OS Giken TR2CD/Tri light release bearing review
More power usually equals more problems. This is usually the case when we start to increase the power on our street cars, racecars, etc. This is not the case for when it comes to the TR2CD Twin Disc Clutch and flywheel setup that OS Giken offers for many applications. In our case, we are comparing a single disc aftermarket 6 puck clutch setup that belongs to an LS Series motor to The OS Giken TR2CD Twin disc Complete Clutch setup, which includes the flywheel. The first thing that I will talk about is the weight differences. The Complete TR2CD weighed in at 30.6 LBS while the upgraded single disc clutch and flywheel, weighed in at a whopping 53.2 LBS that is an insane difference of 22.6 LBS. Usually when you want to make a car faster you want to remove as much weight as possible but the single most significant way to lower the weight of your car and make it faster all at the same time is to remove it from any moving component. That is called rotational mass. Things such as light weight flywheels, aluminum or carbon driveshaft, lighter wheel setups, lighter rotors all assist in the acceleration of your vehicle. The lighter mass allows for the motor to rev faster and gets you in the power band in quicker. Does this increase power? No! It doesn’t but it frees up power. When people tell you, this car makes 500 HP to the wheels and then they say the motor makes about 600 at the crank that 100hp of drivetrain loss is lost in the motor trying to move the drivetrain and get the car going. Usually you lose around 10-20% in drivetrain loss on smaller racecars and more on larger vehicles, but anything you can do to lower any sort of rotational mass really helps you improve the response and feedback you get from the car. The LS engine with the new clutch makes the motor feel more spunky and alive, it no longer feels lazy. It is much better at accelerating and getting up to its peak powerband faster. I heard a lot of people say doesn’t the lighter clutch setup make you lose torque, yes and no. That is partially true to an extent. What happens is when you lower the mass of your flywheel your engine loses momentum when it rotates. This is greatly noticeable on smaller engines like the SR20DET for example. It is able to accelerate much faster but now at the same time it is able to decelerate much faster this is because the weight of the old flywheel assisted with holding the rpms steady. When you lighten up the setup you no longer have that weight maintaining that engine rotation. Now when it comes to larger displacement engines such as the LS platform it’s a lot harder to notice any negatives when it comes lightening up the clutch setup although because we had such a drastic loss in weight from the old setup the ecu has to be programed or else you will have idling issues. When you are running a larger cam like myself it now needs more air to idle so when the car was originally tuned with the old setup he was able to adjust the air and fuel mixture to keep the car running good at idle but now that the engine is accelerating and decelerating faster the ecu is not able to compensate and is not able to catch the rpms fast enough so it keeps stalling. This should be an easy fix for any experienced tuner. Now comparing drivability, the old clutch setup was a bit lighter but not much it’s not a drastic difference from the TR2CD. Just remember that now you have multiple discs rather than just one. The point of engagement was slightly different for example the old clutch engaged towards the middle of the pedal stroke whereas the TR2CD engages more towards the end or the beginning of the stroke allowing you to make quicker shifts due to less time spent on actuating the clutch pedal. Where you notice the difference between the two is how they engage. The old clutch is able to be slipped a lot easier when you take off in first, allowing for a smother engagement but the TR2CD is more aggressive in its engagement but once you get the car going it’s absolutely amazing. This is great for racing applications but it would definitely have to be something to get used to. When you compare the differences, it is night and day. If you want an amazing product that is proven this is the way to go. The main question is does it justify the cost? Yes!! 100% it can handle a wide range of power so if you are like me and planning on adding a supercharger mid-season you don’t have to worry about the clutch giving out. Now if you are a budget racer that makes 300 hp and doesn’t want to spend a lot of money probably your better off going to an auto parts store and getting an oem replacement clutch. But if you are serious about your driving and want a product that can handle multiple seasons of abuse and with zero issues this is definitely the way to go. All in all there isn’t any drastic difference in pedal feel it is still fairly light and once you get used to how to engage the clutch it is really easy to drive and there isn’t really any drawbacks that I could think of. I drove the car at the track all day and I had absolutely no fatigue driving the car with the clutch. It doesn’t weigh a million pounds and feel like a leg workout every time you push the clutch in, it in fact feels closer to a stock setup, extremely comfortable. I will say this though, clutch feel will change based on the size of the master cylinder you have in your setup, I am currently running a 3/4” master on my car and I am giving you my feedback based on my setup. It is also important to note that this clutch is not quiet. It has quite a bit of chatter when at idle, this is normal for this setup but you must understand that this is a competition setup. It is not meant to be quiet.
So when I got in contact with OS Giken they wanted me to help them test a new alternative slave setup utilizing their twin disc clutch setup. So they recommended we use the Quartermaster Tri light release bearing. As you all know one of the major issues that we suffer from on all the LS platforms is the clutch slave which somehow tends to suffer from catastrophic failure more times than not, and because it is located inside the transmission it is usually extremely difficult to get to. In our case and in the case of basically every LS swapped car, you actually have to pull the motor out completely in order to remove the transmission. So why not just put in a better product. Not only a better product but a product that can be serviced by you at home. This led us to using the TRI Light Release bearing from Quarter Master along with their T56 adapter which bolted right on, allowing for a quick and easy install. There were no issues when it came to bleeding the clutch. It bled just like any normal clutch and we were able to retain the stock master which has a bore of about .75 in. Something I like about this setup is that it came with everything I needed including the an lines so there was nothing else I needed to get in order to complete the setup. The best part is that they sell all the seals and replacement parts so anytime you drop the transmission you can replace all the seals to maintain a properly functioning setup. It is a little on the pricey side but it is definitely a must have when it comes to peace of mind. If this is a product that you are interested in getting with your TR2CD Clutch setup, we will post the part number on the website for those of you that want to purchase this product. This is not a OS Giken product so you will have to purchase it from Quartermaster directly.
On the left is the OS Giken TR2CD Twin disk clutch setup, and on the right is the OEM LS flywheel with an aftermarket 6 Puck single disc clutch setup. The difference between these two is night and day. The TR2CD is far superior in every aspect. The build quality and machining is absolutely amazing. Also you can see that the clutch pack is smaller allowing more of the weight to be in the center of the clutch not on the outside of the clutch. This really helps during acceleration and deceleration performance.
So on the left the stock setup weighed in at 53.2 LBS and on the right the TR2CD weighed in at 30.6 LBS and for those of you who don’t want to do the math in your heads. That is a difference of 22.6 LBS which is absolutely incredible.
Here is a little Pic stitch of the assembly of the TR2CD being installed on the LS motor. It starts with the flywheel which bolts on using the existing bolts and bolts to factory specs. Next is the first disk goes in followed by the first friction plate and then the second disc and after that the second friction plate. Note the grooves can either be staggered or aligned when installed the friction plates. It is crucial to assemble the clutch components in the same order that they came out so be sure to pay close attention to how you take the clutch apart. Lastly the pressure plate gets bolted on by using a crisscross torqueing sequence to ensure you don’t warp the discs. The installation of this setup needs to be done with the metal alignment tool that OS Giken sells separately. This is genuinely a great tool and is a must have for this install. When mating up the transmission DO NOT rest the weight of the transmission on the clutch. If the input shaft does not slide in easily either add a thin layer of grease or realign the clutch using the alignment tool. DO NOT force the transmission onto the engine. Only when the transmission is completely mated to the engine can you begin installing the bolts for the transmission.
So the Tri light release bearing Comes fully assembled from Quartermaster and just needs to be bolted up to the transmission. This bearing will not work if the LS adaptor is not purchased with the bearing. All I had to do is put on the AN lines and it was ready to go. The factory bolts may have to be shortened due to the shallower design of the aftermarket bearing.
That’s it you are ready to go out and enjoy your new OS Giken Clutch!!
More power usually equals more problems. This is usually the case when we start to increase the power on our street cars, racecars, etc. This is not the case for when it comes to the TR2CD Twin Disc Clutch and flywheel setup that OS Giken offers for many applications. In our case, we are comparing a single disc aftermarket 6 puck clutch setup that belongs to an LS Series motor to The OS Giken TR2CD Twin disc Complete Clutch setup, which includes the flywheel. The first thing that I will talk about is the weight differences. The Complete TR2CD weighed in at 30.6 LBS while the upgraded single disc clutch and flywheel, weighed in at a whopping 53.2 LBS that is an insane difference of 22.6 LBS. Usually when you want to make a car faster you want to remove as much weight as possible but the single most significant way to lower the weight of your car and make it faster all at the same time is to remove it from any moving component. That is called rotational mass. Things such as light weight flywheels, aluminum or carbon driveshaft, lighter wheel setups, lighter rotors all assist in the acceleration of your vehicle. The lighter mass allows for the motor to rev faster and gets you in the power band in quicker. Does this increase power? No! It doesn’t but it frees up power. When people tell you, this car makes 500 HP to the wheels and then they say the motor makes about 600 at the crank that 100hp of drivetrain loss is lost in the motor trying to move the drivetrain and get the car going. Usually you lose around 10-20% in drivetrain loss on smaller racecars and more on larger vehicles, but anything you can do to lower any sort of rotational mass really helps you improve the response and feedback you get from the car. The LS engine with the new clutch makes the motor feel more spunky and alive, it no longer feels lazy. It is much better at accelerating and getting up to its peak powerband faster. I heard a lot of people say doesn’t the lighter clutch setup make you lose torque, yes and no. That is partially true to an extent. What happens is when you lower the mass of your flywheel your engine loses momentum when it rotates. This is greatly noticeable on smaller engines like the SR20DET for example. It is able to accelerate much faster but now at the same time it is able to decelerate much faster this is because the weight of the old flywheel assisted with holding the rpms steady. When you lighten up the setup you no longer have that weight maintaining that engine rotation. Now when it comes to larger displacement engines such as the LS platform it’s a lot harder to notice any negatives when it comes lightening up the clutch setup although because we had such a drastic loss in weight from the old setup the ecu has to be programed or else you will have idling issues. When you are running a larger cam like myself it now needs more air to idle so when the car was originally tuned with the old setup he was able to adjust the air and fuel mixture to keep the car running good at idle but now that the engine is accelerating and decelerating faster the ecu is not able to compensate and is not able to catch the rpms fast enough so it keeps stalling. This should be an easy fix for any experienced tuner. Now comparing drivability, the old clutch setup was a bit lighter but not much it’s not a drastic difference from the TR2CD. Just remember that now you have multiple discs rather than just one. The point of engagement was slightly different for example the old clutch engaged towards the middle of the pedal stroke whereas the TR2CD engages more towards the end or the beginning of the stroke allowing you to make quicker shifts due to less time spent on actuating the clutch pedal. Where you notice the difference between the two is how they engage. The old clutch is able to be slipped a lot easier when you take off in first, allowing for a smother engagement but the TR2CD is more aggressive in its engagement but once you get the car going it’s absolutely amazing. This is great for racing applications but it would definitely have to be something to get used to. When you compare the differences, it is night and day. If you want an amazing product that is proven this is the way to go. The main question is does it justify the cost? Yes!! 100% it can handle a wide range of power so if you are like me and planning on adding a supercharger mid-season you don’t have to worry about the clutch giving out. Now if you are a budget racer that makes 300 hp and doesn’t want to spend a lot of money probably your better off going to an auto parts store and getting an oem replacement clutch. But if you are serious about your driving and want a product that can handle multiple seasons of abuse and with zero issues this is definitely the way to go. All in all there isn’t any drastic difference in pedal feel it is still fairly light and once you get used to how to engage the clutch it is really easy to drive and there isn’t really any drawbacks that I could think of. I drove the car at the track all day and I had absolutely no fatigue driving the car with the clutch. It doesn’t weigh a million pounds and feel like a leg workout every time you push the clutch in, it in fact feels closer to a stock setup, extremely comfortable. I will say this though, clutch feel will change based on the size of the master cylinder you have in your setup, I am currently running a 3/4” master on my car and I am giving you my feedback based on my setup. It is also important to note that this clutch is not quiet. It has quite a bit of chatter when at idle, this is normal for this setup but you must understand that this is a competition setup. It is not meant to be quiet.
So when I got in contact with OS Giken they wanted me to help them test a new alternative slave setup utilizing their twin disc clutch setup. So they recommended we use the Quartermaster Tri light release bearing. As you all know one of the major issues that we suffer from on all the LS platforms is the clutch slave which somehow tends to suffer from catastrophic failure more times than not, and because it is located inside the transmission it is usually extremely difficult to get to. In our case and in the case of basically every LS swapped car, you actually have to pull the motor out completely in order to remove the transmission. So why not just put in a better product. Not only a better product but a product that can be serviced by you at home. This led us to using the TRI Light Release bearing from Quarter Master along with their T56 adapter which bolted right on, allowing for a quick and easy install. There were no issues when it came to bleeding the clutch. It bled just like any normal clutch and we were able to retain the stock master which has a bore of about .75 in. Something I like about this setup is that it came with everything I needed including the an lines so there was nothing else I needed to get in order to complete the setup. The best part is that they sell all the seals and replacement parts so anytime you drop the transmission you can replace all the seals to maintain a properly functioning setup. It is a little on the pricey side but it is definitely a must have when it comes to peace of mind. If this is a product that you are interested in getting with your TR2CD Clutch setup, we will post the part number on the website for those of you that want to purchase this product. This is not a OS Giken product so you will have to purchase it from Quartermaster directly.
On the left is the OS Giken TR2CD Twin disk clutch setup, and on the right is the OEM LS flywheel with an aftermarket 6 Puck single disc clutch setup. The difference between these two is night and day. The TR2CD is far superior in every aspect. The build quality and machining is absolutely amazing. Also you can see that the clutch pack is smaller allowing more of the weight to be in the center of the clutch not on the outside of the clutch. This really helps during acceleration and deceleration performance.
So on the left the stock setup weighed in at 53.2 LBS and on the right the TR2CD weighed in at 30.6 LBS and for those of you who don’t want to do the math in your heads. That is a difference of 22.6 LBS which is absolutely incredible.
Here is a little Pic stitch of the assembly of the TR2CD being installed on the LS motor. It starts with the flywheel which bolts on using the existing bolts and bolts to factory specs. Next is the first disk goes in followed by the first friction plate and then the second disc and after that the second friction plate. Note the grooves can either be staggered or aligned when installed the friction plates. It is crucial to assemble the clutch components in the same order that they came out so be sure to pay close attention to how you take the clutch apart. Lastly the pressure plate gets bolted on by using a crisscross torqueing sequence to ensure you don’t warp the discs. The installation of this setup needs to be done with the metal alignment tool that OS Giken sells separately. This is genuinely a great tool and is a must have for this install. When mating up the transmission DO NOT rest the weight of the transmission on the clutch. If the input shaft does not slide in easily either add a thin layer of grease or realign the clutch using the alignment tool. DO NOT force the transmission onto the engine. Only when the transmission is completely mated to the engine can you begin installing the bolts for the transmission.
So the Tri light release bearing Comes fully assembled from Quartermaster and just needs to be bolted up to the transmission. This bearing will not work if the LS adaptor is not purchased with the bearing. All I had to do is put on the AN lines and it was ready to go. The factory bolts may have to be shortened due to the shallower design of the aftermarket bearing.
That’s it you are ready to go out and enjoy your new OS Giken Clutch!!
Os giken TR2CD twind disc clutch installation and review
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