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The clutch is one of the most important features of any RC car. Yet it is often overlooked when it comes time to upgrade your vehicle. It's time to start thinking about your clutch! After all, it is the first link in putting power to the wheels.


Our test vehicle is a T-Maxx equipped with a lot of aluminum goodies (it's a heavy pig) and an EPIC .18 Big Bore engine. If anything could use some extra clutch, it's this fat boy!

So let's check out the Great Assembly RC 3-shoe aluminum clutch kit. It comes nicely packaged with everything in its own sealed compartment. This is nice as it keeps the springs from slamming the shows and flywheel during shipment. Everything comes out of the package in 100% top notch condition. All the components of the kit are well made and are the same quality as we have come to expect from GARC.

What's included in the kit?You get a 6061-T6 3-pin flywheel and 3 aluminum shoes milled from 7075-T6 billet. Also included are two heavy duty springs (way to go GARC for thinking ahead and including an extra spring). This clutch works with clutch bells from stock T-Maxx clutch systems giving you a greater range of gearing options.

You may be asking yourself...why three shoes instead of the "normal" two shoes? The answer is three shoes gives you more surface area to contact the clutch bell! That means better "gription" which leads to better "hole shot" performance.

Let's get it on! First step is to remove the engine or otherwise gain access to the clutch bell, clutch, flywheel area. Remove the clutch bell. Remove the clutch. Remove the flywheel (use a flywheel wrench - otherwise a good set of pliers will work to hold the flywheel). Clean the shaft and front bearing area of the engine. Install the new flywheel to the conical retainer on the crankshaft (if you don't see it, it is probably still stuck in the old flywheel - pop it out, clean it and put it back on the crank). Apply some blue thread locker to whatever nut or shaft is responsible for holding the flywheel in place. We found it easiest to install the shoes onto the flywheel and then install the spring around the shoes. GARC does not include instructions with the kit as it is a very basic job. If you can manage to take the old clutch out, you can get the new one in. The one thing we suggest is to make sure the shoes are oriented correctly (reference the pictures in this review).

Verify the spring is properly seated in the groove on all three clutch shoes, install the clutch bell and retaining clip/nut/screw and reinstall the engine (if you took it out).

Fire it up! Aluminum clutch shoes do not require special break in procedures or special maintenance. Just squeeze the trigger and go! We did take our truck for a few easy laps around the building to give the shoes a chance to get familiar with Mr. 18 tooth clutch bell and once the engine was warm, BAM!!!

Time for some full throttle action. As soon as we started hitting the throttle, it was easy to see the increased grab this clutch was delivering. Before when we hit the throttle from a standing start, the engine would crank up fast but the truck itself was not quick. Not any more! Trigger squeeze means truck goes NOW! It is especially easy to see when going up inclines. The truck pulls the front end off the ground where before it did not (the other clutch was not holding up well ever since we installed the 1.8 HP EPIC engine - more horsepower means you need a stronger clutch to handle it). Hit the gas and GO! No sluggishness on take-off. Rock solid hole shots every time.

We really worked this clutch over on hillsides, jumps and many standing, full throttle starts. After 5 tanks of fuel, back to back, there was no sign of fade or slipping. Incredibly impressive seeing that the test truck has a thick aluminum chassis, aluminum bulkheads, aluminum shock towers, aluminum bumpers, aluminum chassis braces, etc. it is a heavy truck with a powerful engine strapped to it. The GARC 3-shoe is the perfect clutch for the job. This is an excellent component that will last a long time and deliver solid performance.

What is amazing is that something as simple as a clutch can add so much performance. Or should we say, take advantage of performance your truck already has but is not using. And for the very reasonable price of $36 shipped to your door, you can not go wrong with this upgrade.

Visit the Great Assembly RC web site... baby needs some new shoes!