clutch adjustment

im having a hard time adjusting my clutch pedal free-play to specs. my book says to make it 1" free travel in the pedal but i cant, since my adjustment is maxed out (the clutch cable is screwed all the way into the y shaped yoke thingy i forget what its called) i have it close to where it should be but i cant get it any closer because its maxed out. is there any other places that can be adjusted? or maybe my clutch cable is too long? or did i install the clutch cross shaft backwards?

i went through and replaced the clutch, clutch cable, bell crank, and new springs for the pedals in january. all with new parts from vintagejeepparts.com. and ive been driving it even since with no problems in driving, although sometimes it grinds very breifly switching gears but that could be unrelated.

and my jeep is a 59 cj5 bone stock fhead t90a1 dana 18 koenig 51 pto dana 25 front and dana 44 rear

http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r605/blysct/IMAG0005.jpg

http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r605/blysct/IMAG0004.jpg
http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r605/blysct/IMAG0179.jpg

 

check for wear on the rod where it pulls the bellcrank and is pulled from the pedal.
i don't recall the proper orientation of the bellcrank offhand.
if the rod is warn it would be a good time to replace with heim joints they are smoother than a clevis and prevents wear/bind on the bellcrank

 

I replaced the rod from the pedal to the cross-tube with two of those that you show on the end of the cable and a piece of all-thread and two lock-nuts. That is where I do the adjustment at. For me it is easier to get at than the one on the end of the cable.

 

i forgot to mention that i also at that time replaced all the connecting rods and the 2 ball pivot joint things on each side of the cross shaft with new replacements

 

Can you post a picture of that set up ? It sound like a good idea.

 

I too would be interested in a pic of that setup.

 

"the y shaped yoke thingy i forget what its called" = a clevis.

It could be just that your engine and pedal frame member are slightly closer than factory spec for the cable length. Is it possible the stay cable is over-tight? Are engine mounts good?

If so, one answer might be the thread rod idea, assuming everything else is in proper relationship. Hardware store all-thread is junk, I'd think about fabricating a rod with threaded ends.

LOVE your windshield.

 

we used to make our threaded rods out of the old clutch rods; cut to length and thread, install clevis fork on each end.
all thread will work as it is a straight pull with a clevis fork on each end, no bends, no pressure.

 

fastenal carries fine pitch all-thread, your local ACE hardware for some heim joints, some 5/16 grade 8 bolts to hold the heim to the bellcrank, if i remember i'll snag a pic of mine but it is covered a few times, i want to say i copied someone's (boyink?)
overall it's about $30 for the threaded rod, heim joints, and hardware. i just retubed the end of my bellcrank and shimmed the pivot balls so they are 180 out

 

The grinding between gears may very well be directly related to your problem. Hard shifting would also be related.

First, there were several different lengths for clutch cables that were used. Perhaps you got one that was too long -- fits but doesn't adjust. Also, the clutch control tube is critical. The rod that connects the pedal to the tab also comes in different lengths.

The clutch control tube is "clocked" differently for the 9 inch clutch vs the 8 inch clutch. Using the wrong clutch control tube will cause the clutch not to be able to be adjusted.

The correct clocking for the tube in a 8 inch clutch is such that if the tab that connects to the clutch pedal is in the six o'clock position then the opposite tab that connects to the cable should be in the 12 o'clock position looking from the "frame" side tube end.

For the 9 inch clutch with the pedal tab in the 6 o'clock postion will have the upper tab in the 10 o'clock position.

You should expect to see the pedal tab in the 6 o'clock position when the pedal is up and the clutch cable disconnected. If it is far off from that then I'd suspect the clutch rod that goes between pedal and tab. The clock positions are eyeball measurements -- but since there are only two options the differences will be obvious.

All that said, a work-around would be ---- as long as you have a match between your clutch and the clutch control tube you might be able to remove the clutch cable and trim a quarter to three eighths off the threaded end and re-insert the cable into the clevis. That would shorten the cable a little and may be just enough.

Remember that with the clutch cable adjusted fully into the clevis that you need to ensure that --- since the threaded end will end up being inserted far into the clevis that the threaded end does not interfere with the free movement of the tab/clevis during its arc when the pedal is depressed.

 

Thanks for posting this info about the clutch control tube - that just may explain a few things.

 

I have a very similar issue and the same set up (bone stock 58 CJ5, all new parts, fully restored). When I depress the clutch pedal there is very little movement. I hear a slight grinding noise but it the Clevis is not pushing on the bearing (i forget exact name) in front of it enough. It was working fine initially but rrecently became very loose, eventually so loose it was useless. I thought the clutch cable was too loose, some replaced it. It still seems to be too loose. Any ideas besides trying to shave off some of the threaded end of the clutch cable?

 

ive started to dig into mine and found the clutch rod that goes from the pedal to the cross-shaft is very worn for some reason, although i had replaced it about 7 months ago with a part from vintagejeepparts.com. maybe its poor metal or something? it is 10 1/4" long and it needs to be shorter in order to get my clutch into proper adjustment specs. the fix ive already began is taking a solid 5/16 steel rod and cutting it into a straight rod and threading both ends about 2-3 inches and installing a clevis on both sides of it. i havent yet gotten the clevises since hardware stores are closed today since its thanksgiving. but at least ive determined a solution. when im all done i will have 3 clevises for adjustment in my clutch rod clutch cable setup.

 

I think that would help but it seems as if I have a lot of play in my clutch cable as well. It is very loose until I depress the pedal. Please post a picture of your setup when complete. I am willing to try anything at this point. Thanks!

 

Check to make sure the jackshaft bearing at the frame isn't broken. One end of the shaft mounts to a ball stud on the t-case, the other end rotates in a bracket that bolts to the inside of the c channel frame rail. Mine broke one time and I had to drive home without using the clutch. It the bracket breaks or bends the shaft moves towards the clutch fork - this can make it seem like the cable is too long making it "very loose".

 

Here is my solution to this problem. I started to restore this using the rods provided by the parts guys. I bought the 9 1/2 inch rod and it was too long. I went back to the set-up the PO had installed. You can see from the Pic the rod from the pedal to the cross shaft is threaded on both ends and uses two clevis ends. Looks like it was made from a brake rod, but the thread job was not your typical bubba job, so this may be orginal or it was done by a machine shop. The only improvement I would make is to make one end of the rod Left Hand Thread, so that when you turn the rod both ends would either go in or go out. But that would require more tools (not a bad thing). You can see from the pic I have plenty of adjustment left. I will replace the bolt and lock nut on the cable end when I find a pin.

 

Ok so i have finally gotten a chance to return to this project and Im all done with it. what i did was bought two 5/16 brake yokes 2 clevis pins for it and one 5/16 rod cut the rod to 8 3/8 length and threaded both ends. and two 5/15 fine thread nuts along with a 5/16 fine thread thread die.

This is a pic of my finally product alongside the replacement stock type i had already replaced 10 months ago thats already badly worn.

http://i1174.photobucket.com/albums/r605/blysct/IMAG0060.jpg

 

Looks good.

 

That does look good.....mine still has the original setup...let us know how this works. You should have plenty of adjustment available..

 

Took it for its first test drive just now 2 hour drive on and off road here locally and everything seems to work great pedal feels good and has 1" free play like my owners manual says so its in spec now. (remember before i made this adjustable rod I had 3" free play and couldnt adjust it out). pedal feels good and it drives great. The adjustable rod never bound up so far as i can tell everything is perfect and no problems. I think in all I spent about $15 for everything not including the 3 dollar fine thread die I didnt have. and it took me about 1 hour total time for me to make this using only bench vise, 5/16 rod, two 5/16 clutch yokes, two fine thread 5/16 nuts and a fine thread die.