Converting From Dmf To Smf

[flemball12]

What are peoples thought on converting from dmf to smf. I use the car to get to work and back and shopping. About 25 miles a day roughly.

[stevegtuk]

There are some people that have had good results with SMFs, but in the majority of cases I have heard about, they have caused alot of problems. I personaly would suggest staying with a DMF.

Any particular reason why you are considering this option?

[flemball12]

Its the cost. My secons son has just been born recently and we are struggling for money at the moment just managing to get the money to do it. I know taxi drivers do it cos of cost but they get a good few miles out of them and I will have probably scrapped the car before its due for renewal.

[jeebowhite]

SMF would be fine, you would probably notice more vibration, and perhaps a bit more noise. I wouldn't expect it to last as long as a DMF, but if its a fix to get you by there is no reason you couldn't do it.

[flemball12]

Thanks for your replies. How many mile roughly would you expect. Like I said im only doing about 25 mile a day maybe a little more.

[FOCA]

When my DMF started playing up i fitted an SMF, the car ran a lot smoother with the SMF than the old (worn out) DMF, and the transmission is a lot mor "direct" i like it that way, you have to be precise with you gearchanges - so not to everyones taste

The SMF is simply a solid flywheel, it does not have springs, cogs, moving/ multiple parts to go wrong like a DMF has, an SMF (solid flywheel) should outlast a DMF (dual mass flywheel) by a large margin

There is less "give" in the transmission,with an SMF, so it is a good idea to get a clutch with a sprung plate (cush drive) to put a bit of that "give" back in

Oftem, when a car is heavily modified, the gearbox/ transmission has to be strengthened, to cope with the extra torque, the modifications to my car resulted in the early demise of my DMF, because the DMF could not cope with the extra low-down torque and "chewed" itself up

After a lot of research (ignoring the "internet scaremongers" and listening to experts/ professionals instead) i fiffed a balanced SMF, a matched clutch, with a heavy-duty backplate with 33% stronger clamping force, the driven plate is carbon fiber/ kevlar, and has a sprung plate/ cush drive - i also fitted a genuine Ford CSC at the same time

The firm that sold me it also supplies DMFs but recommended the SMF/ carbon/kevlar/ HD clutch for my modified car

That was a couple of years ago and the setup works perfect, it gets driven very hard occasionally (eg drag starts) and i expected it to be broken by now, but the mtx75 5-speed is tougher than the 6-speed

I have recommended an SMF to a realative, that fitted a similar setup to mine (SMF etc) to their hard- driven (ex- race driver) ST-TDCI and it works perfect/ he prefers it to the DMF (more "direct" )

EDIT - I like diesels, there aree 3 things i would not have on my cars - 1 an operational EGR valve - 2 a DPF - 3 a DMF - you would not believe how much better the car is without that junk

[BOF]

Thanks for your replies. How many mile roughly would you expect. Like I said im only doing about 25 mile a day maybe a little more.

I think people who change them before they go, change at about 80k miles, so that ought to be a pretty safe figure to aim for. How close are you to that now?

When my DMF started playing up i fitted an SMF, the car ran a lot smoother with the SMF than the old (worn out) DMF, and the transmission is a lot mor "direct" i like it that way, you have to be precise with you gearchanges - so not to everyones taste

Good to have some real experience. Do you find any reduction in smoothness and refinement at motorway/dual carriageway speeds?

[FOCA]

I think people who change them before they go, change at about 80k miles, so that ought to be a pretty safe figure to aim for. How close are you to that now?

Good to have some real experience. Do you find any reduction in smoothness and refinement at motorway/dual carriageway speeds?

It is hard to say because the DMF in my car was gradually deteriorating, overall the SMF is much smoother than the worn out DMF, at motorway speeds, i would say there is no noticable difference, i get a slight vibration at some revs when accelerating but i tend to accelerate through it, i cannot say 100% this is because of the SMF,though,the TDDI can be a bit "rough" the chap with the ST-TDCI (2.2) says his feels smooth

[flemball12]

Thanks guys. The car has done 94000 but was told not long ago that the clutch looked new but they didnt say out about the flywheel which is rattling like hell unless the clutch is pressed. I got a price for the full flywheel and clutch conversion kit for 160 just need someone to fit it that accepts credit cards lol.

[Wappygixer]

Buy yourself a Haynes manual and read up doing it yourself. That's how I changed mine.

It took me all day but it saved me hundreds in garage bills. You only need a trolley jack, axel stands and a decent set of spanners/socket set.

I don't think it was that difficult it's just a bit daunting at first. Once the flywheel was on it was probably only a couple of hours to fit everything back together again as we had learnt where everything was at this point.

[FOCA]

Buy yourself a Haynes manual and read up doing it yourself. That's how I changed mine.

It took me all day but it saved me hundreds in garage bills. You only need a trolley jack, axel stands and a decent set of spanners/socket set.

I don't think it was that difficult it's just a bit daunting at first. Once the flywheel was on it was probably only a couple of hours to fit everything back together again as we had learnt where everything was at this point.

Buy yourself a Haynes manual and read up doing it yourself. That's how I changed mine.

It took me all day but it saved me hundreds in garage bills. You only need a trolley jack, axel stands and a decent set of spanners/socket set.

I don't think it was that difficult it's just a bit daunting at first. Once the flywheel was on it was probably only a couple of hours to fit everything back together again as we had learnt where everything was at this point.

Well done for doing it yourself but not everyone on the site could tackle this job, it could also be potentially dangerous

[flemball12]

I would have no problem giving it a go as I trained as a mechanic but I have been out of it a while now with my knees and dont have the gear for it any more. With the weather being the way it is my knees would be shot within the first hour. I know it costs a bit but I would rather just pay sm1 to do it for me then that way if out goes wrong its not coming out of my pocket.