Taboo Clutch Fork

[Turbo 2g awd]

I got the Taboo clutch Fork when I did my Tranny, ACT 2600, and ACT Flywheel. I put it all together and then had to take it all apart again cause the clutch fork was grinding against the pressure plate. I installed everything the right way. I had to take it back out and grind it down so it would clear the pressure plate. After a day wasted pulling the tranny again I got it fixed. Just wanted to know if this happend to anyone else. I also sent Taboo an e-mail about this to try to see what happened.

 

[Defiant]

Yikes, how long did you run it rubbing? What's Taboo say?

 

[Turbo 2g awd]

I drove it for a mile thinking it might just burn the extra metal off but that was a bad idea. And Taboo told me that this is the first time they have ever heard of this happening. I am waiting to talk to them more about this.

 

[Defiant]

Let us know. I'm sure he'll make it right with you.

 

[Turbo 2g awd]

I am going back and forth with Taboo Speed Shop sending E-mails trying to see what went wrong. He says its the first time that he heard of this. I will let you all know when we find out.

Besides the grinding, that is one baddazz fork. I'd rather frame it on the wall than let it get beat up in my car.

 

[Mike1992]

Did you have the pivot ball on the fork shimmed hella far?

 

[Rodman]

Most likly the pivit ball was to blame, either it was shimmed too much, or the pivit bolt started to back out on you. Mine works great

 

[Morphius]

YIKES!!!! I hope you didn't put that back on the car?! Clearly you've changed the material properties in that fork in a critical area. I speculate if you are running a high clamp force clutch, the fork will fatigue over time and potentially fail or add unneeded flex causing engagement issues.

If it were me, I'd put a new or another used one on.

Best of luck.

-DaimlerChrysler Engineer.

 

[Laser-man]

i had the same thing happen to me, except with a stock fork, i think i shimmed it a little to much. all i did to make up for it was put a tinny ball bearing in the little hole that the slave rod goes into and it gave me just enough clearence. the ball bearing is small enough that the rod wont just pop out.

 

[Turbo 2g awd]

Originally posted by Mike1992
Did you have the pivot ball on the fork shimmed hella far?

I put in a brand new OEM pivot ball. No shimming. And it was fully seated on the pivot ball.

 

[Mike1992]

Odd

 

[pneumo]

Did the fork fall off the pivot ball? On my fork Taboo didn't include the little clip that helps hold the fork on the pivot ball. It doesn't really need that clip as long as you're a little more careful when installing the tranny and make sure the fork stays in place.

 

[1fast97gsx]

wow thats crazy .. what are these forks supposed to do anyway? How much do they run? Thanks.

 

[Mike1992]

Quote from Taboo Speed Shop - Billet Steel Clutch Fork
Precisely machined from hardened 4140 chromium-molybdenum billet steel, our clutch fork has been beefed up well beyond factory dimensions in its weakest point and thoroughly tested with ACT 2900 and 3200 clutches. More than six times stronger than stock, our clutch fork makes a great upgrade for any car with ACT 2600+, fits all AWD and FWD, 1G and 2G 4G63 powered cars. Comes drilled and tapped for your OEM pivot ball retaining clip (not supplied) mounting bolt (supplied).
Never worry about breaking your weak cast steel OEM fork in the middle of nowhere again. Comes with lifetime warranty.

Strong as heck so no bent fork, and no snapped forks It goes for $120

 

[1fast97gsx]

hmm seems like that's totally not necessary though. Has anyone ever broken the stock fork???

 

[Mike1992]

Originally posted by 1fast97gsx
hmm seems like that's totally not necessary though. Has anyone ever broken the stock fork???

I've heard its common with the heavy clutches like the ACT 2600 an so on.

 

[Defiant]

Originally posted by 1fast97gsx
hmm seems like that's totally not necessary though. Has anyone ever broken the stock fork???

O yeah. And not all that seldom. Search around.

 

[eclipsefwd]

I broke my stock fork the first time I pushed the clutch in with my ACT 2600.

 

[Taboo]

It IS the very first time I've EVER heard or seen a similar problem with our clutch fork. There are hundreds of guys, including John Shepherd, running them with absolutely no issues whatsoever. In fact, I'm pretty sure Rodman uses the exact same ACT2600/ACT flywheel combination.
As I told Turbo 2g awd in my email, the side profile of the fork and all critical parameters are exactly the same as of the OEM unit. He also stated he had to grind the back of the fork in order to make it work - which doesn't make much sense - if it was the front of the fork that was rubbing against the pressure plate. In any case, the 4140 billet steel fork is NOT any thicker in the particular area where it was rubbing against the pressure plate than the OEM fork. The entire side profile is the same and the depth of the pivot ball hole is the same as well - and there's simply no reason why the fork should engage the pressure plate as it did - except for the pivot ball being shimmed too much, the flywheel being thicker than stock (which would bring the pressure plate closer to the fork), the pressure plate not being torqued down correctly or the fork not being seated all the way. In my opinion, there's simply no way or logical explanation of the fork itself being at fault. Even if the CNC program would get somehow corrupted and the fork would be thicker - in the area where it was rubbing - than stock, or the pivot ball hole wouldn't be deep enough, the entire batch of the forks would end up with the same problems and other people who purchased the forks that came from the same batch would experience the same issues - which is not what happened (plus, we check every single fork before it goes out - and would simply catch any serious defect). The only reliable way to find out what really caused the problem would be measuring the distance of the pressure plate mounting surface of the ACT flywheel from the block and comparing it to the distance of the stock flywheel, then doing the same with the 4140 steel fork and the OEM unit (and measuring the distance from the point of the fork where it was rubbing to the bellhousing wall) in order to find out if it was the fork that was sitting closer to the pressure plate or the pressure plate sitting closer to the fork...

 

[Turbo 2g awd]

Well the car is fine now. I have been driving it for the past 800 miles and no problems. The ACT Flywheel was brand new as well as the ACT 2600. Everything was torqued to spec. I even got a new OEM Pivot ball from the dealer. Oh well it is fine now and at least I got good at pulling my tranny.

 

[Taboo]

That's good to hear.. I'm really sorry you had the problems you discribed with the fork, but - as I said - you've been the only customer experiencing any issues with the fork whatsoever (in those two years we've been making them). In any case, I stand behind our products - and if you EVER bend it or even break the fork (despite of its modification), I'll personally come to your house and install a new one absolutely for free...

 

[Defiant]

Originally posted by Taboo
In any case, I stand behind our products - and if you EVER bend it or even break the fork (despite of its modification), I'll personally come to your house and install a new one absolutely for free...

Oh, Martin, that was thin. We can all see you just want to visit Jersey.

erm... did we ever find out what had been wrong?

 

[Taboo]

He, he... Yeah, Jersey has always had a great street racing reputation. I wouldn't mind having a chance to go to check it out... Unfortunately, the hardened 4140 steel the forks are made of is one of the toughest tooling steels available. It's shock-proof, wear-proof and unbendable without heating it up. It's commonly used on gears, shafts, axles and in other high-stress/high-load situations... If anyone ever bends or breaks the 4140 billet steel fork, I'll buy his clutch...
As for what was wrong, I can only speculate since I haven't found anything wrong or out of specifications in the batch of the forks Turbo 2g awd received his from... Maybe the new pivot ball was too tall, maybe the ACT flywheel's recess for the crank was too shallow...who knows... We all know how extremely touchy the DSM clutches are, one shims the pivot ball 1mm too much - and the fingers of the pressure plate start hitting the springs of the clutch disc. 1mm too little - and the clutch won't disengage. There's just way too many variables - such as the manufacturing tolerances of the components (= the block, crank, flywheel, clutch disc, pressure plate, fork, pivot ball and bellhouing) and their wear, that literally every clutch setup becomes an individual affair - and one has to drop the tranny even five times - in order to make the ACT2600 work the way it's supposed to (at least I do). It's time consuming, labor intensive and can be very frustrating, but correctly disengaging clutch will save the synchros of the tranny and the components of the hydraulic system in the long run.
In case someone else would encounter some issues with the clutch forks, let me know. We've received feedback from many individuals and professional shops - and the fork has always seemed to perform to everybody's satisfaction and personal expectations so far, but we're always willing to work on any improvements - if needed...

 

[purplehazetsi]

Taboo is a good Guy!..... he sure can type a Shitload too

 

[badboyr66]

Originally posted by purplehazetsi
Taboo is a good Guy!..... he sure can type a Shitload too

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:laugh: ya...i am puting my car back together after i got back what was left of it from being stolen. I plan on usning a few thing including their shift fork. I would REALY like to use those tail lights they have, but nothing yet....same with the hood