So after a bit of a hiccup I was finally able to swap my stock 996tt slave rod for an extended 2nd Gen Mitsubishi Eclipse slave rod. It's perfect!

The clutch engagement point with my Spec Stage 2+ clutch was in the top 10% of the pedal travel, which I didn't really like. It seemed like everyone had issues with the engagement point being too low with the GT2 slave rod so I needed something in the middle. I didn't want to mess around with cutting/modding my stock slave rod and Dgreen isn't selling any custom slave rods. So after extensive Google searching I found that an extended 2nd Gen Eclipse slave rod would be the perfect length and work with the GT2 slave. Without solid measurements I decided to give it a try since the Eclipse rod was only $15. Turns out, my google searching was spot on



Bottom is the stock GT2 rod, middle is the extended Eclipse rod, top is the stock 996tt rod.

I put some calipers on each rod:

GT2 Rod
Length: 91.12mm
Diameter: 9.04mm (big end), 7.05mm (middle), 9.04mm (mushroom end)

Extended Eclipse Rod
Length: 95.89mm
Diameter: 8mm

996TT Rod
Length: 102.77mm
Diameter: 8mm

The Eclipse rod is almost exactly in the middle of the two stock rods and is the same diameter as the stock Turbo slave rod. So it was exactly what I was looking for.

Unfortunately, when I removed the GT2 slave to replace the rod, the slave pucked it's guts out. No idea why that happened. I assume I either messed up the slave when I initially installed it or it was defective. A week and $150 later I had a new gt2 slave installed, this time with the Eclipse rod. The engagement point is right around the middle of the pedal travel now and exactly where I wanted it.

I'm sure the engagement point and rod length adjustments will depend on a number factors, including clutch type and which GT2 slave conversion you're using (Dgreen, EVOMS, tapping the case). But if you're looking for a rod whose length is between the stock 996tt and the GT2, then check out ExtremePSI and pick up their extended 2nd Gen Mitsubishi Eclipse slave rod. AWDmotorsports (board sponsor) appears to sell a similar rod, but I'm not sure of it's dimensions.

 

HERO STATUS!!!!

btw... what slave bracket are you using, dgreen's i'd assume??

 

Thanks man :-) yup I'm using dgreens bracket.

 

Update: The car was driving great, got about 20 miles on it and as soon as soon as I got it back in the garage the slave let go. I'm not sure what happened yet but all the fluid dumped out :-( ugh. I'm assuming the slave puked its guts again. Ive got to figure out what I'm screwing up.

 

2nd Update:

It appears both the stock 996tt and shorter eclipse rod were too short and are over-extending the slaves. They don't over-extend enough to push the piston out right away but I think it pushes the retainer clip out the first time I push the clutch down then after a few miles or upon removing the slave from the trans, the piston will pop all the way out. In other words, my experiment was an epic failure

Weird that both rods were too short when other people have ran the stock turbo rod or slightly shortened stock turbo rod with no problems

So now I think I need a longer than the stock turbo rod because clearly something is different with my bracket or clutch setup. It appears that EvoMS is now supplying a custom 120mm slave rod (vs the stock turbo 102mm rod) so I'm going to try and get something fabbed up that's around that length. On the plus side, I'm getting real fast at replacing and bleeding this slave.

 

What is the part number on the slave?

 

The one that I ordered (the 2nd blown slave) was 996 116 237 90. That was on the box.

If you mean the actual numbers on the side of the slaves, I'll have to get get those tomorrow. But I still have both.

 

So after talking with VAGscum and DaveM at EPL I found that I probably needed a longer slave rod because of some difference in my clutch/throwout bearing setup.

With some coaching by VAGscum, I made my own slave rod by ordering an 8mm diameter 304 stainless steel rod from McMaster-Carr and cutting it to size (123mm in length, almost 3/4" longer than the stock rod and about equal to EvoMS's new rod length, which is 120mm). I rounded the ends and even cut a notch into it like the stock rod, to hold the rubber boot in place. I was also able to rebuild one of the GT2 slaves that had over-extended (worst case I just pull the thing again and replace it, a job I can do in my sleep now).

So far so good. The engagement point is very high, like before, but I think that's the nature of my pressure plate rather than rod length. I've driven the car a bit and haven't had any leaks or blown apart slaves. So I'm pretty confident that a longer slave rod was necessary for my clutch setup (Spec stage 2+).

Basically what I think happened was that my Spec supplied T/O bearing had the longer ears on it (like the T/O bearings used for a single mass fw's). But used with a dual mass fw, it created some play (about 1/2") in the clutch fork. This necessitated a longer slave rod to make up for the play in the fork. So while shortening the rod may work for some people (and might effect the engagement point), in my particular case I needed a longer slave rod to make up for the slack in the clutch fork.

In any event, a bit of a PITA but the GT2 slave conversion is 1000 times better than stock so it was all work it. I'll just have to suck it up and get used to the new engagement point

A big thank you to VAGscum and Dave at EPL for answering all my questions and helping me work through this And thanks again to gearhead for the awesome write up.

 

whats the difference from lengthening the gt2 rod, So that it sits in the slave perfectly too.

 

You could do that too. I've never welded before, so I found it easier to just make my own rod using a solid piece of 304SS. Honestly, you really don't need that mushroom end anyway. If you simply keep the stock boot on the rod, the rod wont fall into the bell housing.

 

Glad to help. Any pics of the slave shaft?

 

Unfortunately no I was too anxious to get the car on the road that I forgot to take a pic. It came out nice though.

And that's the last time I want to hear you ask for a picture of my shaft... you're starting to sound like Sowers.

 

Lol. Sowers wants more than to just see it

 

How did you get the boot to fit the gt2 slave? I want to fit a cylindrical piece of aluminium into teh base of the slave where the rod comes out from then zip tie it to that. how did you do yours?


Btw i know dr jekyll is on quattro world but Vagscum how do you know Jason lol

 

I am audidweeb on the audiforums. I have pounded ridiculous amounts of PBR with sowers. He is a good dude. And ****ing .