View Poll Results: Are you interested in a group buy of a metal fab'd clutch pedal bracket solution?
No - I have a better idea (describe below)
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Voters: 15. You may not vote on this poll
Broken clutch pedal brackets - gauging interest in metal fab'd bracket solution
10-19-2017, 11:55 AM
#32
Alright y'all. Richard and I have continued communicating about this project over the last couple of weeks. He has created roughly 95% of the design in Solidworks, and he is working on a solution for the remaining 5% of it. Some options he shared don't seem to be working out, so that part is still definitely a work in progress.
I don't know about y'all, but this gets me damn excited! I relish the thought of one day being able to bang through the gears and not have to worry about a stupid plastic pedal bracket ruining my day unexpectedly.
I'll check back in soon on this. Thanks everyone!
I don't know about y'all, but this gets me damn excited! I relish the thought of one day being able to bang through the gears and not have to worry about a stupid plastic pedal bracket ruining my day unexpectedly.
I'll check back in soon on this. Thanks everyone!
10-24-2017, 09:37 AM
#34
The longevity of the pedal bracket is obviously tied to how much/hard you "stab" at the pedal as you're quick-shifting and the like, but it is also highly dependent on how heavy your clutch is. Just think of the forces involved.
When I had the T-56 in my truck rebuilt, I also installed an aftermarket clutch (Diamond I think?) at the recommendation of the trans shop. I was young and dumb at the time, and went with their recommendation, but I should have just gone with a good ol' LS6 or even LS7 clutch option. If you dig around on the forums (this one and others), you'll see guys breaking the pedal bracket on all types of setups - stock engines and 5-speeds trans, LS6 clutches with warmed over engines, high-hp and heavy clutch applications, etc.
In my opinion, it's not a question of *if* your bracket is going to break but rather *when*.
When I had the T-56 in my truck rebuilt, I also installed an aftermarket clutch (Diamond I think?) at the recommendation of the trans shop. I was young and dumb at the time, and went with their recommendation, but I should have just gone with a good ol' LS6 or even LS7 clutch option. If you dig around on the forums (this one and others), you'll see guys breaking the pedal bracket on all types of setups - stock engines and 5-speeds trans, LS6 clutches with warmed over engines, high-hp and heavy clutch applications, etc.
In my opinion, it's not a question of *if* your bracket is going to break but rather *when*.
10-25-2017, 10:05 PM
#35
Teching In
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So is the only thing that breaks the plastic where the master cylinder mounts to? I fabbed and installed a mounting plate out of 1/8 plate that bolts to the firewall for my tick master cylinder when I went to a t56. No problems yet, with 2k street miles and about 50 passes down the track
10-30-2017, 10:08 PM
#36
Yep, that's where the clutch pedal bracket consistently breaks. The forces are just too much for the little plastic tabs onto which the master cylinder rotates.
Was your truck originally an auto transmission truck, slammedsam? If so I can completely understand your wanting a solid fab'd solution if you were already going through the process of retro-fitting a manual trans. My truck came as a manual trans truck from the factory, so I didn't have to go through much process at all to swap from a 5-speed to a 6-speed. Because everything is factory, I have a great desire to not have to come up with a completely different set-up and work around the existing firewall holes, etc from the factory installation, hence my interest in just making the bracket out of something stronger.
I had initially thought of trying to simply reinforce the attachment point by either bracing it to the firewall with additional support structure or use some other similar solution, but when I saw other bracket iterations made of metal, I knew that'd be the best solution. Or at least in my opinion it was. I had also read a thread of a guy whose custom bolted-on-bracket completely ripped through the firewall, and that was enough to convince me to not investigate further that type of solution. I have no idea if he properly braced the firewall or anything to spread out the force or not, but I for sure did not want to have that happen to my truck.
I'm a fan of durability and peace of mind, and I am completely satisfied by duplicating the factory efforts but only in a stronger material. I don't have a need to reinvent the wheel when I just need to make it stronger.
That's awesome your truck is doing great, though! I know the T56 swap was a super popular thing a good while back, so it's cool to see this generation of truck with the swap still going strong.
Was your truck originally an auto transmission truck, slammedsam? If so I can completely understand your wanting a solid fab'd solution if you were already going through the process of retro-fitting a manual trans. My truck came as a manual trans truck from the factory, so I didn't have to go through much process at all to swap from a 5-speed to a 6-speed. Because everything is factory, I have a great desire to not have to come up with a completely different set-up and work around the existing firewall holes, etc from the factory installation, hence my interest in just making the bracket out of something stronger.
I had initially thought of trying to simply reinforce the attachment point by either bracing it to the firewall with additional support structure or use some other similar solution, but when I saw other bracket iterations made of metal, I knew that'd be the best solution. Or at least in my opinion it was. I had also read a thread of a guy whose custom bolted-on-bracket completely ripped through the firewall, and that was enough to convince me to not investigate further that type of solution. I have no idea if he properly braced the firewall or anything to spread out the force or not, but I for sure did not want to have that happen to my truck.
I'm a fan of durability and peace of mind, and I am completely satisfied by duplicating the factory efforts but only in a stronger material. I don't have a need to reinvent the wheel when I just need to make it stronger.
That's awesome your truck is doing great, though! I know the T56 swap was a super popular thing a good while back, so it's cool to see this generation of truck with the swap still going strong.
10-30-2017, 11:47 PM
#37
Truck Sponsor
Just wanted to update everyone, I have my design out for being cut from 1/8" steel. I should have everything by the end of next week at least in time to make a test fit version. I am not having much luck with a machinist that wants to make that end piece from billet, which would be expensive anyway, so the backup plan is to use a flat version with a large pipe the proper height.
10-31-2017, 12:29 PM
#38
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Yes my truck was originally a 4.8, 5 speed so everything was there. I planned on shifting at 7k so I didn't even consider using the stock master. Interested to see how these pedal/mounts work out though. And its a blast to drive. So much fun to go out to the track and bang gears, plus nobody expects it out of a full size truck!
11-03-2017, 12:14 PM
#39
Sweet action, man. Shifting at 7k rpm is no doubt a blast. Mine is just a street truck that will eventually get a 6.0 transplant focused on mid-rpm range performance, so high-rpm shifts weren't in my game plan.
And thanks for the update, Richard!
And thanks for the update, Richard!
