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In our world of high performance diesel engines we often produce enough power to slip the standard Eaton 2050-foot pound clutches especially during truck pulls.  Even Bobtail Drag Racing  can slip the clutch with the power we can produce from today’s engines.  Many of our performance engines produce around 3,000 foot-pounds of torque, weather it’s a 12.7 liter Detroit or a 15 liter Caterpillar, we produce extreme torque, and yet never have transmission, drive shaft, or differential problems so long as Owner-Operators are behind the wheel.  However the weak link is the clutch.  Back in the 70’s there was a clutch manufacture called Lipe and they make a great clutch. 

Unfortunately they were bought out by their competitor and never made.  We would search the salvage yards for old Lipe Clutches and have them rebuilt and only sold them to owner-operators that used their truck in competitive events or in heavy haul applications.  They were expensive, by the time we purchased the clutch from a salvage yard, had it rebuilt, paid the freight we had $1200.00 invested.  What made the Lipe Clutch or should we say pressure plate so good was the manner in which the straight springs pushed against the outside edge of the pressure plate. 

Now the competitor’s clutch uses angled springs and they push against the inner edge of the pressure plate.  Now this is fine for stock engines however its not enough force for high performance diesel engines.  Now here is something I want you to think about:  How many times have you been driving along and though “wouldn’t it be nice if they would bring back...” What ever it was that you really enjoyed or a product that really worked well.  Well guess what, the Lipe Clutch is back and what a great job they are doing in the high performance diesel engines.  They are rated at 2250 ft. lbs. of torque, however they are holding around 3000 ft. lbs. on the street and the semi truck pulling.  

As far as the effort required to push in the clutch pedal, it’s just slightly more than an Easy Pedal, however it’s a smoother disengagement and engagement because 3 leavers that pull on the plate have needle bearings at the pivot points.  Furthermore the Lipe disengages 25% further than the Eaton, which makes for easier shifting. 

Another nice feature of the Lipe Clutch assembly is there are not adjustments to be made, just adjust the throw out bearing one time during installation and that’s it.  Another reason the Lipe Clutch is so smooth is all of the pieces are balanced independently, which means they don’t have to stay together as a set.  Installation is much easier also because you can install one piece at time and the heaviest part is about 70 pounds as opposed to the Eaton, which weights about 150 pounds.  

Warranty:  The Lipe Clutch carries a 2 year warranty where as the other clutch manufactures are 1 year warranty.  

Now if your truck is stock we also have a Lipe 2000 foot-pound clutch, which also has 6 pads of ceramic, same as the 2250 ft. lb. clutch.  Both clutches have an 8 ?” center so the only difference is in the springs of the pressure plate.  The amount of force it takes to push on the clutch pedal is minimal, however the 2000 ft. lb. pressure plate is slightly less.  We have sold 10 of the Lipe Clutches to date and nobody has mentioned the pedal pressure, however they have mentioned how smooth the engagement is.

Pricing, The 2250 ft. lb. clutch assembly is $800.00 and the 2000 ft. lbs. clutch assembly is $725.00

If your building a competition pulling semi and will be in excess of 1000 horsepower we can have a Lipe
Clutch custom built for you to your specifications.  Price is about $1200.00 for the super competition clutch.  Please if your under 1000 horsepower you DO NOT NEED the super competition clutch.  The 2250 ft. lb. clutch will supply enough clamping load to keep from slipping.  If Toby Keith had a semi truck he would be singing “I Love This Clutch instead of I love This Bar.”

Andy Kushner of Pittsburgh Pennsylvania has a C-16 600 hp Cat in a Pete and was never happy with the stock OEM clutches and now he runs a Lipe Clutch and loves how smooth the clutch engages and disengages.  His cell phone number is 412-480-1455.  

If you are a reader of my articles you will notice that several times I publish owner-operators cell phones that is because they do not mind sharing their experience with other owner-operators who are considering purchasing our products.  By the way, Andy’s son Brian runs a 475 Cat in a 379 Pete which has duel stacks with stock mufflers and the fuel mileage running local was 4.9 and the truck was sluggish.  He installed one of our performance mufflers under the cab and straight stacks and now the fuel mileage is 6.4 mpg around western  Pa. and on the road it’s as high as 6.7 mph.  

Stock parts return stock performance and poor fuel mileage along with low performance.   There is a saying”Why is there never time to do it right the first time, however there is always time to do it over.”

Don’t forget, we will be moving the first of September to our new location where we have plenty of parking and even a drivers lounge with a television, reclining chairs, desk and a bathroom with a shower for your comforts while you wait for your truck to be repaired.  Our new address will be 3600 South Noah Dr.  Victory Road Industrial Park, Saxonburg, Pa. 16056   The new phone number will be  724-360-4080.

By the way, we are going to have a lunchroom and your invited to have lunch with us.

Written By:
Bruce C. Mallinson
Pittsburgh Power, Inc.
1403 Freeport Rd.
Cheswick, Pa. 15024
724-274-4080