GS Long term Ownership report
- Thread starter BL330
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makeshiftUK
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As a new GS owner this is a great read... thanks for sharing.
BL330
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Glad I could help. Thought of some extra items I remembered -
- Rear lower wishbones have a tie rod with bearing. I notice when my bearing is wearing out the tail of the car gets skitterish under hard acceleration. Maserati doesn't sell the tie rod separately, just the whole wishbone. EuroSpares have a pattern part wishbone and thankfully Formula Dynamics sell the tie rods made by one our US contributors. I have upgraded to these but now I notice the loose rear end is returning. So much power puts a strain on components.
- I rarely launch the car from standstill. I get it rolling in first before flooring it.
- Torque Tube is a solid structure that joins the clutch bell housing to the gearbox transaxle at the rear. Over time the bearings inside can wear, creating rattling noises. Some years ago I ruined a catalytic converter at a track day and thought it might be the torque tube. It was solved with replacement exhaust sections. This time it's definitely the torque tube. I've bought a low mileage one from the specialty wreckers to have fitted.
Zep
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On this subject, there have a few reports on here of early life failures in the aftermarket tie rod solution from FD. This, I understand, is caused by the use of a lower spec spherical bearing. It is more than possible to replace the bearing in the OEM tie rod, it is a SKF GE15C spherical bearing, usually about £15 each. If you have the aftermarket solution and it fails, it can be a pain as they seem to have used odd threads, as a SKF replacement is not available. In this case AutoEpoca.it do a remanufactured rod which can be used to return it back to standard.
mjheathcote
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I find the 430 clutch upgrade interesting, but is rarely mentioned in the UK or actual details available.
FIFTY
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As per Zeps comments... Cannot reccomend the FD tie rods. Mine had bearings that had smashed to bits inside and the actual rods were bent. Within 10k miles - not fit for road use.
Good news re torque tube, it can be restored... We have a specialist in the UK that just did their first (mine) and it is under going testing in the coming weeks/months. The cost is less than a used tube from a breaker - used parts are never an ideal solution.
Good news re torque tube, it can be restored... We have a specialist in the UK that just did their first (mine) and it is under going testing in the coming weeks/months. The cost is less than a used tube from a breaker - used parts are never an ideal solution.
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FIFTY
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I thought it is the same clutch(es) from Valeo that go into the 4200 and F430...
BL330
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The guys at ART in Melbourne found the F430 clutch was the same external dimensions but had stronger tangs. Certainly feels better than the original spec unit.
Twinspark
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Also agreeing with Zep and FIFTY here, I had issues sourcing the FD replacements at the time so I just replaced the SKF bearings. A lot cheaper and in most cases th
Does it need any modifications to make it fit?
FIFTY
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Extremely skeptical that it is a totally different clutch. There was an early batch of clutches with weak tangs and the manufacturers (FCA & Valeo) didn't bother doing a recall because it would cost them too much
It really doesnt make commercial sense for Valeo to make 4 lots of different clutches for essentially the same assembly that go into two relatively small batch production tipos
Did you change your thrust bearing at the same time? The improvement you are feeling is likely the new bearing as the old ones seize up on the F1 cars and on manuals an old TB makes the clutch pedal very heavy
It really doesnt make commercial sense for Valeo to make 4 lots of different clutches for essentially the same assembly that go into two relatively small batch production tipos
Did you change your thrust bearing at the same time? The improvement you are feeling is likely the new bearing as the old ones seize up on the F1 cars and on manuals an old TB makes the clutch pedal very heavy
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BL330
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Don't be extremely skeptical, just believe someone who is sharing really good news. This is not BS. If you must, ask someone like Voicey, who could line up both clutches side by side like my factory credentialled repairer did. My guy has fitted about 5 I know of to cars in Sydney including mine and ART have done so in Melbourne too. They could well be made by Valeo but to different requirements, as the tangs were noticably broader. The F430 clutch was about $700 more expensive than regular Gransport clutch. This is something Matt should be doing over there.