Ram Clutches slave cylinder issues?

[MustangChuck]

Hey all. I've been having issues with the Ram clutches performance slave cylinder. The good guys at Cincy Speed have had my car for about 2 weeks now, and they have been having issues with the Ram Clutches high performance slave cylinder. The first one they put on, when they went to bleed the system, it sprung a leak at the seal. They got a new one in, and it also sprung a leak at the seal. Has anyone else had issues with these? They had an article on them in Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords, so I figured it would be a decent part. I guess not lol.

[Black Horse]

Is this one of the external slave cylinders that attaches to the clutch fork?

From experience with a buddies road race car - take a look at the alignment of the cylinder bracket. If it gets in a bind it will leak or not work correctly. Also make sure it is not totally stroking (should be some stroke left to go). And bleeding these little bastards are a pain....but if one air bubble is in them they don't work. Power bleed if possible!

[MustangChuck]

I wouldnt know that would be a question for the guys at Cincy Speed. I'll see if Craig is still there when I head back up there and have him look at this thread to see if he can make anything out of it.

[Maximus]

The first piece had mis machined pipe threads on the slave cylinder so the fitting bottomed out before the sealed against the threads. The second piece leaked from the seal on the slave cylinder itself. The slave is not a fork mounted unit it bolts on like the bearing retainer on a T5. The bearing is not over extended it was set up well within spec roughly 180 thousandths. Chalk this one up to piss poor machine work and bad luck!

Adam

[NXcoupe]

These and the Mcleod units suck. I went through this a couple years back and we found the factory unit is the only reliable piece. What was the original problem that caused you to replace the factory unit?

[MustangChuck]

These and the Mcleod units suck. I went through this a couple years back and we found the factory unit is the only reliable piece. What was the original problem that caused you to replace the factory unit?

It was featured in Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords as a way to help improve shifting and such under high performance applications. I had an issue with it grinding at times going between first and second, but Adam suggested that it may just be me and not the hydraulic slave cylinder.

[Sparky]

I used a Wilwood on my ranger and it barely worked. I had leaking issues as well, but I ened up using tread sealant and it worked. If you want a good hydraulic clutch for a Ford, you're gonna need a Hydraulic throw out bearing. That's my next buy as soon as I can come off of the 350 bucks to get it.

[MustangChuck]

The Ram unit is already a hydraulically assisted throw out bearing already though lol.

[Sparky]

My bad I didn't read Craig's post all the way through. I kept reading "slave cylinder " and assumed you guys were talking about the external type. I was going to get a Mc Cleod because they're supposed to be the best. Tilton makes one too, but they're almost 500 bucks, because you have to buy a special bearing retainer...as the bearing itself is somewhat universal.

[MustangChuck]

Well Cincy Speed has sent me out a new Slave Cylinder once again. Hopefully this one isnt jacked up like the last two ones.

[MustangChuck]

Me and my friends just got about halfway done with it today. We got the transmission dropped and then some of the guys had to go to work. Right now its at the auto crafts shop on post and we'll be getting started early tomorrow to try to finish it up by the time the super bowl starts.

[05yellowgt]

Yeah the RAM has a BAD reputation for leaks and failures. Probably greater than half of all installations when they were first available seem to go bad. I had good luck with the McLeod TOB but one of the seals failed. From what I understand McLeod had a batch of their units that the seals were not made of automotive grade rubber and the brake fluid would break it down. I am back to the stock slave cylinder with a Spec Stage 3+ and Spec Flywheel and it works great.

[MustangChuck]

Really? You havent had any issues with grinding gears when racing? I usually powershift and thats when I had the issues, but every now and again I had issues with it when I wasn't powershifting. I dunno. We tried to put in the new slave cylinder today but they sent me an incorrect fitting. When we went to bleed the system, it seems like it's working a little better. Less chattering than before or what not. Maybe I just needed fluid or needed to get more air out of the lines.

[05yellowgt]

I've not powershifted with this combo yet. I'll have to let you know how that goes. How far off the floor does your clutch start to dis-engage? As far as bleeding, a vacuum pump works wonders. Pump up the vacuum, wait about 1 minute, release, pump clutch pedal, and repeat about 4 or 5 times and bam, perfectly bled clutch.