FEATURE – BLüSTEELE SURVIVOR SERIES 4X4 CLUTCH - JUST 4X4S

FEATURE – Blüsteele Survivor Series 4x4 clutch

Photos: Blüsteele Clutch

How often do you think about your 4x4’s clutch? Chances are not often, unless it starts slipping or you completely burn it out in some gnarly terrain.

You should be thinking about your clutch, though, especially if it hasn’t been replaced in a long time and you hit the tracks on a regular basis.

More importantly, if you’ve upgraded your manual 4x4’s power, you should definitely think about upgrading the clutch with a heavy-duty clutch kit. Tunes and chip upgrades produce more power and torque, which is great, but invariably these upgrades produce more grunt than the OEM clutch can handle, leading to slipping, burnout or, in extreme cases, total clutch detonation.

If you push your four-wheel drive to extremes off-road or you plan to be towing a big caravan or boat on a regular basis, you need a heavy-duty clutch kit – simple as that. And with many of us in lockdown or on restricted movements at the moment, now’s the ideal time to look at a clutch upgrade, so your 4x4 is ready to go when normal services resume!

But what heavy-duty clutch kit to choose? There are several out there, but none have the strength, science and in-the-field testing behind them like a ‘Survivor Series’ clutch kit from Blüsteele Clutch.

Survivor Series

Blüsteele Clutch is a family business, created by Victorian-based clutch specialists, Chris Rippon and his son, Dan.

“We started in 2000, selling brake and clutch parts to the automotive trade,” explained Chris. “But over the last five years, we’ve morphed into being clutch only.”

The Blüsteele Clutch range includes the Smooth Torquer and Power Torquer clutch kits for street cars, and the Heavy-Duty clutch kit for light trucks, tow rigs and performance applications.

The Survivor Series is the newest member of the Blüsteele family, with development starting three years ago to address the need for a premium clutch to handle serious heavy-duty applications.

“We saw a hole in the market for a really top quality 4x4 clutch,” explained Dan Rippon.

“With the four-wheel drive industry growing, we decided we wanted to build an ultra-premium clutch for guys who wanted something they could take off road, or tow caravans around Australia.”

The Survivor Series clutch has made a positive impression on those who’ve already fitted one to their vehicles and that’s thanks to the approach Chris, Dan and the Blüsteele team made to its design and manufacture from the very beginning.

Made Tough, Made Well

“When we went about designing this clutch kit, we wanted to make a really comprehensive clutch kit,” Dan explained.

“For instance, when you’re doing a clutch, you replace the clutch plate, the pressure plate and the thrust bearing. But in our clutch kit we add alignment tools, we add spigot bearings. In many cases, we add rear main seals and also include a flywheel.”

Starting with the pressure plate cover, where most other brands use regular cast iron, Blüsteele use nodular cast iron. Metallurgists can explain the differences in greater detail, but put simply, the casting process makes nodular cast iron three times stronger. That means the Blüsteele pressure plate cover is essentially burst-proof.

“It can’t actually burst, like a standard grade iron pressure plate could if it got hot enough,” Dan adds. “It costs a lot more, but it’s a LOT stronger.”

Years of experience with clutches allowed Blüsteele to apply some clever thinking here, too, like changing the pivot point of the clutch cover to improve the clamping force.

For the actual clutch plate, Blüsteele trialled several different compositions and materials before hitting a winner in Kevlar.

“Obviously, Kevlar is well known as a very high-temperature resistant material, so it’s really suited to a clutch and high-performance use.

“In the Survivor Series, what Kevlar does is prolong the life expectancy of the clutch when it is used off road and for towing heavy caravans and the like.”

The final main component is the thrust bearing. Blüsteele source really high-quality, OEM-style bearings here - the highest quality ones they can get.

On the flywheel that’s included in some Survivor Series clutch kits, Blüsteele use chromoly steel construction that’s stronger than regular steel, with cooling grooves milled into the surface for better heat dissipation.

Dan adds that, while the flywheels aren’t included in every Survivor Series clutch kit, the range is growing to suit those upgrading their vehicles.

Survivor Series components

Each Survivor Series heavy-duty clutch kit includes the following components:

Clutch pressure plate cover assembly
Organic clutch plate
Thrust bearing

Available extras include:

Alignment tool
Spigot bearing
Replacement flywheel

Each kit is backed by a 12mth / 20,000km warranty

Toughness on Test

Designing and sourcing components for the Survivor Series clutch kits is one thing. Ensuring they work is another. Blüsteele have been active in the latter area, including the fitment of a kit to a VDJ79 LandCruiser that’s also served as a testbed for products from Blüsteele partners, including ATD Customs, Bremaxx and PWR.

“We bought that vehicle brand new, so it had the OEM clutch in it,” Dan explained. “And when we had the vehicle tuned, that clutch couldn’t handle the extra power and extra torque – which is part of the reason the Survivor Series was developed, to handle those vehicles with extra torque.”

Testing a Survivor Series clutch in their own 70 Series LandCruiser has allowed Blüsteele to eliminate the problems usually associated with heavy-duty clutch kit upgrades, like noise, vibration and heavy pedal feel.

“We try to make sure we have zero compromises when we develop these kits. That’s why they do take a little longer to develop - because we have to go through the process of eliminating issues.”

That time has paid off, though, with the Survivor Series offering comfort and feel equivalent to an OEM clutch, but with much greater strength for off-road work.

“(In the VDJ79), it feels just like the OEM one did. It’s not heavy on the pedal, or harsh. It feels really nice and smooth, but it handles that extra torque that’s been put through the motor,” Dan said.

As well as off-road work, Dan has been using the 79 Troopy regularly as a tow vehicle, lugging a big dual axle racecar trailer. In that role, the Survivor Series clutch has proven its value, too.

Big Range

Three years after development of the Survivor Series 4x4 clutch started, there’s now a range of kits to suit a variety of four-wheel drives. At time of writing, 72 different product lines were under the Survivor Series banner, covering old and new 4x4s.

While Survivor Series 4x4 clutch kits are available for everything from early ’90s GQ Patrols to near-new Great Wall utes, Chris says that kits to suit LandCruisers have accounted for the bulk of sales so far.

“The 70 Series V8 LandCruiser has seen the highest demand. Because they come out of the factory very underpowered, so it tends to be that most people end up tuning them.

“And as a lot of these vehicles tend to be up in Queensland, that’s where we sell the majority of them to.”

Each kit includes basic instructions, so those experienced in replacing clutches should have no problems fitting a Survivor Series to their 4x4, but for those unfamiliar with such work, Chris and Dan strongly recommend taking their vehicle to a professional mechanic or 4WD specialist workshop for fitting.

Great Feel, Great Strength, Great Price

Blüsteele are confident that the Survivor Series 4x4 clutch is the best, highest quality product available for heavy-duty work, all while offering the ease-of-use of an OEM clutch.

“With the Survivor, you’re not compromising any feel to go to a really high-performance clutch,” Dan explained. “Your wife could drive it during the week and then you could take it off-road on weekends, whereas with some other clutches, that may not be the case.”

Chris adds that the price is competitive, too, with the Survivor Series range starting from less than $500.

“We’re a small family business, so we can do these clutches to be really competitively priced against other four-wheel drive clutches in the marketplace - with no compromise in quality.”

To find out more about the Survivor Series 4x4 clutch kit, contact your Blüsteele stockist, or go to: https://www.blusteele.com/

Win an Engel ‘Survivor Series’ fridge

To celebrate the official launch of the Survivor Series 4x4 clutch kit, Blüsteele are offering customers the chance to win an Engel 4WD fridge/freezer.

This high-quality unit, from Engel’s MT-V series, has a 40-litre capacity and features built-in 240V AC/12V/24V DC power, variable DC power consumption and an LED interior light.

The Engel MT-V is also made tough – like the Survivor series clutch! – with corner protectors, heavy-duty handles and a lockable door latch, backed by a five-year warranty.

Blüsteele have partnered with Engel on these limited-edition fridge/freezers which carry Survivor Series branding.

Valued at $1,499, there’s one to win each month, between July and December.

For your chance to win, simply purchase a Survivor Series clutch kit, register online with Blüsteele and you’re in the draw.

See your Blüsteele Survivor Series 4x4 clutch stockist for details.