twisted clutch pedal rod?

[nates6969]

Hey guys when I bought my car it had an act2600 and a welded pedal assembly with entended master cylinder rod...at first I wondered why it needed this until I realized over time the clutch pedal rod was twisting. Eventually it got to the point where I ran out of the entended rod threads...I pulled the assembly and compared it to a stock, unabused pedal assembly and saw it was twisted by about 1.25" of pedal height. I then welded this other assembly and threw it in and now after pressing in the clutch I can pull the pedal up about an inch!!! I thought the welds were weak so I rewelded it very well while spraying the bushings with water to keep them safe, but the assembly still has slop! has anyone every seen their pedals just weaken so much from the reciprocating shear stress that eventually it is just warn out? I would of thought these shafts were made of a harder alloy that would resist such twisting! Is it time to just buy the new $88 dollar pedal and $55 lever?!

 

[Indyxc]

You mean the actual assembly, the rod that runs from the pedal to the lever arm is twisting? That's hard to believe. Are you sure the welds are holding? Also, I forget as I haven't been under a 1g in a while, but is the pedal side of the assembly welded from the factory?

 

[nates6969]

Yup pedal side is welded from the factory, and still looking strong. as for the linkage side, my welds are definitely holding atleast to the threaded portion of the rod. When I first welded it the welds didn't hold as I only put on a few tack welds (was overly cautious of the bushings) and you could see the threaded shaft turning behind the welds. I grinded those off and laid some nice welds along the entire circumference of the shaft. It now looks like when you jam the clutch lever, you can see the plastic bushing rotating slightly behind the lever but the lever nor threaded portions turn.

 

[Benp]

Nah its completely physically impossible for that rod to twist.. The amount of force required to twist that rod would exceed the strength of the short lever its attached to.. But not only that.. the only force applied to it is from the clutch which cannot provide enough resistance to ever twist the rod itself... Period..

One way or another. Your weld failed. The threaded end of the rod may have snapped off due to weld discontinuities..

you used gmaw?


Just fix it right with new parts.. The amount of time it takes to pull the assembly out to weld it is way more of a cost in my book than the 100 some odd bux the parts cost.

 

[nates6969]

Ya you might be right, I just throught it was odd cause I welded 2 different assemblies, one without a nut on it so I could penetrate right to the keyed portion of the shaft as well as to the threaded part and then another one with the nut and washer on. as for the welder, its a lincoln mig pack 15. Supposely capable of welding right through 3/8".

I think you're right about the new parts, I think I'm just going to go out and buy new...it'll probably wear out again down the road but I think by then we will have built up a stronger assembly.

 

[nates6969]

well just an update to anyone reading this in the future, the problem with my pedal assembly was the weld did not penetrate to the keyed portion of the shaft. the weld was only bonding the clutch lever to the threaded portion of the shaft. The threaded portion, being much thinner, was twisting with the pedal. I realized this after I continued to twist the shaft until the threaded portion broke right off. after looking at the shaft I realized nothing had even attempted to bond to it. you live and you learn I guess!

 

[Indyxc]

Glad you figured it out, it's part of the learning process. Too bad the learning process usually requires a lot of work.