You guys rock. Something to look at - I had a Spicer box in a ford truck that ate the oem TO by 33k miles then new only lasted 5-8 - after four fails we discovered the drivers side location dowel in the 530 block was low by about .0065". Surprised us as we had seen other assemblies off that far with no problems. .005 Offset dowel and it lived 75k miles (and was still running when I left the company).

 

Well color me impressed. Next time I need a clutch in any vehicle I’ll take a second look for your offerings based on this post alone.

FWIW, ACT can suck a fat wet noodle from the interactions I’ve had with them on two separate cars over 15years ago. I will never run their clutches again and I take any opportunity to let people know how much I hate them.

Props to you on taking a proactive approach on this, I bet you’ll get an Arizona dweller or 3 to come out.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

This is one of the reasons I buy centerforce clutches. Excellent products.

 

Im on my 2nd right now in 100k. And it is failing as we speak. Please hurry.

 

I bought my 2012 JKR with 18,000 miles on it in March. After a trail ride with lots of clutch action the TOB started making noise at about 22,500 miles. After driving a while now the bearing will intermittently make the noise with the pedal out, or squeak/creak during the pedal stroke.


I sure hope you guys find a solution for this issue.

 

Thank you, everyone, for the positive feedback! We feel that it is our duty to step up and correct this inherent issue, especially when the manufacturer is not making it a priority.

I bought my 2012 JKR with 18,000 miles on it in March. After a trail ride with lots of clutch action the TOB started making noise at about 22,500 miles. After driving a while now the bearing will intermittently make the noise with the pedal out, or squeak/creak during the pedal stroke.

I sure hope you guys find a solution for this issue.

I've been hearing this on my 2015:

Is that the same sound? It's been bugging me.

If either of you are located near us and interested, please drop us a PM or call at (928) 771-8422!

 

I've been hearing this on my 2015:

Is that the same sound? It's been bugging me.

 

I would love to bring my 2013 JKU out there because it has the TO noise going on. It's a long haul from central Florida though.

 

Centerforce is the worse

I have a 2012 that now has about 120K miles or so. About 5k miles ago my clutch started to go out so it needed replacement. Before replacing the clutch I had no noise or issues what so ever. I decided to upgrade my clutch to center force since they claim to have all those patents and blazi blazi. BIG MISTAKE. Shortly after I replaced the worn clutch with center-force's top of the line package ( to include the flywheel, TOB, cluch, everything) my nightmare started. I almost immediately noticed a noise that sounded like I was to throw a rod. I took it to my mechanic. We noticed that the noise disappeared when the clutch was pressed, so we then knew it had to do with the recent install. we took everything apart and found nothing out of place or wrong so I called centerforce. Customer services suggested that the ring on top of the housing, sometimes comes loose and that can lead to noise and suggested that I remove the ring with the metal that helps ease the clutch in. I argued that this is their technology and one of their claimed patents of something that makes"THEIR" product better. The reply was," that may be your issue, if not, your just gonna have to bring the transmission down till you found the problem". They acted as if bringing the transmission down is just a thing ones do in no time effortless. They really suggested I brought my tranny down till I isolated the problem. I decided to live with the noise as many of us have. I had to pay the mechanic a second time to bring the tranny down since he did nothing wrong.

Last week, driving down a city avenue, my clutch felt as is a wire or something was holding it or keeping from pressing. After pulling over and investigating, there was nothing under the clutch. I moved the pedal till eventually pushed back in but something was odd with the pedal (clutch engagement). the wrangler drove for about 5 miles before the pedal went completely blank (lose pressure at push and just pushed all the way to the ground) and a pile of brake fluid under it. To make a long story short, the Clutch slave cylinder was damaged by the fork. The fork around center-force's TOB is dangling inside. Needless to say, Im broken down once again thanks to their system and having to pay my mechanic a third time to bring the tranny down and figure out the issue since the "Big Company cant figure out their own product." In hine sight, I wish I had not spent the three to four times of what a regular clutch cost. They do not stand behind their product and is garbage. Their patents are worthless and do nothing positive to the driver experience. And their product, is not worth anything on a daily driver. It will lead to more problems. Sad part is, that because I replaced the flywheel, housing, everything, I now have to repurchase all the OEM stuff to Bring it back.

NOT WORTH THE MONEY, EFFORT OR HEADACHES!!!!!

 

I have to reply, because I absolutely do not agree with your comments re: Centerforce. I have a friend in the Seattle area with a 2012 JK manual. It developed a TO bearing issue and John decided it was time to replace the clutch assy. at the same time. He used Centerforce components. After reinstalling the trans he discovered other issues. Long story short, at Centerforce’s invitation he towed his JK to their Arizona shop, where they let him stay in his motor home. They confirmed his concerns, removed his trans and reviewed his installation. They traced the problem to a pilot bearing issue, unrelated to their products. They replaced the pilot bearing, reinstalled his trans. With all confirmed as OK, they sent him on his way with no charge for the work and loaded down with t-shirts and other goodies for his Jeeping pals, who were waiting for him in Colorado. John is still bragging on Centerforce and I’m at this minute wearing one of their t-shirts. Great company!

 

Hmm.
You install a clutch. It makes noise.
You decide to drive it aware of noise from bad installation.
You take it to your mechanic who verifies its installed correctly by taking it apart and re-installing it, probably the same as you had it. So if wrong first still wrong second.
Then you argue with the folks who would be replacing warranty parts and totally fail on YOUR end to id the problem. And yes, dropping a trans is easy unless you aren't tooled up for it and then fighting it out/in can damage stuff, like pilot, friction plate and throw-out.

The secondary failure is thus your fault. Every clutch kit I've ever installed says in bold to replace the pilot "sold separately". Bad pilot makes noises including knocks, until clutch is unloaded, which is exactly what you describe.
We know who centerforce is, but "your mechanic" could be Bubba Gump for all we know.

I have never sent a customer down the road with a known issue in any work I've done. You need a better mechanic.

 

We called and talked to Jason at centerforce, super nice and willing to talk about this issue. We were installing a full centerforce kit on a buddies 2015 which only has 37k on the clock and has been through a clutch replacement at 200 miles due to the clutch disc coming apart and this time at 37k due to the throw out bearing coming apart. Dealer covered the first one but the throw out bearing noise started immediately after. I also have a 2015 and the clutch disc completely came apart at 13000 miles and i went to a full centerforce kit as the dealer would not cover due to the wearable parts warranty only being 12000 miles they stated. My centerforce throw out bearing started making noise 2 months after install. I didn’t believe this is anything to do with the centerforce product so i did some more research after talking with Jason and there is a service bulletin out for JK/TJ TOBs making noise ect. It has you add washers to the pivot ball stud for the clutch fork. Now since the TSB doesn’t apply to any never vehicles i did some more research and found the pivot ball part number/part hasn’t changed and is the same for a number of years. same with the transmission case. I couldn’t find anything that would prove there was ever a design change to fix this TOB noise. I believe that this noise is due to a lack of continuous pressure/load on the bearing from the clutch fork.
We opted to do the modification and added 2 washers to the same spec as the service bulletin. No problems so far. And i will report if any noise/issues arise in a few months.

If anyone wants all the info I’ve found TSBs, part #s, washer sizes ect. let me know and i can post that as well.

 

We called and talked to Jason at centerforce, super nice and willing to talk about this issue. We were installing a full centerforce kit on a buddies 2015 which only has 37k on the clock and has been through a clutch replacement at 200 miles due to the clutch disc coming apart and this time at 37k due to the throw out bearing coming apart. Dealer covered the first one but the throw out bearing noise started immediately after. I also have a 2015 and the clutch disc completely came apart at 13000 miles and i went to a full centerforce kit as the dealer would not cover due to the wearable parts warranty only being 12000 miles they stated. My centerforce throw out bearing started making noise 2 months after install. I didn't believe this is anything to do with the centerforce product so i did some more research after talking with Jason and there is a service bulletin out for JK/TJ TOBs making noise ect. It has you add washers to the pivot ball stud for the clutch fork. Now since the TSB doesn't apply to any never vehicles i did some more research and found the pivot ball part number/part hasn't changed and is the same for a number of years. same with the transmission case. I couldn't find anything that would prove there was ever a design change to fix this TOB noise. I believe that this noise is due to a lack of continuous pressure/load on the bearing from the clutch fork.
We opted to do the modification and added 2 washers to the same spec as the service bulletin. No problems so far. And i will report if any noise/issues arise in a few months.

If anyone wants all the info I've found TSBs, part #s, washer sizes ect. let me know and i can post that as well.

Would you go ahead and post the information. My son has the problem and his dealer said they won't pull the tranny apart for a noise if it doesn't affect operation.

 

I have a 2017 JK with 22k miles that has that same creaking door sound when I step on the clutch. Other than the sound, it works as expected. Took it into the dealer and they said the clutch needs to be replaced (at around $2,800) and is not in warranty. Do you recommend I get another estimate? Has anyone had any luck with getting them to help with the cost since it is only at 22k miles? I appreciate any advice you have!

 

Hello cferg,

We're sorry to hear you're having trouble with your JK. Can you send us a direct message with your VIN. We want to get this escalated to a Case Specialist for further review before you proceed with repairs.

Jasmine
Jeep Social Care Specialist

 

Ha, I asked the dealer to fix it and they told me that it wasn't covered under warranty and "these transmission are known to make noises"

So here I am, still clickin' away. It is far worse now that I have 101k on it.

 

I had to replace my throw out bearing yesterday. The housing is made of plastic and it came out in pieces. On one side the little ear broke clean off. It was mangled and all of the ball bearings fell out of the inspection panel and you could wiggle the fork all around.

 

ok I found what that guy was talking about. it's from 2007. I couldn't find anything newer but I assume it applies to the same issue since it is the same transmission. here's a link. I had saved it to my Google drive for quick reference.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1-7pSrO5Wp1G1nOG-k0_9jttxYE-GSmF9/view?usp=drivesdk

it seems pretty straight forward. I don't know the thickness of each washer as I'm going to head down to the local dealership and see what they have to say. I'll come back and give more info when I find out more.

 

So did CenterForce ever figure anything out?

My 2016 started making the creaking noise over a year and 10k+ miles ago.

Otherwise still functions fine, but I've figured that I'm on borrowed time ever since.

 

it's not centerforce. Jeep didn't have the correct preload on the throw out bearing from factory (from what it seems to be all these years) so you have to space out the pivot stud with two washers on each side. I got over 40k on my '18 jku now and going to be changing out my clutch and doing everything the bulletin says. I'm sure centerforce knows about this issue now. hell I knew there's been an issue with my for a while but wouldn't have guessed it was the preload on the TOB.

 

I guess I'm asking if CenterForce has the solution now. Perhaps there's not a kit that eliminates the OEM design flaw.

 

I am getting the centerforce II, from everything I've read and how good their customer service is, and the heavier flywheel package.

 

At Centerforce we have received multiple calls in relation to a throw-out bearing ticking/squeaking noise. Through our investigation, we discovered there is a known inherent problem with 2006-2017 Jeeps. This includes factory-installed components, replaced O.E. components and part from other Jeep clutch manufacturers. JK and TJ owners have reported this problem and are looking to us at Centerforce to help find a cure.

We have reviewed our engineering and components to ensure they are the highest quality available and not causing this issue. With the help of some Jeep owners we have tested multiple areas; unfortunately, testing had mixed results with cases of the problem going away and in some cases returning immediately or many months later.

This bearing noise continues to plague JK and TJ Jeep owners. We have reviewed a few different Jeeps and have not been able to reproduce the noise in house. Currently we are looking for anyone experiencing this problem with a factory-installed clutch, Centerforce clutch or other manufacturer's clutch that would be able to bring their Jeep to our facility
in Prescott, Arizona where we have the equipment required to help find a resolution to this problem.

We want to fix this issue not only for Centerforce customers but for anyone experiencing this issue.

There are two issues that seem that seem to arise:

1. A ticking or skidding noise when the pedal is up.
2. A creaking or squeaking noise while the pedal is being depressed or released.

The YouTube video from Emer Grali below is a great example of the noise.

There are multiple examples of this problem on YouTube and on other Jeep forums. Although Centerforce is not the cause of the problem we are working to find a resolution for everyone. Here are some forum links we used as resources:

https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f96/lets-fix- jk-throw- out-bearing- issue-867949/
http://www.wranglerforum.com/f210/new-tj- clutch-making- noise-throw- out-bearing- 1402690.html
http://www.jkowners.com/forum/stock-jk- tech-dept/14128- throw-out- bearing-noise.html

For more information please contact our technical service department at 928-771- 8422.

Centerforce Clutches Div. of Midway Industries, Inc.

im quoting them just to get their attention and if maybe they found the same solution. i'd like to know if there is anything different from what i found. i know this thread is over the course of 2 years or so but i would think they would still get notifications. maybe on monday since its the weekend if anything.

 

 

Thanks guys this forum helped me find this video. No mention of a washer solution so I am curious how that compares to this.