Clutch Plates

[David]

I've sorted all of the issues with the length of the gearbox push rod and that now seems to be fine. I have a 1957 Road Rocket with a Triumph 4 spring clutch. (with cush-drive) The clutch plates are brand new, which means that they are obviously quite thick. I have 5 friction plates and 6 plain plates. The last plain plate sits precariously on the the centre drive and tends to fall off when the clutch is lifted. Can anyone suggest a solution please? David.

[Triton Thrasher]

Bend 4 of the tabs in towards the splines.

[duTch]

 I found that even with worn plates with my Plunger A10 clutch. Main thing was that when doing spring adjustment, the spring nuts didn't turn on far enough to have enough preload, and tended to undo themselves

 I remedied it by leaving out at least a friction plate, and maybe a steel also (I figure leaving a steel on steel won't matter as they spin together).

 I've since replaced the friction plates, and only added in four of the five and don't have a problem other than I need to add some preload to stop minor slipping. I'm figuring on swapping the extra one in/used out periodically, just to use it.

[David]

As it's a Triumph clutch, I've just checked the book again and it shows the friction plate, followed by a plane plate. This would mean 5 friction plates and five plain plates. I'm more confused now. David.

[duTch]

 Yeah, I know they're different clutches, but the principle is the same.
 Do a search on the topic,  you'll find some discussion from the dark past.
 Sometimes we need to just do what works best and not what " the book says"

[chaterlea25]

Hi,
Check the inner drum, if it has a lip at the rear then its a steel plate first resulting in unequal number of plain and friction plates
 in if no lip then its a friction in first and equal numbers
There were different depths of inner and outer drums depending on which model bike the clutch came from.
Fill the stack so the outer plate cannot fall off when the clutch is lifted
But also the pressure plate must not foul the inner drum, if necessary fit two plain plates at the back of the stack
to get the correct thickness overall

John

[David]

John, I've checked the drum and it doesn't have a lip. It does however have rivets that are reasonably flush but not perfectly smooth. Do you think that this might cause a problem? Thanks. David. PS: I will post a picture later.

[David]

I've fitted the plates and omitted the first steel plate. As you can see, the clutch is a much better fit and the last plate doesn't fall off.

[Triton Thrasher]

If there's no lip, the first plate can be one with lining on one side only, or you can
glue cork mat to the back of the basket and put a first plain steel plate in after that. 

Of course if you don't need the room it doesn't matter.

[chaterlea25]

Hi David,
I am assuming that theres a thrust washer type shaft adaptor fitted?? (there should be with your setup)
Check that the first friction plate sits against the rivited flat, I had to file the slots deeper so the plate sat against the face
Otherwise the spring pressure is being taken by the plate tangs
With unknown parts just because something fits together doesnt mean it always works

(well thats what happens me  )
John