A clutch kit uses weighted clutch arms, clutch springs, and/or a secondary clutch helix to change the way your CVT clutch engages. Depending on how we design the clutch, we can increase the machine’s max speed, horsepower, torque, or some combination of the three.
The result for you is a transmission that behaves more like the way you want it to—for example: more torque for our mud kits and more speed for our performance kits.
Why Didn’t the Clutch Kit Come with Weights or Arms (Springs Only)?
When we’re developing a clutch kit, we sometimes find that the stock clutch arms are already weighted the way we would weight them. In these cases, you just need new springs to optimize performance. Don’t worry though, kits that come with springs only are priced accordingly—you’re not paying for anything you didn’t get.
There are 3 locations on each clutch arm to adjust weight: the heel (closest to the pivot point), the middle, and the tip.
More heel weight lowers the engagement RPM so the machine will pull stronger on take off. Too much weight here will cause the the machine to engage without pressing the gas and make it impossible to shift.
More tip weight lowers the shift RPM, meaning your RPM will be lower when your clutch fully closes.
Adjusting the middle weight will affect both properties to some extent but tends to mostly affect midrange RPM.
Every clutch kit we make is the result of dozens of hours of adjusting and dyno testing to get peak power out of your engine. Adjusting weights is for experts only. And even then, you need a lot of patience.
On some kits, you will lose top-end speed and on others, you won’t. Our mud and hill kits will generally trade top-end speed for more low-end power and fast engagement. General purpose kits will generally increase your top speed with balanced torque and horsepower.
Yes.
Replacing your belt will give you better performance. Belts get narrower as they age, and as they narrow, they change the shifting properties of your clutch.
When you change your belt, you should also clean your clutches. We recommend Scotch Brite and a small amount of soapy water. When you finish scrubbing all the belt dust off, use brake cleaner to get rid of the rest of the residue. Clean clutches will engage better and keep each part moving smoothly.
You will definitely want a clutch puller and a compressor tool to install your clutch kit.
You will see excellent gains on most vehicles with a clutch kit alone.
On vehicles that are aggressively limited like most utility side-by-sides, a clutch kit can help with engagement and acceleration, but won’t be able to raise your top speed much. For vehicles like that, pairing it with an ECU tune is a good idea.
If you want the best performance possible on any UTV, always pair your clutch kit with an ECU tune.
2 Comments
Soooo, clutch kit ECU air intake and exhaust how much additional HP are we talking about? Specifically on a RZR 900 ultimate trail 50″ wide machine?
Hey, Gary! This is a little bit of a tricky question. We don’t have an ECU tune or air intakes for that machine. Clutches alone won’t affect the horsepower as much as the torque.