{"id":81934,"date":"2021-10-29T07:44:52","date_gmt":"2021-10-29T14:44:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/?p=81934"},"modified":"2022-01-25T12:36:37","modified_gmt":"2022-01-25T20:36:37","slug":"walking-the-clutch-tightrope-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/walking-the-clutch-tightrope-part-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"jetpack-slideshow-noscript robots-nocontent\">This slideshow requires JavaScript.<\/p><div id=\"gallery-81934-1-slideshow\" class=\"jetpack-slideshow-window jetpack-slideshow jetpack-slideshow-black\" data-trans=\"fade\" data-autostart=\"1\" data-gallery=\"[{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/Tamer-1-min-scaled-1.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;83582&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;WALKING THE CLUTCH TIGHT ROPE \\u2013 Part 1&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;WALKING THE CLUTCH TIGHT ROPE \\u2013 Part 1&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Click Here to Begin Slideshow \\n\\nRunning a drag car with a stick shift transmission is like walking a tightrope.  Here\\u2019s why:  In order to make the car work, you have to leave at an RPM suitable for the torque curve the engine produces. Usually that means well above 4,000 RPM.  The car can\\u2019t dead hook.  You need some slippage (tire and clutch) or the thing will start shredding parts.  Because of this, it also means you\\u2019ll likely be forced to use bias ply tires (and usually with more PSI than you\\u2019d first think).  The initial solution is to use some form of adjustable slipper clutch.  Plenty of folks offer them and there are a number of different examples out there. They all pretty much work the same. In addition to adjustable initial clamping pressure (baseline spring pressures) these clutches all have some form of adjustable counterweight to allow them to remain soft on the bottom end and then progressively lock up by way of centrifugal force during the run (this is really important at the top end).  When sorted out they tend to work well.  The dialing in process takes some work and it\\u2019s coupled with picking the right mix of components.  Let\\u2019s just say you\\u2019ll be spending quality time under the car working out the tuning combination.  And this combination can vary from track to track along with other variables such as weather conditions coupled with track altitude.\\n\\nFair enough.  What if you have a street-strip car?  Technically speaking, it is possible to run a car with a soft, adjustable clutch on the street, although the initial designer of these clutches told me a long time ago it wasn\\u2019t really good idea.  There are various reasons for this, but if you choose to try to use one on a street driven car, be prepared to climb under the car and dial in as much pressure as you can in the adjustable springs.  Then you\\u2019ll have to ensure there\\u2019s sufficient counterweight installed to clamp the clutch at higher RPM. The bottom line here is, slip it too much on the street and you\\u2019ll be replacing expensive parts in a hurry. Don\\u2019t know about you but I\\u2019m not all that fond of bench pressing manual transmissions on a regular basis.\\n\\nBecause of all of the above, plenty of folks with high horsepower street driven cars have resorted to using relatively small diameter, dual disc clutch setups.  Most of these have a modified diaphragm pressure plate and for street use, most use some form of organic rag disc or a combination of an organic disc and a metallic puck style disc arrangement. They work great and usually they offer great durability. But there\\u2019s a hitch:  Dump the clutch at the torque peak or higher and the car will usually go up in tire smoke. Bang the gears in high horsepower, relatively heavy street car and you\\u2019ll most likely start tearing up drivetrain parts.\\n\\nCase-in-Point:  Drag Week veteran racer Andy Starr was experiencing similar pain with his huge-by-large power, heavyweight \\u201956 Chevy.  In fact, his stick shift combination pretty much destroyed brute force Dana 60\\u2019s on a regular basis.  His solution?  Andy added a ClutchTamer to the car.  Wait a minute. What\\u2019s a \\u201cClutchTamer\\u201d?  \\n\\nThe ClutchTamer is the brainchild of Grant Robbins.  A long time ago, Grant was attempting to pump some power through a Saginaw four speed transmission. As we all know, those things weren\\u2019t exactly renowned for their brute strength.  Grant was going them on a monthly basis.  The solution was to soften the initial hit of the clutch.  But how?  Sure Grant could have tried to modulate the clutch pedal and try to slip the car out of the gate, but in the real world, that\\u2019s really a hit and miss arrangement.  And miss is more common than hit!  But I digress: While wandering through the aisles of a local hardware store, Grant spied a common hydraulic door closer. Boing!  The light bulbs went off in his head!  What if it was adapted to slow down the clutch pedal return? That\\u2019s exactly what happened. Essentially, Robbins devised a way to hook the door closer to the clutch pedal in his car.  It certainly modulated the pedal return.  And on the track, it worked fabulously.  His street car saw 60-foot times in the 1.45-second range, and he no longer left a trail of broken Saginaw four speeds behind him.\\n\\nThe first prototype examples were rudimentary, but over time, the ClutchTamer evolved into a rather sophisticated, well developed and tested component. Before long, it morphed into a custom fabricated, fully adjustable device that sees use in all sorts of street and race applications (actually there are more out there than you can imagine, but some folks are, understandably, not talking!).  In the next issue, we\\u2019ll dig into the details. Watch for it!  And in the meantime, check out the accompanying photos of a new ClutchTamer:\\n\\n\\n###\\n\\n\\nSource: ClutchTamer\\nGranny\\u0026#8217;s \\nPO Box 814 \\nConcrete, WA 98237 USA\\nPH:  360-391-1208\\nWebsite: https:\\\/\\\/www.clutchtamer.com\\\/\\n\\nClick Here to Begin Slideshow&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/Tamer-2-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;81936&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1 \\u0026#8211; Slide 2&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;There are several different versions of the ClutchTamer. Some are designed as direct fit jobs. Others, such as this \\u201cmusclecar\\u201d version are a bit more universal.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/Tamer-3-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;81937&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1 \\u0026#8211; Slide 3&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;The heart of the ClutchTamer is this hydraulic cylinder.  What it does is to effectively slow down the rate at which the clutch pedal releases.  Essentially, it slips the clutch in a controlled way.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/Tamer-4-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;81938&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1 \\u0026#8211; Slide 4&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;When you have a really stout clutch setup like this high quality dual disc arrangement from Tilton, you\\u2019ll find the key to making it work (and simultaneously, not break drivetrain parts) in a drag race environment is to modulate the clutch.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/Tamer-5-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;81939&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1 \\u0026#8211; Slide 5&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;There two fundamental adjustments available within the system. One adjusts the hydraulic cylinder and the other sets the \\u201cfree play in the clutch. We\\u2019ll get into the adjustments in an upcoming issue.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;},{&quot;src&quot;:&quot;https:\\\/\\\/www.racingjunk.com\\\/news\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2021\\\/10\\\/Tamer-6-min-scaled.jpg&quot;,&quot;id&quot;:&quot;81940&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1 \\u0026#8211; Slide 6&quot;,&quot;alt&quot;:&quot;Walking the Clutch Tightrope Part 1&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;Essentially, the ClutchTamer bolts between a solid piece of dash structure and the clutch pedal.  Next issue, we\\u2019ll dig into the setup.&quot;,&quot;itemprop&quot;:&quot;image&quot;}]\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/ImageGallery\"><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Running a drag car with a stick shift transmission is like walking a tightrope. Want it to be street to strip? Even more challenging. Enter ClutchTamer.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":81935,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[11,3470,4879,5012],"tags":[858,8676,281,8610,321],"class_list":["post-81934","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-how-tos","category-news","category-slideshow","category-transmission-clutch","tag-clutch","tag-clutchtamer","tag-how-to","tag-part-1","tag-wayne-scraba"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/Tamer-1-min-scaled.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p42YSK-ljw","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81934","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=81934"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81934\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":83583,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/81934\/revisions\/83583"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/81935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=81934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=81934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racingjunk.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=81934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}