Review & Install Video
Hi, everybody. I'm Justin with americanmuscle.com. And this is gonna be my detailed breakdown of McLeod Lightened Steel Flywheel, available for your 2015 and newer Mustang GT. The lightweight McLeod Steel Flywheel should appeal to the S550 GT owners out there, looking to make the switch from their heavy factory flywheel to a lightweight option, from one of the most trusted names in the aftermarket. But at the same time, this will be for the owners who don't wanna go too light, like one of those aluminum options for instance, and therefore, suffer some of the drivability challenges that can sometimes come along with that. The McLeod option here is gonna land just south of 300 bucks, and it will be a full three out of three wrenches on the difficulty meter from me as the transmission obviously will need to come out for this one, but we will have some more detail on that later on.So, the steel version of McLeod's flywheel is gonna weigh in at 21-and-a-half pounds, versus the aluminum option also found on the site, which will weigh in at 14-and-a-half pounds. So, yes, obviously, that aluminum will be substantially lighter. However, that being said, I like to think the steel version is the best of both worlds. Yes, you're gonna be shaving some rotational mass off your Mustang here, compared to your heavier factory flywheel, but at the same time, the steel version that we have in this video is gonna be a little bit more daily driver friendly, stop-and-go traffic, things like that.Now, because of that, I would highly recommend this option if your Mustang or your S550 GT predominantly sees road use with maybe a few strip runs sprinkled in for good measure. On the other hand, though, if you are building an all-out, high-RPM, strip-only car, I'd probably steer you more towards that aluminum option instead, but for most owners out there, the steel will be the preferred material of choice. And with all that said, you can still look forward to some inherent performance benefits when lightening up that rotational mass. The car's not gonna be as lazy through the RPM range, it should pull through the gears a little bit quicker, and with the steel option here, you're not gonna worry about those revs dropping as quickly between shifts like you would with an aluminum option. But ultimately, guys, if you are watching this video, then chances are, you probably thought about adding a clutch at the same time as the flywheel. And if that is the case, I do wanna point out that McLeod does state that you can use their flywheel with pretty much any aftermarket or factory clutch you can find, with the exception of a few twin-disc options that do come with a dedicated flywheel. However, it has been my experience in the past that typically sticking with the same manufacturer for both the clutch and the flywheel will yield you the best results.With all that said, let's get a little further into the construction here with the McLeod unit, and again, you are looking at that lightened steel for the overall construction. It does weigh 21-and-a-half pounds, to be exact. The ring gear does feature 164 teeth. It has been zero balanced, meaning, there's no need for any external counter-balancing or external weights, anything goofy like that. And finally, it has an eight-bolt design to fit the coyote crank. Another thing worth pointing out here with the McLeod flywheel is that it has been SFI-certified, so, if you're serious about competing with your S550 GT, this will be important to you as this requirement is necessary for certain racing organizations. Now, even though I would categorize McLeod as a premium clutch offering in the category, their steel flywheel that we have in this video is one of the most affordable in the category at the high $200 price point. Now, 9 out of 10 times, the steel flywheels will be more affordable than the aluminum flywheels per se, and that is the case of course here with the McLeod as their aluminum option is gonna be about 100 bucks more compared to the flywheel that we have here. Switching gears, no pun intended, let's get into the installation with the McLeod flywheel. And because the transmission and clutch will need to be removed in order to access the flywheel, I'm gonna punch this one up to a full three out three wrenches on the difficulty meter. And depending on your expertise and your garage setup, anywhere from a couple of hours to a half a day in the shop or garage to get knocked out. Obvious statement here gang, you're gonna need a pretty solid set of tools to tackle this job, along with some decent mechanical know-how. Now, if you never dropped a transmission before, it's usually not the most difficult task per se, but it can be a little tedious and the steps will add up. You do have to drop the exhaust, the drive shaft, things like that, before that transmission can actually come down. Now, this is even more difficult if you are gonna be doing this one on your back on jack stands. Obviously, having a transmission jack and a lift would make life a whole lot easier. Once the trans is down and you can see the clutch and flywheel, removing them really isn't that bad as long as you have a decent socket set and the correct sockets of course. Now, once you've installed the new flywheel, make sure you have some blue loctite on hand or thread locker as you will wanna use it on the crank bolts here and a torque wrench as you are gonna wanna torque them down to the manufacturer's specifications. Once the flywheel is installed, reinstall the clutch or install your new clutch, re-assemble the car with the transmission, drive shaft, exhaust, and then get ready to pump that clutch pedal a lot because you will need to build pressure back into the hydraulic system. Be warned, it can take a little bit, but that is gonna wrap up your install. Wrapping things up here, the McLeod Steel Flywheel would be a solid choice for the S550 GT owners looking to shed some rotational mass but keep the car relatively street-friendly at the same time. The materials and construction are very good for the price point, and this would make an excellent pairing to any clutch or McLeod clutch on the site of your choosing.So, guys, that is my review here of the McLeod Lightweight Steel Flywheel, which you can grab for your Mustang at americanmuscle.com.
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