Dual Mass to Solid Conversion
Dual mass flywheels are found today in many passenger and light commercial vehicles.
With modern engines making more power at less revs than ever before, the intention of the dual mass flywheel is to reduce some of the engine pulse, especially at low rpm and or high load conditions.
Typically dual mass flywheels work by having a set of springs inserted between two rotating masses , making up the dual mass flywheel. The springs are sized to soak up much of the resonant engine pulse from for example a diesel (or petrol) engine high under load at low rpm conditions..
Dual mass flywheels work fine as long as the engine remains unmodified and the vehicle is not used beyond manufacturer’s recommendation..
Should the vehicles power output be increased or the vehicle is loaded or raced beyond the manufacturers design parameters, you will often see premature failure of the dual mass flywheel. Dual mass flywheels are tuned systems and must be matched to the engine torque curve, engine resonant characteristics and vehicle load conditions.
Due to the hollow make up of the dual mass flywheel, the rear mass is often thin, therefore lowering the flywheels ability to absorb heat, making them prone to warping and rapid over heating. This can result in a rapid over heat of the clutch disc, especially in the instanced where some clutch slip is unavoidable in situations such as backing a caravan or boat into position or into the shed etc. Same outcome may also be experienced in a performance application should the vehicle be raced with aggressive starts etc
At Direct Clutch Services we offer a large range of Dual Mass to Solid Mass conversion..
The down side in removal of the DMF (and replaced with a solid mass (SMF)) is the vehicle may see an increase gearbox rattle at idle and especially at low engine speed under high load conditions. A Dual Mass flywheel system usually spoils us all, in allowing the vehicle to remain smooth when exiting a roundabout in 3rd gear at 40km an hour (rather than changing back to 2nd) or allows us to think the vehicle is fine towing up a hill in 4th or 5th gear at 60-80kmh, when in actual fact, the DMF system is usually working hard in allowing the vehicle feel to remain smooth
Once a SMF system is fitted we will nearly always see an increase in drive train noise.. The reality is we may have to make a driving style change in keeping the engine above about 2000 rpm, rather than letting it labor at 1500, especially in the higher gears.
Benefits of an SMF is its a single heavy piece of metal (often billet steel). It has a greater heat capacity than the hollow DMF, and therefore can absorb more heat, meaning that the clutch is less likely to overheat, or over heat as rapidly.
Once an SMF system is fitted, we see a far wider range of heavier duty clutch options.
The solid mass flywheel can usually be resurfaced many times over. The initial cost of the SMF conversion is often less costly than the replacement cost of a DMF system.
For more information feel free to contact us.
