Sticking brake pedal; clutch pedal pulls down brake pedal

Folks -- I have some mysterious pedal behaviors going on as I restore by 1966 CJ5 (4 cyl; 9" brakes) that I discovered as I was bleeding my newly installed brake lines and hoses. When pushing on the brake to push fluid into lines and remove air, the brake pedal stays down, stuck (must pull up by hand). Also, when pushing gently on clutch pedal, it takes down the brak pedal.

I lubed the two grease points on the pedal shaft, the springs look okay, the push-rod seems fine going into the MC, and the single reservoir MC is new from Walcks.

Do any of you know why these two pedals are sticking, the brake independently remaining down when pushed and the clutch taking down the brake pedal when pushed?.

Do you think the stickiness is at the pedal shaft, and, if so, can I do some cleaning, or must it be replaced? Or, is this a clutch cross shaft problem, because I think this component connects brake and clutch actions (I'm still studying the diagrams and the vendor parts pictures).

Finally, while the above is my main problem at hand, I have still another question. After initiated my bleeding of the entire system, I'm getting a little leakage around some fittings that I feel are quite well tightened down. How much torque can I apply to the flare nuts (with flare nut wrench) without damaging them. Do I really, really honk down on those line connections (without causing damage), or maybe there's a sealant to put on the threads? Any opinions on stopping small leaks at new fittings?

Thank you for your help and opinions to help get me on the road (oh, I forgot to mention: the jeep has been dormant in my garage for 22 years, so brake and clutch have not been activated for decades, until now) -- ronnie

 

The cross shaft and the pedal bores on it are very typically problematic as they wear. This can show up as side-play in the pedals, and then they do tend to mess with each other.
You may find discussion of the topic if you search this site.

Yours might need more penetrating oil. Shimming to reduce the side play may help, as may good lubrication and regular exercise - but re-bushing and/or replacement is the eventual cure.

Brake hydraulic fittings should not leak if tightened moderately, and the flares are made well. DO NOT use sealant.

Are the 'new' fittings the right technical specification? There are different engineering conventions for other applications.

 

Mine did the same thing. Hadn't been used much in years. Driving it and continuing to pump grease in eventually cured the problem.

 

you need to take it apart, look at the cross shaft, see if there is significant wear, buy a new one, look at the bracket, if worn cut off and replace, look at the arms and buy new or re bush. You could also put some really heavy springs on it! no fix it right and it will be a lot more fun to drive.

 

I replaced the cross shaft and brake pedal at the same time. The new pedal needed to be bent a bit on my 66 CJ5 (With the F134), so you need to have access to a torch. Since I didn't want to drill the rivets holding the cross shaft - the exhaust pipe needed to be removed to gain access. It wasn't a difficult job but for a newbe, it took a lot longer than anticipated. Having no more slop in the pedal was a great feeling.

 

Thanks, Everyone, for your prompt and great replies about my brake-clutch stickiness. One point I need cleared up, however. You folks are talking about the pedal shaft... correct? (see Figure pasted below; I hope it got included with this note).

This, I believe, is what I lubed last nite -- two zerk fitting -- until grease oozed out of each fitting area. I gather, now, from your comments that I need to clean and lube more thoroughly or just replace it.

Thanks again. -- ronnie


Cross-tube brake pedal (Walck's tern)...OR, also called... clutch and brake pedal cross shaft.

 

That's the one.

 

Mine required cross shaft and frame mounted bracket and brake arm to fix it perfect and right. The frame welded bracket being replaced did the most noticable improvement on mine out of all of it