Club Car Clutches: The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

[Springbok]

Maybe we could make this a sticky?

[HookUpsCustoms]

Originally Posted by Springbok

My buddy has an '87 and has that same setup with a 4" lift and 22s. He's having issues with jerky takeoffs (for a year or so now) and has all but ruled out every other possible cause.

Be sure he has the correct width drive belt. Had a friend change both clutches in an 87, but not the model of belt. Had jerky take off especially with a couple people or stuff on the back. Swapped to the newer belt which is a bit wider & no more jerking.

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[Springbok]

Originally Posted by HookUpsCustoms

Be sure he has the correct width drive belt. Had a friend change both clutches in an 87, but not the model of belt. Had jerky take off especially with a couple people or stuff on the back. Swapped to the newer belt which is a bit wider & no more jerking.

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He has used a few different belts, including the later model, wider belts. But I know what you mean, the 1984-87 belts were narrower and I could see how they could definitely contribute to jerky takeoffs.

[HookUpsCustoms]

Yep! Wonder what else could be causing it then?

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[Springbok]

He's thinking that it's a combination of the heavy-duty rear leafs and the larger tires.

[SSilv22]

I have been having the same issues. I just purchased a new belt and the torque spring. I hope this gets the fix. I’ve been researching for days and can’t seem to find the answer. This is the closest that I have gotten.

[mckittrick.joe]

Originally Posted by SSilv22

I have been having the same issues. I just purchased a new belt and the torque spring. I hope this gets the fix. I’ve been researching for days and can’t seem to find the answer. This is the closest that I have gotten.

I bought the tool that measures distance between clutches.set distance no more jerking!

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[Springbok]

So I've been doing some more research on drive clutches since I had to replace one in my 1990 DS. I bought a 1997+ clutch and just swapped the smaller s/g v-belt pulley onto the new clutch and it worked like a charm! Here's a video showing my swap:

You Tube

You Tube

After I made this video I was wondering if the smaller pulley that was on my original 1990 clutch was also used on the counterclockwise FE290 motors (1992-1996). I did an informal spot check of some golf carts in our campground. It seems that the drive clutches on all of the 1992-1996 carts I looked at have a s/g pulley that is the same exact diameter as the inner sheave (which sits right on top of the s/g pulley). This pulley is larger than the one on my original 1990 drive clutch.

So from what I can tell, Club Car used the same exact drive clutch from 1988-2014 on their gas DS carts, but used three different s/g pulley sizes:

• 1988-1991 used a small pulley that is smaller than the inner shave
• 1992-1996 used a larger pulley that is the exact same diameter as the inner sheave
• 1997-2014 used an even larger pulley that is slightly larger in diameter than the inner sheave

I'm still researching this information to confirm it. But it's already been established both in my video and elsewhere that you can buy a 1997+ drive clutch and use it in your pre-1997 gas Club Car as long as you swap the s/g pulley from your cart's original drive clutch.

[Springbok]

I just got confirmation from a member in a Club Car DS Facebook group that he retrofitted the s/g pulley from his old Salsbury clutch onto a 1997+ drive clutch and it worked out great. He has a 1987 Club Car.

[Scooter Bob]

I joined this forum a couple months ago when I bought a new to me 86 CC ds. I have the kf82 running pretty good now, and have added 3 leaf rear springs and rear flip seat.

The drive clutch faces are very worn on the outer third of the diameter, and am looking to replace it. Just looking for clarification of the last post on this thread.

Can I just buy a clutch to fit a 88 and newer, and redrill/ swap on the s/g pulley and bolt it onto the engine??

My problem is I just can't find a replacement for the original clutch.

Thanks for any input, Bob