Venting! Freaken SPEC!!!

[ConElite]

Just spent 20 minutes getting insulted by the Tech guy at SPEC Inc. I'm sure some of you read the thread about the horrible chatter on my second SPEC clutch and so yesterday the guy told me that I have to bleed it and with some time the chatter should go away completely. I explained everything perfectly and how I have spend over $500 on their damn clutches just to get an even worse clutch than before. The guy was talking to me like I was an idiot and didn't know anything about cars and told me that chances are I installed it wrong and if its not that then It just needs to break in. I told him if they are going to pay if my Trans messes up b/c of the horrible shacking of the clutch, "No we only cover our parts, that if they were bad from the beginning." Total A-hole. I told him, "So what am I suppose to do without a car for the month that u guys will be evaluating the clutch." All he said was, That's something that is out of my control. I mean I knew that's what they were going to say but the fact that he question my work and talked down to me totally Pissed me off. I told him that how is it that these POS clutch never last more than 10k, He told me he just talked to some guy that has over 100k on a stage 2. I would never in a million years believe that. I dont know If I even wanna bother sending it back. The whole time i was talking he kept trying to cut me off. Then he goes, "You know I'll let u talk then Ill reply, No go ahead," and I was not even mad at that point, Simply talking pretty calm.

I called Byunspeed and orders my LS7 Clutch kit with LS2 Flywheel. $442 and they pay for the shipping. Ships today from CO and should be here Thursday. That's what I call Service. The guy was real cool, Understanding and even threw in the Flywheel bolts in for free for the inconvenience.

[Jeff_in_Atl]

They tried to say I put my clutch in wrong too. I said how do you put it in wrong. He said you can put the disc in backwards. I said and if you do you can not get the pressure plate to pull flush with the flywheel. He says oh. Then he says well if you don't use the alignment tool it will vibrate. I said the alignment tool is only so you can get the trans to go in and align to the pilot bearing. As soon as you put your foot in the clutch the clutch falls loose and aligns itself. He goes oh. I said so what could I do wrong. He says I don't know but we make a good product bla bla bla. I said I am a machinist and I just measured your clutch disc and it has a .010 taper across the face. It's only touching on about 20% of the clutch face. You could see the wear on the disc on one small corner. The rest was untouched. He said send it back and they will replace it. That is when we got into what am I supposed to do while I wait for a new one. bla bla bla

When I talked to Koni they didn't care what was wrong. They sent me a new one that day. That is customer service.

How much business has SPEC lost because of postings like these on message boards?

[ConElite]

How much business has SPEC lost because of postings like these on message boards?

I dont know but there is a ton of SPEC haters on CamaroZ28.com as well as LS1Tech.Com. I hope the new set-up works good and does not chatter. Even if it chatters a little, Anything is better than this thing.

[Christopherrr]

They tried to say I put my clutch in wrong too. I said how do you put it in wrong. He said you can put the disc in backwards. I said and if you do you can not get the pressure plate to pull flush with the flywheel. He says oh. Then he says well if you don't use the alignment tool it will vibrate. I said the alignment tool is only so you can get the trans to go in and align to the pilot bearing. As soon as you put your foot in the clutch the clutch falls loose and aligns itself. He goes oh. I said so what could I do wrong. He says I don't know but we make a good product bla bla bla. I said I am a machinist and I just measured your clutch disc and it has a .010 taper across the face. It's only touching on about 20% of the clutch face. You could see the wear on the disc on one small corner. The rest was untouched. He said send it back and they will replace it. That is when we got into what am I supposed to do while I wait for a new one. bla bla bla

When I talked to Koni they didn't care what was wrong. They sent me a new one that day. That is customer service.

How much business has SPEC lost because of postings like these on message boards?

Wow...I'm ever so glad I never had to deal with service like that.

[ConElite]

Wow...I'm ever so glad I never had to deal with service like that.

Be happy your Automatic. lol

Worse service I have ever received. If the $ amount was little I would not bother but thats $500+ down the drain.

[Joshu]

Worse service I have ever received. If the $ amount was little I would not bother but thats $500+ down the drain.

Yeah I know how you feel, check out my post in the tech forum about my mechanic. I'd drink a beer with you after all this crap but you're 3000 miles away!
- Josh

[BrdWAtti2d]

How much business has SPEC lost because of postings like these on message boards?

I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole now.

[Trans Am]

A friend of mine had problems with 2 of their clutches , from what i recall. on a 93 z28

[ConElite]

Yeah I know how you feel, check out my post in the tech forum about my mechanic. I'd drink a beer with you after all this crap but you're 3000 miles away!
- Josh

Ha ha ha ha... Totally man. I got a bottle of JAck in the back of my car.

Add some Coke and sit and wait for my new Clutch Kit to arrive.

[raroZ28]

That sucks Eddie, big time. I know what you mean, I've dealt with a lot of companies that just like to assume you're an idiot and you did something wrong.

I still do find it really odd that your stock clutch with 55k, and 2 specs all have the same problem.

I'm not saying it isn't the clutch, but are you absolutely sure everything else is working as it should?

You didn't use a new PP when you put in the last clutch did you? Flywheel was in good shape, etc...?

For some reason I keep thinking something else is wrong. I've used nothing but SPEC since I was introduced to it by a buddy that worked at a speed shop. They used SPEC on all the cars they built and had tons of success, as have I.

It's too bad what happened to you. Every time I ever talked to people at SPEC, they've been totally cool. I always talked to a guy named Brian and he would never hesitate to replace a clutch at their expense. Haven't talked to them since about 2003, so maybe they've gotten bigger and now they got that big company attitude problem that so many companies develop when they get big.

And I got a SPEC S3 in my z28 going strong with over 30k on it.

[raroZ28]

I should mention, for a few days after installing the S3, the car felt undriveable. I got used to it after a day, but it was awful. Pedal was very stiff (still is but not half as bad), and it used to chatter like crazy.

It all went away after a few days. Car grabs like a gator and has a close to stock feel to it.

[ConElite]

I still do find it really odd that your stock clutch with 55k, and 2 specs all have the same problem.

The Stock Clutch that was in it did not Chatter at all. Was extremely smooth and great but I believe the Slave or Master was bad so It would slip around the torque curve. I installed the New Clutch and about 1-2 months later is started slipping. Changed the Slave and held for about a month and started slipping.

I'm not saying it isn't the clutch, but are you absolutely sure everything else is working as it should?

Change the Slave 2 times, Changed the Master once. Bleed the system about 10+ times. Ran Synthetic Brake Fluid as well as normal DOT3.

You didn't use a new PP when you put in the last clutch did you? Flywheel was in good shape, etc...?

Would you use the same PP if it looked like this Raro? You might of meant something else. Flywheel was Resurfaced both times and in good shape.

[sneitzel]

That sounds alot like the first person I spoke to at SPEC.
I eventually got to someone higher up and that was when I got some results.

They too tried to blame improper install as the reason for failure but once I told them I had a professional Trans. shop do the install they backed off.

For reference the shop that did the 2nd install said they saw no indication of improper installation, abuse or any other issues with the trans and even kept the car an extra day to double check the hydraulic system. They said it looked like a clutch that had normal wear and had just worn out, after only 10K miles!

[ryan34]

I wouldn't touch one with a ten foot pole now.

Amen to that!!

[JeffM]

Jesus.. This isn't the first thing I've heard about Spec having crappy clutches..

I know what clutch I WON'T be buying this winter!! The LS7 setup is seeming better and better.. Let me know how that one performs - I will be getting a new clutch over the winter and would like to know how that one is. The price is definitely right!

Thanks, and good luck