Is my clutch causing a burned out Thrust?

[65venom]

I have gone thru 2 thrust bearings in my superformance cobra
(460 /485HP crate motor) in less then 500 miles. The trans is a TKO 5 speed. I have gotten input from other threads that there is something wrong with the clutch assem. The pressure plate has grooves in it like a record. I do not ride the clutch. The pilot bearing is in good shape. I measured the input shaft length and there is sufficient clearance at the pilot. Snakebite performance shipped a 12"clutch disc #260873
which I have found to be a Mcleod. The pressure plate is # Lc0080. TO Bearing is Part # BCA FB 1625-c. As far as I have been told, there is no adjustment on this clutch. If the throw out was riding on the clutch, wouldn't the clutch just burn out? Could I have bad hydraulic parts? This seems to be an extreme amount of pressure. Has Superformance switched parts. My car is a 2001.

[Excaliber]

No adjustment on the clutch? I don't believe that and it don't sound right. IF there is no adjustment, the clutch release mechanism was not engineered correctly. As the new clutch breaks in you WILL want to adjust freeplay on the pedal.

Throw out bearing riding on the pressure plate release fingers will prematurely burn out the bearing, in time! Unless it's riding REAL HARD against the pressure plate fingers it will not harm the plate or the clutch disc in any way. Grooves in the pressure plate would have little or nothing to do with the throw out bearing. Sounds like the whole thing is "mis-aligned". Scatter shield bell houseing? Align to within .005" as measured with a dial indicator and using offset dowels or whatever to align.

[Steve R]

Venom,
By "thrust bearing" do you mean the clutch throw out bearing or the Crankshaft's thrust bearing?

[Roscoe]

Did you align your bellhousing?

Roscoe

[Cal Metal]

Is the TO bearing controlled externally via a slave to the clutch fork or is it an internal type?