[Closed] Clutches. When are they under the most strain?

It is under most strain when you are reversing up a steep hill with a caravan.

It is not under any strain when you are driving along, and it is not under strain when you have your foot all the way down. Although my dad reckoned sitting like that for long enough would wear one of the bearings prematurely, but I dunno which one, or if he was right or not.

Most strain when you floor it in top gear. Keeping it held down will gradually wear out the release bearing. Apparently. Doubt it, personally.

it is under strain any time it is transmitting torque from the engine to the gearbox, it will be under maximum strain when your foot is hard to the floor and the engine is at peak torque (irrespective of which gear)
it will be subject to maximum WEAR when pulling away using a lot of slip, (reversing uphill with a caravan is an excellent example of this)

Well yes depends what you mean by strain. In terms of its lifetime, I would imagine slipping is what wears it out not transmitting torque. But martymac sounds right 🙂

most likely to slip? maximum load, ie towing, foot on floor at max torque.

most damage is 'abuse' type event, ie my missus reversing onto the drive.

every time you slip the clutch it dumps heat into the disk, the cover and the dmf. if you do it too much you will eventually melt things in the dmf, and maybe the CSC, as well as wear out the disk.

Its only being worn between the bite point and until your foot is completely off the clutch. If you drive with any mechanical sympathy you should always ensure you are not accelerating between the point you put your foot on the clutch to change gear, and the point at which your foot comes off the clutch. If you do this, and match the engine speed when changing down (blipping the accelerator as you shift from say 4th to 3rd) then your clutch will last a long long time.

Driving smaller cars and vans it is very easy to get into the habit of pressing the accelerator before the clutch is fully up, especially when trying to get up to speed quickly. And you won't know you are doing it. I had a colleague that use to slip the clutch on every gear through the box, simply as he would get on the gas too quickly.

The absolute worst things you can do is try and reverse up a steep hill, especially if you are towing anything, holding the car on the bite point at junctions rather than using the handbrake, and resting your foot on the clutch when driving.

Cheers chaps.

I am known ad driving miss daisy due to my driving style so should be ok 🙂

missus reversing onto the drive

god, how true.

How can mechanical sympathy be such the preserve of the XY gene?

Clutch thrust bearings used to fail regularly on a variety of cars when your dad was first driving, Molgrips. I haven't heard a nosy one in years.

If you want to destroy a clutch I suggest the following: Select top gear when stationary with the handbrake on. Floor the accelerator as you release the clutch to the bite point and then maintain 6000rpm and full throttle just by riding the clutch. When the revs run away despite having fully released the clutch you've succeeded in cooking the clutch.