How long do clutch's last and do you follow shifting speeds as per owner's manual?

 

A clutch can last years with no problems at all. I owned a 95 YJ, the clutch had 150,000 miles on it when I put a new tranny in it. The clutch looked new when I changed it. I never mudded this jeep. I think the mud is a real clutch killer, especially the throwout bearing. A good practice is to take the tranny out of gear at stoplites. This means your are not holding the clutch down for several minutes at a time while waiting for the lite to change. The average shift lasts a second or two, imagine the wear on your clutch fingers and throwout bearing when depressed for two or three minutes at a time......The recommended shift points are very good for clutch life and fuel economy.

 

Every manual I ever owned, I always put it in neutral when i was stopped at a light and took my foot off the clutch pedal. Always used the proper gear to pull out too, and i've never had to put a clutch in anything. As far as shifting points, you can shift whenever you want. Eventually, you find the point that gives you the best fuel mileage, but after awhile, you get used to it, and start doing it by ear.

 

I've driven nothing but manuals (except my '79 Trans Am, which I couldn't find in manual ATT) for the past 40 years. I have no idea what the recommended shift points in the owner's manual are for any of them. I don't care--I shift by the tach/engine noise and how much power I feel I need. I also rarely place the tranny into neutral at lights, and 90% of my driving is city streets. I do drive carefully, not usually accelerating hard (I learned my lesson in the 1970s about saving gas at the gas pedal, and the lesson stuck). I do use the brakes for what they are designed to do--stop the vehicle--and not the transmission (thus, I rarely down-shift when decelerating, though I do place the shift lever into each gear as I slow without letting out the clutch just in case I need engine power again).

My experience is that--ignoring the impact of mud/water on the clutch of off-road vehicles--you will change the clutch not because it burns out, but because you have to do other work that requires pulling the tranny and it just makes sense to change the clutch ATT. Typically, well past 100K miles. If you change the clutch earlier (because it starts to slip, most likely), it's because you are not driving conservatively, or the vehicle driver rides the clutch (bad, bad habit!), or it's been damaged by off-road activity.

 

Thanks for all the excellent replies. Greatly appreciated!!!

 

thanks, from me too. This is the third manual I have had, never had to change the clutch since I usually didn't keep them long enough.

 

It is interesting the opposing views about taking the transmission out of gear at stop signs. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t depending on how long I feel it will take the light to change. As far as shifting I like going by the sound and feel of the engine which I find more and more difficult as my hearing decreases and because the new Jeeps are so quiet.
For those driving autos I think it is very important to take their transmission out of gear especially those with powerful diesels, because of the torque they produce.