Centerforce clutch nightmare, ExtremeTerrain screening reviews and "banned" me
 

In March 2017 I ordered a Centerforce Dual Friction Clutch Kit. I paid a transmission shop to install it until June, and within 1,000 miles I was having serious issues with it. The car was rolling in 1st and reverse with the clutch peddle completely depressed on a lift. After ruling out the hydraulics, we dropped the transmission (again) and send the clutch back to Centerforce. Although it was beyond their time period of returns, they found an issue with the pressure plate and send me a brand new one which was very helpful of them.

After installing the assembly again with the new pressure plate, I was getting a lot of "creeking" in my hydraulics. Centerforce actually has a blog post about them investigating it and I would call every few months to ask for an update and was basically told there's nothing they would do.

Centerforce Performance Clutch Blog | BW@centerforce | Centerforce Clutches Investigation into the Jeep ...

A few weeks ago my the hydraulics failed inside the clutch assembly and I had to pay a third time to drop the transmission. I decided to go back to a stock clutch to avoid this Centerforce issue altogether.

I decided to login to ExtremeTerrain, leave an honest, negative review on the clutch. A month later it was still not "approved". I contacted them by chat support and asked them if my review was going to get approved anytime soon and they responded with a generic response about it pending. A few weeks later, I contacted them via chat again and asked them why they were screening my review.

After that, any time I try to login to my account I receive a generic error message saying "whoops something went wrong". I created another account in the same browser using a VPN service and was able to access my dashboard fine. I contacted customer support via the phone today and they guy was "baffled" and said no one else had called about the issue and it seemed to be isolated to just me.

TLDR: I paid upwards of $1,000 for a Centerforce clutch on ExtremeTerrain. It was defective, I had to pay three times to drop my transmission, and the clutch failed within 10,000 miles anyway which bled me of ~$4,000. Left a bad review on ExtremeTerrain and now I cannot access my account anymore. In the past 3 years I've spent >$5,000 on their website.

Bought one item from them years ago....Tuffy underseat storage drawer. Pulled it out of the box and it was scratched/dented in a few places.....and the packaging wasn't damaged at all. There is NO way anyone packing that in a box could have NOT noticed the damage. Have never and will never buy anything from them again.

No reason anyone should be restricted from leaving an honest product review, negative or otherwise. I understand screening maybe for fake reviews from someone who is pissed off at a company, but it sounds like you had the backup to leave a thorough review. Sorry to hear that.

Sorry to hear about your experience. That sounds like it really sucks. For all those troubles and costs, I'm sure you could have had a new trans built and installed which makes it all that more frustrating.

So far the only review system I have any trust in, are the reviews on Amazon, which seem good, aside from what seems like fake ones on certain products. Amazon, has likely forced all these other online sources to implement a review system. However, they seem to think they're smart by screening and not posting negative reviews, but too dumb to realize that they can't control the internet, and we will seek other sources to let the truth be told. So thanks for sharing, I've heard many other poor experiences form those that have purchased items from ET. Apparently, in a lot of cases you're just happy if you even receive the item at all.

In a way, I know how you feel in regards to the review frustrations. I "used" to think Harbor Freight reviews were legit, since I've purchased multiple items over the years where we all know things can be hit or miss at HF. I've posted negative reviews, as well as positive reviews on the HF website and seen them all posted. Recently I submitted a review that wasn't posted after submitting it multiple times. I've been considering posting a YouTube video, showing and calling out their non legit reviews.

So anyways, I purchased this "Bauer" 1/2in 20V impact wrench from HF a few months back.
https://www.harborfreight.com/20v-hy...nly-63629.html

If you go look at the reviews on their site, it shows 4.9 stars with the lowest review being 3 stars. That single 3 star review, I would say was the most accurate one I read....which also had a HF follow up comment saying "you need the higher capacity battery to remove lug nuts", therefore putting doubt in people reading the review, that the customer bought the wrong battery. I wrote up a 1 star review since I felt it's posted torque specs are a lie. It says it is able to deliver 450Ft-lbs of torque. I will tell you, it will not even budge my lug nuts which are torqued to 110ft-lbs using a brand new fully charged Bauer 20V 3.0Ah battery pack (the most powerful pack they sell and the one they recommend.) In fact, the reason I purchased it was to replace the $40 Chicago Electric corded 1/2in impact wrench I purchased from HF, which is rated at 230Ft-lbs of torque and has worked good for the price. So get this....the 230Ft-lb $40 Chicago electric 1/2in impact is able to take off my lug nuts with no problem, the 450Ft-lb 1/2in Bauer which I paid $100, so I could use it instead and not have the cord to be troubled with can't. I tried to write a detailed 1 star review on 2 separate occasions to let others aware, and it was very polite and mentioned the details above of comparing it to the lower torque Chicago Electric. It NEVER got posted after 2 separate attempts. Obviously, HF is trying to fool people into thinking their Bauer branded tools are better than they actually are and aren't accepting negative reviews for that brand.

So word to the wise.....Harbor Freight reviews can't be trusted, and thanks for letting us know ET's can't be as well. Word of mouth is still the most powerful tool for us to avoid bad purchase situations.

Not to get off topic, but I even check Amazon reviews on www.fakespot.com these days due to the amount of written reviews that receive compensation. Quick handy site I've used for well over a year now just to double check.....especially when I'm debating between two or three similar products.

I use that site as well, especially when the review counts are low. Those kinds of reviewers are lazy. "Works Great!!"....not very helpful.

...........

I feel your pain on Centerforce. Put one in my JK in 2014. Right out of the shop, it was giving me problems. Very hard to shift at times. I just got used to it since I did not want to drop the transmission again. At 40K miles, the clutch started to go. I happened to be close to Prescott, Arizona so I had the clutch replaced within a couple miles of Centerforce. They even sent a tech over to inspect the work as it was being done.

Left the shop. Second Centerforce clutch was worse than the first. Would get grinding, hard shifts, clanking. Called Centerforce. Went by their office. This is what really gets me. Centerforce disengaged hoping I would just go away. I wasn't angry. I just needed their help. I haven't seen this approach to customer service in a very, very long time. Usually, they are all over you -- for no other reason than they don't want you posting to a Jeep forum that their products suck!

Brought it back to Colorado and took it to a dealer (Boulder) that I really, really trust. They insisted I pull the clutch out. Called me twice. I did it. Stock clutch in and smooth as butter. I talked directly to the mechanic and he told me R&D was expensive on clutches and Centerforce had just not made the necessary investment. He said they would back me up if I wanted to call Centerforce and try to get a refund. Second Centerforce clutch was in Jeep for less than 2 months.

I totally understand that everything aftermarket may not work out. Part A can impact part B. Part of the joy/territory of owning a jeep. What really got me? Lack of Centerforce support. I have had 30 minute calls with vendors who did not sell me a thing, but gave me incredible advice.

Sorry a little off topic. But know someone will do a Centerforce search and see this thread. Wanted to pass along my story,

I refuse to shop with Extreme Terrain because of their dishonest pricing practices. Take a look at the MSRP of nearly any item on their website, they have inflated them above actual MSRP and well above market price to show a perceived discount on every item they sell, when in actuality they are selling at or above MSRP. For this reason alone, I do not trust them as they are lying before I even put something in my cart...

My factory clutch grenaded at 14K out at Gorman. I did a lot of research of replacement clutches, ended up buying an OEM replacement.
After getting the OEM clutch and seeing all of its inherent weakness I gave it to a friend as a spare.
I ended up buying a SPEC 2+ clutch and haven't had any problems since. Going on 78K now.
It is a lot stiffer than OEM, gets a little tiring in traffic but I have more confidence in it than the OEM one.

This was back around 2010-2011 timeframe...centerforce had the same squeaking and failure complaints back then too.
I was surprised to read that people are still having to go through this.:disappointed:

I'm glad to have come across this thread. I thought I was the only one having issues with my centerforce clutch. I bought it after my stock one grenaded also. I saw it had good reviews and there wasn't much of an option for the 3.6. I've gotten used to the clutch being difficult. Hard to get into first and reverse, I have to play around with 3rd before I can get it into reverse or 1st. I just thought it was the trans linkage. Also I can hear the linkage on the pressure plate scraping in neutral or when the clutch is slightly depressed. I just hope it'll last longer than the OEM one.