semi metallic clutch pucks

metalliatic · Apr 30, 2010

I made some clutch pucks using an old set of brake pads off a car. I cut up the brake pad material and grinded them to fit in the clutch ring holes. they work great. no more slipping when i shift gears with my jack shaft kit. and it grabs great. pulls out of low speeds and up hills better then ever. no over power problems. if you try to make some your self make sure and use a brand new brake pad. I used a used pad and even though it looked to be in really good shape it had worn to a diffrent thickness on the inside. so some of the pucks I made where thinner then others. if you use a new pad they will all be the same. I made about 18 pucks with alittle over half a brake pad. the one i used came off a 2003 pontiac grand prix (regular size pad not real big, not real small). Im sure any pad will work. I work at a salvage yard so I just grabed a used set to see if it would even work. when I make another set I will buy the cheapest set of pads autozone of advance or who ever has in stock. I would add some pics but it says they are too big and I dont know how to resize

metalliatic · May 5, 2010

i got some pics

wildemere · May 5, 2010

Thats a great idea.

Better to harden the driven disc (its only mild steel) or it with become the sacrificial piece in the friction setup.

Heat it to cherry red and quench it in used motor oil (for extra carbon) a few times.

Then increase spring pressure.

Or just keep using organic material with mild steel.

happycheapskate · May 5, 2010

Thats pretty cool idea. How did you keep them in there. Did you glue them? Or do they just pop in place?

Maybe instead of buying the new part, you could make "pucks" out of rubber diesel mud flap material. That ought to grab pretty hard.

wildemere · May 5, 2010

"Thats pretty cool idea. How did you keep them in there. Did you glue them? Or do they just pop in place?

Maybe instead of buying the new part, you could make "pucks" out of rubber diesel mud flap material. That ought to grab pretty hard."

Add some holes to the cover to let the smoke out and do some clutch burnouts.

Even better when soaked in diesel.

happycheapskate · May 5, 2010

How would that make them stick? It sounds like it would just soil the grease in your reduction gears.

metalliatic · May 6, 2010

happycheapskate said:
Thats pretty cool idea. How did you keep them in there. Did you glue them? Or do they just pop in place?

Maybe instead of buying the new part, you could make "pucks" out of rubber diesel mud flap material. That ought to grab pretty hard.

they dont "stick" they just set there loose just like the rubber ones. the pressure plate keeps them in place. they have to be able to slide. the presure plate pushes them up to the backing plate and thats what makes it spine.

metalliatic · May 6, 2010

happycheapskate said:
How would that make them stick? It sounds like it would just soil the grease in your reduction gears.

if you ever take your clutch cover off you will see that the rubber ones put out alot of dust. it will pile up in the bottom of the case.

meowy84 · May 6, 2010

Super idea! What did you use to cut the brake pad with BTW?

Just make sure you use asbestos free pads too. *chuckle*

metalliatic · May 6, 2010

meowy84 said:
Super idea! What did you use to cut the brake pad with BTW?

Just make sure you use asbestos free pads too. *chuckle*

a band saw would be best. but i dont have one so i used a hack saw

meowy84 · May 6, 2010

metalliatic said:
a band saw would be best. but i dont have one so i used a hack saw

Ah, that's what I figured. Good job though. I could never manage to get my hack saw cuts straight.

happycheapskate · May 6, 2010

I looked in there to grease the gears when I built the bike. The rubber pads appeared to be adhered to the clutch pad rotor somehow. It would seem foolish to not have them attached to that, as when releasing the clutch, a pad could come loose and lodge somewhere it shouldn't be.

I am sure they will make much more debris if used as a conventional clutch, to slip it when taking off from a stop, or riding a lot/idling with the clutch disengaged. I hope to make mine last longer by pedaling to take off and engaging only at a speed that it will slip the least and engage the quickest.

Also, the rubber dust/shavings should pose less risk to damaging the gears or bearings when contaminating the grease compared to the harder brake shoe pieces suggested in post #1.

metalliatic · May 6, 2010

been riding my bike alot and the clutch works great. no complaints. puts out less dust the then rubber ones, because they wear less. the harder matterial takes a beating alot better. love it!

Pilotgeek · Sep 8, 2011

happycheapskate said:
I looked in there to grease the gears when I built the bike. The rubber pads appeared to be adhered to the clutch pad rotor somehow. It would seem foolish to not have them attached to that, as when releasing the clutch, a pad could come loose and lodge somewhere it shouldn't be.

Ditchrider · Sep 8, 2011

Thanks for posting on this and bringing back to the top Pilotgeek, I lost one of the pads on my riding lawn mower brake. Now I'm thinking maybe the disk brake off the lawn mower might be just the thing for my front wheel. One of the other guys used a skill saw blade for a disk brake, thats a good idea but I'm not sure about how to connect it to the hub, the store bought hubs have those 5 little mounting ears.

happycheapskate · Sep 11, 2011

I don't know what this means, but it is funny.

I looked at the clutch pads on the first engine (dead one in parts bin) The little pads are not glued to anything, but just kind of plugged in the holes. One of them fell out in the box somewhere. How do they stay put on the bike?

Pilotgeek said:

Pilotgeek · Sep 11, 2011

They're floating pucks. They are held in place laterally by the holes they sit in, and the 2 pressure plates hold them in their place. When the clutch is disengaged, there's only a millimeter or two that the pucks can possibly wiggle around in, and when the plates engage, they press together, grabbing the pucks. Since they cannot move from within their holes, the entire assembly is forced to rotate as one.

An example of another thing that uses this design is the old-school Traxxas RC car slipper clutch.

The red circles are the clutch pucks, and they can easily be pushed through the holes in the gear. However, the plates to the left and right of the gear sit on both sides of the shaft and press against the pucks, holding them in place. By varying the tension, you can adjust how much the clutch slips.

Nashville Kat · Sep 11, 2011

How does the width of the brake pad compare to the stock clutch pads?

Do you think a jig saw with a metal cutting blade would work?

this sounds like a great idea.

Drewd · Sep 11, 2011

My factory clutch pads lasted only 2 years on one of my bikes even though my clutch is always engaged-I have a centrifugal clutch. I now have semi-metallic pads on my clutch and hopefully it'll outlast the engine.

happycheapskate · Sep 15, 2011

Maybe the rubber degraded, or maybe the clutch actually slips some when you take off or hit bumps.

If you use harder pads, will they slip more on the brass plate? Will the brass plate wear out a lot faster?

What is that cartoon guy from? I think I have seen it somewhere on internet joke pages.

semi metallic clutch pucks

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