Clutch Slave replacement options

[SSWesty]

Looks like I need to replace my clutch slave cylinder. I went out to move my westy and the clutch went to the floor with no resistance. Checked the fluid reservoir and it was close to empty. Checked the slave cylinder and there was evidence of leakage.

I replaced it about 2 years ago with one from either Van Café or GoWesty. I am thinking I would have gone for the German option if available. My westy gets driven every couple weeks and is mostly used for road trips. It was surprised me that it failed so soon.

It seems like some folks have issues with slave cylinders not lasting very long. My current thought is to buy the $30 one from O’Reilly Autoparts with the lifetime warranty. If it leaks I’ll have the warranty to fall back on. Seems like putting a new seal in my old one would make a good backup slave for emergencies.

Any recommendations on slave brands that seem to hold up better than others? Seems like these things should last 10 years not 2.

How about a source for the slave rebuild kit? I saw one on the GoWesty cost plus 10 site.

[fabparts]

Usually a quick failure is bad parts or junk in the line. Usually van-cafe and GoWesty have atleast decent stuff. We're the lines flushed properly? The reservoir is the same for the rakes. I like flushing both systems at once.

Also have a real good look at the clutch master. I've seen masters failing and get junk I the line and make a cylinder fail.

If you had junk in the line or real old fluid it might be good to change both master and slave.

I've had mixed results with normal auto part store parts, but the warranty is nice.

[SSWesty]

Well I got my clutch slave replaced last month with a house brand from O’Reilly that was made in Taiwan. It has been working fine so we’ll see how long it lasts. When I opened up the old leaky slave I could see wear marks on the inside of the cylinder and on the piston. It seems like there was some pressure that was pushing it to one side a little bit. So I don’t think it was a quality issue with the prior clutch slave but rather some sort of minor alignment issue. When I put the new one in there was maybe 1/16” of free play in where it could be mounted in the bracket that holds the slave. So I cheated it over to the side that was rubbing so maybe that will take some pressure off. Time will tell and I’ll have to keep my eye on it. After bleeding the rear brakes and slave it sure makes the brakes feel nice and firm.

As for the comparison between the higher priced FTE and O’Reilly I couldn’t see a material difference. On paper the O'Reilly comes with a life time warranty so that will be nice if I need to do this rodeo again.

Scratched Piston

[Wildthings]

I have just rebuilt mine in the past and had very good luck. Can't say where to find kits these days though.

[SSWesty]

[r39o]

Forever solution: resleeve.com
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[Wildthings]