Clutch question

I’ve been getting things sorted out for the season, and I have run into a question about the clutch on my kart. I bought the kart used, and I’ve never worked on one before, so this may be normal. I just do not know.
I got a new mount, and while I had the engine off, I did all the maintenance things. While cleaning the clutch, Noticed that there was some play, and after I replace the shoes, and lubed the roller bearing, and reassembled, it was still there. (Hilliard flame) The hub and everything is good. Fits well with no play, etc. But, the drum has a lot of play. This might not matter, since once the shoes bite, the drum will basically be supported by the hub and shoes. It just seems weird to me. Also, while taking it apart, I noticed that is did not have any of the spacer washers. One goes between the crankshaft collar, and the hub, and one goes between the grease trap and the hub according to Hilliard assembly instructions.

Here is the best vid I’ve found on clutch installation:

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That’s no problem, as long as all the stuff on the inside is in the correct order. Whoops, just reread ur post. You need to have all the spacers/washers, etc. that are in the Flame diagrams. The diagrams are all over the internet.

That is exactly how mine is put together. The video is also missing the two “spacer” washers. #2 and #6 in the diagram.

We had to remove both the #2 and #6 washers on my setup.

I have side to side sliding but not twisting that you show.

I’m new to karting but I don’t think you should have the twisting that you showed.

Just curious as to why you had to remove them?

Any chance that’s a bully conversion drum?

All Flame clutches will have some play like that when not engaged. Bully conversions are worse. As long as it’s all there, it’s fine.

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The instructions said that the clutch should overhang the engine shaft edge by 0.5mm and with the washers the overhang was greater than this. I think it was almost 1.5,mm.

I have all spacers, nothing excluded. The photo shows how much overhang I have. Based on my experience, that additional 1mm overhang you have is nothing to worry about. Don’t be alarmed if that super thick spacer holding the clutch on cones out over time.

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According to the assembly instructions from Hilliard, the 1mm gap is too much:

Check to insure that the clutch overhangs the engine crankshaft, by .020” - .030”. (If the clutch
overhang is outside that range you need to remove the clutch and add or remove the
appropriate number of spacers (2 are provided with the clutch) to achieve the correct spacing.)
Apply the washers to the inside of the crankshaft. Reinstall the clutch per the instructions, and
recheck your spacing before moving on to the next step.

I can’t attach the file from my phone but the above quote is from a PDF file called: Hilliard flame clutch installation.

If you feel you have too much overhang, you need a smaller chamfered spacer next to the crank shoulder and put the washers back, but a 1mm gap is not too much and will cause 0 problems.

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Burpos right. None of it actually matters. These clutches will work with about half the parts.

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Isnt that just the clutch bell that has play? I believe that is normal for Hilliard clutches. The “guts” of the clutch should not have play on the crank shaft but the bell itself is designed to have a little side to side play. I always thought that it was to keep the chain aligned when the kart flexes or if the sprocket is slightly out of alignment, you don’t throw a chain.

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They aren’t that engineered. The play in the drum is because they are crappy cheap fun kart clutches.

Well happy accidents can still be happy too! :slight_smile: Interesting take though. I got the impression that Hilliard puts a lot of work into designing these clutches.

They’re good, nearly bulletproof clutches for sure. The drum play isn’t gonna help flex when engaged tho.

Instead of starting a new topic, I thought I would post this here.

The BS spec is 250in pounds for the clutch bolt and they recommend using a belt wrench on the flywheel. This is fine if the housing is off but I am guessing most don’t do this. SO, what is the best way to attach the clutch on a 206? Loctite yes or no? Is there a foot-pound conversion? My torque wrench only goes up to 200 inch pounds.

Definitely No loctite. About 3-4 Ugga duggas on a good impact.

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No loctite? I definitely use loctite on a 206 clutch bolt unless it has threadlocker already on it from the factory (which many do). A good 18 or 20v impact like Derek says will do the job just fine.

i’m with derek on this one, never any loctite. i use a ryobi 18V impact wrench that gets it just right, i think. i’ve used a dewalt 18V, and that seemed a little too tight to me, my ryobi wouldn’t loosen it up.

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