Clutch pedal bearing

[Jeff Lemke]

Does the clutch pedal have a replacable bearing of some sort? It seems to be worn out on my 94 (30,000 miles) as the pedal is sloppy from side to side. It wants to push to the left side because of the relation to the seating position and this makes it hit a bracket that prevents it from going all the way to the floor. I have to pay attention to keep it to the right.

This is quite distracting and I wonder if any of you have run into this. At first inspection, it does not look like an easy fix.

Jeff

 

[Bad_Byte]

It has teflon bushings that can and probably need to be replaced.

I did mine a few months ago. I replaced the bushings and the metal rod that all the pedals mount to. The easiest way I found to do it was to remove the windshield wiper fluid bottle and drill a hole in the side panel to slide the rod through since there is NO room to slide it out either side. I put a rubber plug back in the hole and then remounted the bottle and voila no way you can tell I was ever in there. It made a huge difference in pedal feel. I only had about 20K miles when this needed to be done so I figure I'll be doing it again someday.

Take out the front seat also so you can lay on your back and look up at the pedals.

 

[joe117]

The whole pedal assy was replaced on my car, part of the fix up shortly after I bought the car.
The bushings were worn.

I didn't do the work so I don't know for sure, but it seems like I remember someone on a thread saying that the whole assembly comes out.
If so, that might be the way to work on it.

I do know that it's a real pain to get a full size person in there to do anything.

 

[Jeff Lemke]

Thanks for the info guys.

Bad Byte,

How long did it take you to do the job? I assume I can get the bearings from Dodge dealer? I wonder if I should make my own bearings out of another material so they might last longer (brass maybe?).

Thanks again for the tip on sliding the rod out.

Jeff

 

[Bad_Byte]

Joe:

I read that same post and tried to go that route but with my limited brain resources I was unable to see how that was possible. There might be a way but I couldn't find it.


Jeff:

I'd give Chuck Tator a call cause he seems to have the parts we need.

The parts I replaced were:

4019 681 Shaft, Clutch and Brake Pedal 1 each
2467 770 Bushing 4 each two are required for each pedal

It may or may not be necessary to replace the shaft but its a good idea if any scoring has taken place. That will happen if the teflon bushings are worn down to the point that you're rubbing metal against metal. Sounds like that may be the case in your situation.

A good resource for parts/assembly info is at http://www.mopar.com/viper.html

Look under the 92-96 Viper Parts Catalog

Always have the Dodge boys confirm the part numbers cause they have done some very important substitutions over the years.

 

[Bad_Byte]

Thanks for the info guys.

Bad Byte,

How long did it take you to do the job? I assume I can get the bearings from Dodge dealer? I wonder if I should make my own bearings out of another material so they might last longer (brass maybe?).

Thanks again for the tip on sliding the rod out.

Jeff

It only takes an hour or two if your anal like I am to do the job. As far as making your own, not sure but if you can there may be a few of us that would like to know about it.

 

[RobHook]

Funny...I was just talking about this the other day.

DO NOT drill a hole in your Viper to slide the rod out. The whole pedal assembly is easily removed once you disconnect a few wires and take out five bolts. Even the pedal shafts disconnect very easily.

I removed mine and found that the real problem is the pedal box itself. There's no bearing or bushing between the shaft and the ends of the pedal box. Only the pedals themselves have the bushings. This causes the shaft to grind at the hole in the pedal box elongating it. This, in turn, allows the shaft to move forward pushing the alignment all out of whack. As for the bearings, they look like regular plastic to me, not teflon. I replaced mine months ago and it solved the problem for about two weeks. I decided to fix it permanently this time.

Anyway, I found a flange-mounted industrial bearing that fits in there and alleviates the problem. The wear on the shaft becomes irrelevant. The flange also strenghtens the clutch box as it will flex and add to the problem. The bearings are only available through a wholesale industrial supply shop though so I was going to order a bunch of them and make a kit with all the instructions. I took plenty of pictures when I did mine and will post a how-to on the board sometime soon. I did this about three weeks ago. It's a little tricky though as you have to install the bearings pretty accurately to avoid them binding. Therefore, I was going to do the work as a service for the Viper community. I wouldn't charge much. Owners would just have to remove the pedal assembly and ship it to me and I'd install the bearing and ship it back.

Anyway, if you're pretty handy (and have some minor fabrication tools available to you) I could post the info on the bearings. You'd have to have a Grainger account to order them though.

--Rob