the clutch failing but tc trying to intervene. All my headaches could have been avoided if I kept TC off from the beginning.

 

[Logan@Lethal]

The shims for the floater plate.

These leave Mcleod (or should) with no reshimming needed.. just copying the ones that are already done. Do you have any pictures? I'd love to look into this for you to make sure if this did leave the factory without the proper shims, we go back through the clutches in stock & notify them of such mistake. Please send me a message when you can. I appreciate that you've been patient with this process! The clutch works awesome when done properly, promise you that!

 

[kenand1988]

Since my new clutch install Ive always turned traction and advance trac off. Long story short I was told I needed a clutch because of some bad false knock I was getting on the 2-3 shift. Turns out it wasn't the clutch failing but tc trying to intervene. All my headaches could have been avoided if I kept TC off from the beginning.

That is interesting and good to know But for the most part I like traction control I want to keep it on. I unplugged the connector for traction control and stabilitrack while I am breaking in the clutch but I want to be able to run traction control after I break in the clutch so I hope that won't be an issue

 

[Zrussian13]

These leave Mcleod (or should) with no reshimming needed.. just copying the ones that are already done. Do you have any pictures? I'd love to look into this for you to make sure if this did leave the factory without the proper shims, we go back through the clutches in stock & notify them of such mistake. Please send me a message when you can. I appreciate that you've been patient with this process! The clutch works awesome when done properly, promise you that!

The clutch I was referencing is your lpxhd. During install the instructions tell you to check clearances between the floater plate and first disc. Mine was way off of the spec given so you guys put me in touch with Billy at mcleod. He told me to remove shims and recheck until I was in spec (.020"- .025") After doing that the clutch never engaged great and gradually got worse. I called back and spoke to someone different and they told me I never should have removed anything because it was preset before it left. I reinstalled the shims and it's ok now. I was told I could send it back in to get it readjusted because it should shift as well as stock but that's not an option right now. My 2nd son started driving this year so I'm out of extra vehicles and the mustang is my DD. I appreciate you trying to help.

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