Looking for the right flywheel

[ArdWrknTrk]

Thanks everybody for the feedback. I’ve done a lot of research and talked to many vendors. McLeod was by far the most helpful. Did you know they manufacture some of the FRPP products?

Here’s what I found. The OEM flywheel on the 96 F350 with 460 and ZF5 would have had a flywheel that was predrilled for an eight bolt pressure plate that could accommodate the 12.25 inch clutch. The DF968968 package from Centerforce will fit that flywheel without drilling. However, every single manufacturer of billet flywheels for the 460 has them predrilled for 6 bolt pressure plates. I have yet to find a single exception.

There seems to be two options. Most of the new billet flywheels have a removable counterbalance and are available with a 15.5” outside diameter at the ring gear meaning, like Bill said, they could be drilled to accommodate the larger pressure and bish bash bosh, Bob’s you’re uncle.

Alternatively, Centerforce sells a stage 1 clutch that seems to be marginally better than stock. It’s not sold as a set but the clutch disk and pressure plate are part numbers 381968 and CF361968 respectively. This will fit the ZF5 per Centerforce and has a 12.25” disc. Ironically this will not fit the predrilled 8 bolt OEM flywheel even though it accommodates the 1.25” input shaft on the ZF5. It’s surprisingly difficult to find a really solid upgraded single disk diaphragm clutch kits that fit an input shaft that size!

I’m going to keep looking around for a bit longer but it seems like the Dual Friction CF clutch with a fresh drilled McLeod (or other aftermarket) flywheel will cost me only marginally more than the JBG combo and has to be a significantly better performer at 12.25” vs. the L & L 11”.

The OEM flywheel was ~40#. Many aftermarket billet ones target the 34# pound range but go as high as 40 and as low as 23 (and then you get to aluminum). Anybody have any recommendations for a good flywheel weight?

What are you putting together?

What kind of driving are you going to be doing with it?

It's hard to suggest a weight without knowing something about how it is used.

I had the flywheel in my BMW machined to swiss cheese.

I went so far as to have reliefs milled in the back side of the ring gear.

But that was a light vehicle that I beat on mercilessly and I wanted throttle response and engine braking.

 

[Littlebeefy]

What are you putting together?

What kind of driving are you going to be doing with it?

It's hard to suggest a weight without knowing something about how it is used.

I had the flywheel in my BMW machined to swiss cheese.

I went so far as to have reliefs milled in the back side of the ring gear.

But that was a light vehicle that I beat on mercilessly and I wanted throttle response and engine braking.

Update: McLeod will make a custom billet flywheel to spec for $750. Not a cheap option but it’s legit.

I’m going to do some upgrades to the engine (Comp cam, port work, DP carb) but I plan to use the Bronco for street driving and around town. It’s my urban assault vehicle so I will be in traffic frequently (although I can be aggressive on the RPMs). Seems like 34 pounds would be a good weight for that. Anyone recommend otherwise?