How to lower your clutch pedal for quicker, firmer, shifts and performance driving.

[LargeOrangeFont]

Over the weekend I installed the MM clutch pedal height adjuster and Steeda QR quadrant. I adjusted the pedal as high as the kit will allow, just a little above the brake pedal. I did not use the spacer between the cable and FW adjuster because I didn't have an issue with it being out too far or hitting the firewall. I could barely get the car into gear no matter how I adjusted it.

I've been told I need the spacer but when you think about it why would I? That would only help to get more adjustment if the FW adjuster was the whole way out and hitting the valve cover right? (FW adjuster is only out about half way) It doesn't change the ramp ratio and make the clutch disengage more. The only thing that makes that change is the quadrant, which is why the OP recommends a Steeda QR. I also had a Steeda double hook to try and it was even worse like I figured.

I ended up taking the MM pedal kit out and running the Steeda QR and the car shifts great now. The pedal felt perfect in the highest position though and I hope to find a way to get it to work.

My car is a late 03 with 22,000 miles on the stock clutch.

In order to get this to work you NEED the spacer and the Steeda QR quadrant. When you reduce the pedal travel by lowering the pedal, that does not change the amount of thow needed to operate the clutch fork. To make up for it you need more preload on the cable itself. The safe way to do this is with the spacer, or an adjustable clutch cable. There is NO OTHER WAY to do it. Many people end up taking off the pedal height adjuster because they don't understand the relationship between pedal travel and clutch fork travel, and what you are trying to make up for by adding the spacer.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Ashley,

I obtained all of the parts and completed my installation yesterday afternoon. I am setup exactly as your diagrams show using your recommended parts. Big difference over stock! I have a new Spec Stage 3+ clutch kit with the Lethal TOB retainer sleeve that now have about 500 miles of break-in.

One question I have is that when I position the FW adjuster so there's slight cable slack and the TOB is not up against the pressure plate when the clutch pedal is disengaged, the car won't shift into some gears unless I jam the clutch pedal thru the floorboard - and that's hit and miss. To correct this, I positioned the FW adjuster out to take up enough slack so the clutch enages about 1 inch off of the floor (about 1/3 of the clutch pedal travel).

I also noticed that I do get an occassional "chatter" when I slightly depress the clutch pedal. When I fully engage the clutch pedal when shifting gears, I don't get this chatter at all. What's interesting is the more slack in the cable I have, the more sensitive the pedal becomes and will chatter with even the lightest touch of my foot on the pedal.

I believe the chatter sound I'm hearing is due to the TOB lightly touching the pressure plate fingers.

Any suggestions?

TIA,

Mint

Sorry I did not see this sooner.

From my understanding and experience, the Spec stage 3+ will chatter a bit at low speeds and low RPM It is kind of the nature of the beast. It is a fairly agressive clutch package. That said, your experience sounds fairly normal.

You are going to have to run the clutch cable with little to no slack with the lowered pedal. If you can't get it into gear at full load, you need more preload on your cable. As the cable stretches, you will have to add a bit more preload over time. Your clutch engages about where mine does, so it sounds like you are in the ballpark with your adjustment.

 

[DaveMan]

Wasn't the reason you used the spacer in the 1st place was to give you extra adjustment because it hit the valve cover? You put this spacer on to give you more adjustment right? So your FW adjuster is screwed in more and you have more room around the valve cover.

I see your point but it makes no sense. Think of it this way, if I put a spacer on there (between the cable flange & FW adjuster flange) all that will accomplish is making the FW adjuster be turned in towards the firewall more. Right? This means I will turn the FW adjuster in more to prevent the TO bearing from the riding on the pressure plate right? Yes I think so...

The only thing that changes the ratio of the TO bearing actuation is the quadrant.

Please, others chime and to make sure I'm not crazy.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Wasn't the reason you used the spacer in the 1st place was to give you extra adjustment because it hit the valve cover? You put this spacer on to give you more adjustment right? So your FW adjuster is screwed in more and you have more room around the valve cover.

I see your point but it makes no sense. Think of it this way, if I put a spacer on there (between the cable flange & FW adjuster flange) all that will accomplish is making the FW adjuster be turned in towards the firewall more. Right? This means I will turn the FW adjuster in more to prevent the TO bearing from the riding on the pressure plate right? Yes I think so...

The only thing that changes the ratio of the TO bearing actuation is the quadrant.

Please, others chime and to make sure I'm not crazy.

Read post 1 again. I put the spacer in to keep the firewall adjuster from being hit by the valve cover, and so I did not have to run the adjuster all the way out. Really the spacer is to make the setup safer and more reliable.

If you are not running a spacer, your adjuster will need to be all the way out, like my "before" picture. Some adjusters do not even go out that far If it is not that far out, The clutch will not release enough, and it will not work with the pedal height adjuster.

I really dont understand what you are getting at here. You are taking pedal travel away with the height adjuster, and need to gain that travel back somewhere. You do thiis with extra preload on the clutch cable via the firewall adjuster. It is a simple concept.

I get a couple emails a month on this topic questioning my logic and parts list to do this mod. Every one of those people that has refused to do it the way I have outlined has ended up removing the pedal height adjuster. If you find a different way to get it to work, please let us know.

 

[DaveMan]

My FW adjuster is only out half way and is no where near the valve cover as it sits and the TO bearing is riding on the PP like it shouldn't be as it is. If I add a spacer between the cable flange and and FW adjuster I'm doing nothing more then moving the adjuster towards the firewall more.

I know this is a simple concept but you are not seeing what I am saying. In my case this will do nothing. If my cable has no slack now and I can screw the FW adjuster out more then what will the spacer do? Nothing! To even get the car into gear the TO bearing is against the PP. To get it to go into gear like it should the TO bearing will be HARD against the PP which we all know is wrong.

I'm not stupid, I messed with this on the hoist yesterday for 5 hours (yes 5 hours lol) and I took the pedal kit out for now but I really like the height so I want to figure this out.

So I am running stock cable, stock clutch, Steeda QR, BBK FW adjuster. Tried the Steeda double hook as that's what was in the car and it was worse of coarse.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

My FW adjuster is only out half way and is no where near the valve cover as it sits and the TO bearing is riding on the PP like it shouldn't be as it is. If I add a spacer between the cable flange and and FW adjuster I'm doing nothing more then moving the adjuster towards the firewall more.

I know this is a simple concept but you are not seeing what I am saying. In my case this will do nothing. If my cable has no slack now and I can screw the FW adjuster out more then what will the spacer do? Nothing! To even get the car into gear the TO bearing is against the PP. To get it to go into gear like it should the TO bearing will be HARD against the PP which we all know is wrong.

I'm not stupid, I messed with this on the hoist yesterday for 5 hours (yes 5 hours lol) and I took the pedal kit out for now but I really like the height so I want to figure this out.

So I am running stock cable, stock clutch, Steeda QR, BBK FW adjuster. Tried the Steeda double hook as that's what was in the car and it was worse of coarse.

I see what you are saying, but it is irrelvant to this conversation.Your setup and adjuster position is fine as is since you do not have the height adjuster installed.

You do not need the extra preload until you have the height adjuster in. Put the height adjuster in and set it up as I have outlined. You will see what I am talking about and it will work. The proper adjustment will have very little to no clearance between the TOB to PP fingers. That is just how it is. The only way around this is to get a different clutch. As far as I am aware, no one has had any TOB issues because of this mod.

You are asking how to get it to work with the height adjuster, and I am telling you how to do it.

 

[DaveMan]

I will get an aluminum spacer made here today and try this then. How thick should I make it?

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

An inch to inch and a quarter should put you in the ball park.

 

[DaveMan]

OK, I've been thinking about this more over lunch and talking with a tech (I work at a garage) and putting a spacer there will do nothing. You are failing to see what I'm saying...

Look at it like this, I can still unscrew the FW adjuster at least another 1 1/2". This would put the cable flange in the same spot as it would be with a spacer right? I don't have the issue you did with the FW adjuster hitting the valve cover. That's why you did it that way, you said that in the original post and others after it. Do you see what I am trying to say?

If I unscrewed the FW adjuster anymore with the MM pedal kit in, I could see the TO bearing causing the pressure plate fingers to move towards the flywheel. Same thing, if I put a spacer in there that means I will have to screw the FW adjuster in more which will, in the end make the flange on the cable sit in the same spot as it did before because the spacer will only give more adjustment space if you are running out of threads on the FW adjuster or running it out and hit the valve cover.

You gotta see what I am saying.

 

[DaveMan]

I understand there is less travel with the MM pedal height kit but adding a spacer between the FW adjuster and cable flange will, in turn do nothing more then allow more adjustment if the cable is too slack and you can't turn the FW adjuster out enough or hit the valve cover.

Someone back me up here.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

You don't need the spacer, it just makes everything cleaner and more consistent. If your valve cover hits the adjuster when the engine is under load (it will unless you have upgraded motor mounts) it can throw off the clutch adjustment. I explained that in post number 1, and that is why I recommend doing it the way I outlined so you dont have to make a spacer after the fact.


Regardless, the flange on the cable needs to be hanging over the valve cover to get it to work correctly. Put on the pedal height adjuster and crank out the firewall adjuster until the clutch works properly.

 

[DaveMan]

LOL

You're still not getting it.

I have adjusted the FW adjuster so far out that fingers on the pressure plate are getting pushed in by the TO bearing. The car still doesn't shift worth a damn that way! If I keep going, like you tell me to, then the clutch will be slipping with my foot off of it!

In other words this will not work for me I guess. Unless someone else has something to add. I have heard that 03s have a different clutch and that the fingers on the pressure plate stick out a tiny bit more so that could explain why I can't get the clutch to release the whole way.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

I have done this on 03s for what it is worth. They do have a different pressure plate than the 04s I believe.

The TOB might have to be on the PP fingers to get it to work.

 

[DaveMan]

I'll wait till I have to put in a new clutch I guess. No matter what I did the PP was being pushed in WAY too much. Thanks for the advice...

 

[ttcobra2003]

I know this is extremely old and I hope your still on here. I've got all these parts. I'm working on the clutch cable and just finished removing the pins. I noticed that there is a big rubber ring under the plastic parts with the hooks.should I cut some of it so that the plastic parts sits on the back round part so that there won't be any movement of the rubber?

 

[svtsilversnake]

I know this is extremely old and I hope your still on here. I've got all these parts. I'm working on the clutch cable and just finished removing the pins. I noticed that there is a big rubber ring under the plastic parts with the hooks.should I cut some of it so that the plastic parts sits on the back round part so that there won't be any movement of the rubber?

I just finished doing my Install and ran into some issues that dont need to be addressed and some that do. Feel free to call me and I'll give you my input if you would like it. my name is hunter. Just pm me and I'll shoot my number to you.

 

[jfsram]

The throw out bearing is supposed to have slight pressure in the pressure plate fingers.

Introducing free play is unnecessary for any car made in the last 30 years. I hear claims of ruining dozens of bearings on weekend driven cars, yet true daily drivers can last 15 years with over 300,000 miles on their original throwout bearing, touching the fingers.

 

[svtsilversnake]

The throw out bearing is supposed to have slight pressure in the pressure plate fingers.

Introducing free play is unnecessary for any car made in the last 30 years. I hear claims of ruining dozens of bearings on weekend driven cars, yet true daily drivers can last 15 years with over 300,000 miles on their original throwout bearing, touching the fingers.

That was the only thing not addressed in this thread. Between 5 and 10 pounds of Preload is What's necessary but that will change slightly depending on what Clutch you are running.

 

[WZL 96]

doing the mod this weekend, is the MM pedal height adjuster needed or can I use the Steeda pedal stop? if not, why not?

 

[svtsilversnake]

As long as the correct amount to preload is used and you get complete disengagement the throw is going to be reduced no matter what you use