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Well, I just tacked over 200 miles on the new Dalton Clutch Kit and was asked to give my "review" of it. Here it is.
INSTALLATION
I was really nervous about doing this as the pinnacle my mechanical experience is that I changed a clutch in a 1979 Fiat X1/9 when I was in high school 26 years ago. By comparison, this was a piece of cake. Todd assured me that if I could change my oil, I had enough mechanical skill to install this kit.
Instructions were top notch on the clutch install. To be fair, this upgrade can be done completely without pulling the primary clutch or even removing the belt. I reviewed the videos on Hunterworks website, diligently read all the instructions and removed the driver's rear tire and placed the back end on stands. Extremely confident now, I decided to remove the primary clutch to inspect and clean it as that would be the prime opportunity since I'd be playing with the clutch anyway. Confession: before all of this, I had no idea how to remove the belt at all. The instructions were kind of vague on how to do this, but I eventually (15 minutes of fumbling around like an idiot) figured it out and removed the belt using a large flathead screwdriver and gently applied pressure.
Holding the primary clutch still without the tool from SLP to remove the retaining bolt was much easier to figure out. I put a wood block in place between the primary clutch and my skid plate. Removing the retaining bolt, however, was not so simple. Maybe I had high hopes after hearing from some that theirs had become loose. This was not the case with mine. I didn't have a breaker bar which could've made things much easier with better leverage, but with the use of my craftsman ratchet, some muscle, skinned knuckles followed by a rich, turrets inspired, profanity ladened rebuttal resulting in finding a rubber mallet and it finally broke free.
I threaded the clutch puller, tightened it up, gave the rubber mallet a couple well placed whacks and the primary clutch slid out. I marked where the plate sat with a sharpie and gradually removed the 6 screws holding the plate on under tension from the spring beneath. I then removed the stock weights and cleaned the primary clutch up. Mine was surprisingly clean with trace amounts of belt material. I took a closer look at the belt for wear and glazing, but could not find anything obvious. I used brake cleaner as Todd recommended in his video how to clean a primary clutch.
I put the recommended "weights" (threaded set screws of 2 different sizes) onto the adjustable clutch weights. For my application, using an untrue 27" heavy tire, I put in 1 long and one short set screw into each weight. I also used the orange striped "Dalton" spring vs the white striped spring.
*LESSONS LEARNED*
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB ON HAND.
FIRST IMPRESSION: I got when I went to load up in my truck was that it required higher rpm to get that "click" followed by movement as the clutch engages. Wasn't quite sure how that would work in the real world driving. I shrugged it off as it only being the first time the clutch engaged since I messed with it.
I drove out to my parent's house right off the trail systems in Owyhee County, unloaded, and drove down their dirt road to the cattle guard access to the trail. That short 1/4 mile, I didn't notice that delayed feeling I did upon first engagement.
I drove about 2 miles over a couple steep areas, whoops and straight aways. I adjusted weight configurations 3 times but ultimately went back to the original set up with 1 long, 1 short. Just seemed to put the power down in the range I use it in (0-40 mph). I still haven't messed with the spring and tried the white striped one. I might try it later on. The beauty of adjustability.
REAL TEST
I decided to drive the loop I had done 2 weeks prior when I took the RZR for its first drive since the larger tire install. That drive was where I realized that the extra diameter and tire weight had made my RZR feel almost anemic in performance. Just wasn't as eager to move out. I figured there'd be some loss, but didn't think I would actually feel it.
THE GOOD
This time around, my RZR seemed to have woke up. I know everyone says that, but when you feel it, you completely get what they were saying. The clutch just seems to grab harder and throw that power down to the ground even at speed. Before the kit, with the larger tires, I was noticing a lot more of the feeling of the engine winding before I'd feel any power increase. Now seems synchronous. Goose the throttle and there is immediate gratification.
A few of the inclines I'd drive up in high with the 25's, I was lugging towards the top before the kit. With the kit, those ascents were easily traversed in high with pedal to spare.
0-30 mph is absolutely effortless and feels quicker compared to the 25" lighter tires. Numbers don't show any difference between the 25's without kit and 27's with kit. There was quite a bit of difference in 0-30 from 25's to 27's before the kit.
Engine braking doesn't seem to be nearly as aggressive in high as it was pre-kit. I also noticed less backfires while descending. Might be better gas, but it was noticed. Low gear engine braking seems to be as aggressive as it was before the kit.
Speaking of low gear, I notice more with low gear how many more rpms it takes for movement. It holds its place as if engaged, but requires slightly more revs on a climb. I assume that's exactly what it's supposed to do and I never felt like I was going to just roll backwards. (Inhuman can relate to this) It feels like my Sammy did in first gear, 4 low. Like a granny gear, which in my opinion is a good thing for creeping up something more steep than you'd want to do at higher speed. Talkin' steep.
THE BAD
For those who think that putting huge tires on their 570 with a rev limiter, a clutch kit won't bring your top speed up to 100%
This bad is the fault of larger diameter, heavier tires and NOT THE KIT. In fact, it could be a positive. There's always going to be a tradeoff somewhere. This one isn't really one I'm going to miss. My top speed is up to 56 mph (GPS reading) which is 2mph slower than with 25's and no kit, but up 4mph above the 27's (GPS again) without the kit.
The only bad part, if I wanted to pick knits, is that at around 45-48mph till you hit the rev limiter you're waiting for the rpms to bring you there.
CONCLUSION
As I said in my first impression, it "Just seemed to put the power down in the range I use it in (0-40 mph)." In that range, I felt like I had power in spades.
You can feel the clutch grab that belt like a fat girl grabbing the last drumstick out of the KFC bucket. It's not going to let it go, or at least it feels that way now. I'm not sure what the change cycle is of a primary spring, but it is subjected to a substantial amount of heat which can weaken it.
I knew this was probably something I was going to need to do with all of the weight I've been adding on to my ride with the full cab and other extras. Tires and wheels upgrade was what finally made me do it.
I highly recommend this upgrade especially if you increase tire size. Even if it's just a non adjustable clutch kit. Dalton clutch through Hunterworks is currently less expensive (by $30) than SLP which is not adjustable without ordering a whole separate set of weights. The Dalton kit can be adjusted just by removing the clutch cover and screwing in/out those set screws. They even provide the tool to do it with. Customer service with Todd has been a pleasure. He told me not to hesitate to call him if I had any questions. I'm sure he's good on that invite.
Anyway, there you go. I gave you my opinion on it. Oh yeah, total install time including my dumb-ass-ery, bodily injury, swearing, calming down and sipping a beer to make it all better was still less than 2 hours. It may have been more than 1 beer.
INSTALLATION
I was really nervous about doing this as the pinnacle my mechanical experience is that I changed a clutch in a 1979 Fiat X1/9 when I was in high school 26 years ago. By comparison, this was a piece of cake. Todd assured me that if I could change my oil, I had enough mechanical skill to install this kit.
Instructions were top notch on the clutch install. To be fair, this upgrade can be done completely without pulling the primary clutch or even removing the belt. I reviewed the videos on Hunterworks website, diligently read all the instructions and removed the driver's rear tire and placed the back end on stands. Extremely confident now, I decided to remove the primary clutch to inspect and clean it as that would be the prime opportunity since I'd be playing with the clutch anyway. Confession: before all of this, I had no idea how to remove the belt at all. The instructions were kind of vague on how to do this, but I eventually (15 minutes of fumbling around like an idiot) figured it out and removed the belt using a large flathead screwdriver and gently applied pressure.
Holding the primary clutch still without the tool from SLP to remove the retaining bolt was much easier to figure out. I put a wood block in place between the primary clutch and my skid plate. Removing the retaining bolt, however, was not so simple. Maybe I had high hopes after hearing from some that theirs had become loose. This was not the case with mine. I didn't have a breaker bar which could've made things much easier with better leverage, but with the use of my craftsman ratchet, some muscle, skinned knuckles followed by a rich, turrets inspired, profanity ladened rebuttal resulting in finding a rubber mallet and it finally broke free.
I threaded the clutch puller, tightened it up, gave the rubber mallet a couple well placed whacks and the primary clutch slid out. I marked where the plate sat with a sharpie and gradually removed the 6 screws holding the plate on under tension from the spring beneath. I then removed the stock weights and cleaned the primary clutch up. Mine was surprisingly clean with trace amounts of belt material. I took a closer look at the belt for wear and glazing, but could not find anything obvious. I used brake cleaner as Todd recommended in his video how to clean a primary clutch.
I put the recommended "weights" (threaded set screws of 2 different sizes) onto the adjustable clutch weights. For my application, using an untrue 27" heavy tire, I put in 1 long and one short set screw into each weight. I also used the orange striped "Dalton" spring vs the white striped spring.
*LESSONS LEARNED*
MAKE SURE YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB ON HAND.
FIRST IMPRESSION: I got when I went to load up in my truck was that it required higher rpm to get that "click" followed by movement as the clutch engages. Wasn't quite sure how that would work in the real world driving. I shrugged it off as it only being the first time the clutch engaged since I messed with it.
I drove out to my parent's house right off the trail systems in Owyhee County, unloaded, and drove down their dirt road to the cattle guard access to the trail. That short 1/4 mile, I didn't notice that delayed feeling I did upon first engagement.
I drove about 2 miles over a couple steep areas, whoops and straight aways. I adjusted weight configurations 3 times but ultimately went back to the original set up with 1 long, 1 short. Just seemed to put the power down in the range I use it in (0-40 mph). I still haven't messed with the spring and tried the white striped one. I might try it later on. The beauty of adjustability.
REAL TEST
I decided to drive the loop I had done 2 weeks prior when I took the RZR for its first drive since the larger tire install. That drive was where I realized that the extra diameter and tire weight had made my RZR feel almost anemic in performance. Just wasn't as eager to move out. I figured there'd be some loss, but didn't think I would actually feel it.
THE GOOD
This time around, my RZR seemed to have woke up. I know everyone says that, but when you feel it, you completely get what they were saying. The clutch just seems to grab harder and throw that power down to the ground even at speed. Before the kit, with the larger tires, I was noticing a lot more of the feeling of the engine winding before I'd feel any power increase. Now seems synchronous. Goose the throttle and there is immediate gratification.
A few of the inclines I'd drive up in high with the 25's, I was lugging towards the top before the kit. With the kit, those ascents were easily traversed in high with pedal to spare.
0-30 mph is absolutely effortless and feels quicker compared to the 25" lighter tires. Numbers don't show any difference between the 25's without kit and 27's with kit. There was quite a bit of difference in 0-30 from 25's to 27's before the kit.
Engine braking doesn't seem to be nearly as aggressive in high as it was pre-kit. I also noticed less backfires while descending. Might be better gas, but it was noticed. Low gear engine braking seems to be as aggressive as it was before the kit.
Speaking of low gear, I notice more with low gear how many more rpms it takes for movement. It holds its place as if engaged, but requires slightly more revs on a climb. I assume that's exactly what it's supposed to do and I never felt like I was going to just roll backwards. (Inhuman can relate to this) It feels like my Sammy did in first gear, 4 low. Like a granny gear, which in my opinion is a good thing for creeping up something more steep than you'd want to do at higher speed. Talkin' steep.
THE BAD
For those who think that putting huge tires on their 570 with a rev limiter, a clutch kit won't bring your top speed up to 100%
This bad is the fault of larger diameter, heavier tires and NOT THE KIT. In fact, it could be a positive. There's always going to be a tradeoff somewhere. This one isn't really one I'm going to miss. My top speed is up to 56 mph (GPS reading) which is 2mph slower than with 25's and no kit, but up 4mph above the 27's (GPS again) without the kit.
The only bad part, if I wanted to pick knits, is that at around 45-48mph till you hit the rev limiter you're waiting for the rpms to bring you there.
CONCLUSION
As I said in my first impression, it "Just seemed to put the power down in the range I use it in (0-40 mph)." In that range, I felt like I had power in spades.
You can feel the clutch grab that belt like a fat girl grabbing the last drumstick out of the KFC bucket. It's not going to let it go, or at least it feels that way now. I'm not sure what the change cycle is of a primary spring, but it is subjected to a substantial amount of heat which can weaken it.
I knew this was probably something I was going to need to do with all of the weight I've been adding on to my ride with the full cab and other extras. Tires and wheels upgrade was what finally made me do it.
I highly recommend this upgrade especially if you increase tire size. Even if it's just a non adjustable clutch kit. Dalton clutch through Hunterworks is currently less expensive (by $30) than SLP which is not adjustable without ordering a whole separate set of weights. The Dalton kit can be adjusted just by removing the clutch cover and screwing in/out those set screws. They even provide the tool to do it with. Customer service with Todd has been a pleasure. He told me not to hesitate to call him if I had any questions. I'm sure he's good on that invite.
Anyway, there you go. I gave you my opinion on it. Oh yeah, total install time including my dumb-ass-ery, bodily injury, swearing, calming down and sipping a beer to make it all better was still less than 2 hours. It may have been more than 1 beer.
