Wilwood brake pedal hitting frame - help!

[lahrs37]

So I have been fighting with my brakes for a while. The brake pedal is contacting the frame when the pedal is at rest - ie not being depressed at all. I have screwed the pushrods of the master cylinders all the way into the clevises and that almost works. I was thinking I might have to cut the pushrods to be shorter, but I wanted to reach out to the community first to see if there is another solution. Thanks!

[GoDadGo]

I ground the webbing off the pedal until it cleared the frame.
It still has the webbing on the opposite side and has plenty material left.
The pedal can be replaced if you booger it up, also I wasn't a fan of notching or modifying the frame, especially that tiny square tubing.
Others have scabbed a piece on the outer side of the frame and cut the tubing leaving the pedal intact.
Hope this helps and good luck!

[wareaglescott]

I was close but able to get the screws adjusted with a little room to spare. Would it work to shim the master cylinder with washers where it bolts on vs cutting it?

[David Hodgkins]

I ground the webbing off the pedal until it cleared the frame.
It still has the webbing on the opposite side and has plenty material left.
The pedal can be replaced if you booger it up, also I wasn't a fan of notching or modifying the frame, especially that tiny square tubing.
Others have scabbed a piece on the outer side of the frame and cut the tubing leaving the pedal intact.
Hope this helps and good luck!

He's talking about the brake, not the clutch?

I cut the pushrods ~1/2" but that was to get more legroom. Got any pics?

:)

[lahrs37]

I ground the webbing off the pedal until it cleared the frame.
It still has the webbing on the opposite side and has plenty material left.
The pedal can be replaced if you booger it up, also I wasn't a fan of notching or modifying the frame, especially that tiny square tubing.
Others have scabbed a piece on the outer side of the frame and cut the tubing leaving the pedal intact.
Hope this helps and good luck!

It is actually the other side of the pedal - and it is the brake pedal, not the clutch pedal. Oddly enough I don't seem to have any interference with the clutch pedal.

[lahrs37]

I was close but able to get the screws adjusted with a little room to spare. Would it work to shim the master cylinder with washers where it bolts on vs cutting it?

That is an interesting idea, I will look into that...

[lahrs37]

He's talking about the brake, not the clutch?

I cut the pushrods ~1/2" but that was to get more legroom. Got any pics?

:)

I am terrible with loading pictures, but when I go back to the garage I will take a quick video. As long as cutting the pushrods is not a terrible idea, I might do that!

[coyobra]

I have the Wilwood set up also and noticed that the pedal hits the cross bar at rest also. Have you connected the brake lines and added the fluid? Wondering if that would do anything to the brake pedal, moving it away from the cross bar once there's pressure on the pedal. (I think that's just wishful thinking)

[edwardb]

Trimming the pushrods a bit to clear the frame crossmember where the pedals come to rest isn't unusual. If they're as far as they'll go (e.g. screwed into the clevis as far as you can) and the master cylinder isn't coming to a full stop, then trimming is the easiest solution IMO. Shouldn't take much, and as long as you have full thread engagement on the clevis, doesn't hurt a thing.

Don't expect having fluid or pressure is going to change anything. It won't. Plus that's the wrong idea anyway. It's critical that the pushrod in the master cylinders are allowed to go full against their internal stops.

[lahrs37]

Trimming the pushrods a bit to clear the frame crossmember where the pedals come to reset isn't unusual. If they're as far as they'll go (e.g. screwed into the clevis as far as you can) and the master cylinder isn't coming to a full stop, then trimming is the easiest solution IMO. Shouldn't take much, and as long as you have full thread engagement on the clevis, doesn't hurt a thing.

Don't expect having fluid or pressure is going to change anything. It won't. Plus that's the wrong idea anyway. It's critical that the pushrod in the master cylinders are allowed to go full against their internal stops.

Thanks for the advice. I am headed to the garage to trim the pushrods.

Thanks for the help guys! I don't know what I would do without y'all!

[wareaglescott]

Just curios. The clutch pedal hitting the frame happens very frequently and I have not seen your issue where you can not adjust the brake pedal off of the frame mentioned much. Since both those are against the norm are you confident the pedal box is positioned properly? Not trying to doubt your work. Just something to think about before cutting.

[lahrs37]

Just curios. The clutch pedal hitting the frame happens very frequently and I have not seen your issue where you can not adjust the brake pedal off of the frame mentioned much. Since both those are against the norm are you confident the pedal box is positioned properly? Not trying to doubt your work. Just something to think about before cutting.

That is an excellent point. I have triple checked the positioning thinking that was the issue initially, but it's in there plumb. Potentially the bracket that holds the pedal box is a little slanted?

[GoDadGo]

He's talking about the brake, not the clutch?

I cut the pushrods ~1/2" but that was to get more legroom. Got any pics?

:)

Thanks David! My Mistake!

[lahrs37]

OK, so I took off 1/2" off of both push rods and that totally solved it! Thanks guys!

[coyobra]

That seems like the way to go. I'll probably need to do the same. Did you use a hacksaw or rotary (dremel) tool to cut off the 1/2"?