Clutch Pedal Head-Scratcher on a 1951B3B

[Jocko_51_B3B]

I went to install my brake and clutch pedals today. I thought it would be an easy job. The brake pedal installed OK, but the clutch pedal really got me wondering what's going on with my truck.

Here's the problem; the clutch pedal arm does not line up with the cutout in the cab. Because it misses the notch, it also rubs on the cab when pushed forward. I tried everything. How can this be?

 

 

To try to solve this mystery I happened to have an old rusty clutch pedal from a 1950 B2B so I compared the two pedals. Surprisingly, they are very different.

The arm of the rusty old '50 pedal is offset to the right where it molds into the foot pad. The arm of the silver pedal (which came with my B3B) is centered under the foot pad.

 

 

 

The bend in the arms is also different (see below).

 

  

 

Fortunately it turns out that the rusty pedal from the 50 B2B fits the notch in the cab of my 51 B3B perfectly. But I have no idea how my B3B ended up with a pedal that does not fit my cab correctly.

It can't be correct for my truck. Can someone verify which style of pedal is correct for both 50 and 51 half ton Pilothouse trucks? I'm guessing my rusty pedal is correct for all six 1/2 ton years, but I'd just like to know for sure. And does anyone have any idea how the wrong pedal might have been installed in my truck and to what model it actually belongs? This is really very strange.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 19, 2020 by Jocko_51_B3B

[Tooljunkie]

Same issue here. But never looked at how pedal was centered  to lever. My cab is loose,waiting for new mounting kit.i think it needs to be shifted a little to the east. According to where its sitting now. 

[Los_Control]

I would only guess, The bushing on the shaft wears out ... the driver grabs the pedal and bends it, so it does not scrape on the toe board ... rinse & repeat

I would be more surprised if the pedal was not bent after all these years.

[Dodgeb4ya]

There are six different clutch pedals for all models of B-1 thru B-4 half thru one ton trucks!       STD , FD and

Truck-O-Matic

B-1 uses # 1262605

B-2 uses # 1264691

B-3/B-4 uses # 1272871

All above numbers are for non FD  std. clutch trucks.

As I recall the part number is cast into each pedal.

Check yours.

[Jocko_51_B3B]

Dodgeb4ya,

Thank you for a very helpful answer! I checked my clutch pedal and your numbers are spot on. I should have checked the parts book. I now know for sure that my clutch pedal is correct for my B3B. However, the mystery still remains as to why my B-3 clutch pedal does not line up with the notch in my cab's sheet metal. Oddly enough pedal #1264691 (for a B-2) does line up!  I plan on replacing the brass bushing as soon as I find a machine shop to do it, but that will not correct this much offset (because even with a somewhat worn bushing I can't wiggle the pedal over to the notch). I'm thinking that the notch must have been improperly located from the factory. They apparently forgot to move it from its B2B position. I don't want to cut into the cab sheet metal to make space for the pedal, but if this is a manufacturing error, I might do it. I hope some other B3B owner will check his truck and post a picture of the pedal and notch relative positioning. If it's the same as mine, then Dodge made a mistake. This is making me nuts.

 

 

 

 

[bkahler]

Jocko,

 

My early 51 has the same issue.  My pedal numbers are correct for the year as well.  Note, I don't have the spacer between the pedals installed but I left a small gap to show position.  If it rubs on the cab then I would have to say the cab is not sitting in the same place it used to.  You might look into that possibility.

 

I'd say just assemble and go, don't worry about notching anything.  After all, it survived almost 70 years the way it was

 

 

 

Here is a picture of mine before I started taking it apart.  You can see the pedal is offset from the slot.

 

 

 

Brad

Edited April 19, 2020 by bkahler

[Jocko_51_B3B]

Brad,

That pretty much confirms this to be a manufacturing oversight. My pedal just barely grazes the sheet metal, but the pedal offset from the notch made me think something was drastically wrong. I'm going to try to bend out the cab metal a little with a 2x4 or something. 1/8 inch should do it. Yes, I did remove the cab during the restoration, but there isn't much one can do to relocate the whole cab from its original position.

Glenn

[Dodgeb4ya]

I will look at my B3 and see if it lines up...

Got me wondering now...cab has never been off.

[Jocko_51_B3B]

First thing I did was loosen up the cab mounting bolts and gave the whole cab a few hard shoves forward on the driver and passenger side A-pillars. That actually helped a little bit, but not quite enough. So I made a small adjustment to the firewall sheet metal next to the notch by grabbing the bottom 1in. bend in the firewall and gently bending it UP and to the REAR with an insulated jaw plier. I didn't have to bend the sheet metal very much at all. It looks like that did the trick. I have about a 1/8 inch clearance and no more rubbing. There is little, if any, apparent effect on the firewall contour or paint. The help I get from this website is truly incredible. Thanks to all you experts!

[Dodgeb4ya]

The most annoying thing in the Dodge trucks is those pedals being wobbly and loose...even on low mileage trucks.

The awful scraping the floor boards scraping noise!

The clutch pedal most always rubs at the sides of the floor board's and at the top too. Floors get cut up...pedals get bent, rubber hose, canvas pads etc all used to try to fix that awful noise.

Not an easy two hours to replace some bushings type of job either to do it right.

Poor engineering I'd say.

[Tooljunkie]

Well that makes me happy that im not the only one with this issue. And i really dislike the horrible scraping sound. 

[JBNeal]

just my 2 cents:

Functionality of the clutch pedal should be the priority, then fit and finish of sheet metal...once completed, the floor mat should cover any modifications done to the cab and floor boards at the pedals.  There are rubber draft seals available that help cover these holes also, or a custom approach to closing these holes can be done utilizing easily replaceable sheet rubber or door brush seals etc...I'm all for originality of a restoration, but the law of diminishing returns makes me examine my budget of $$$ + time to determine if some details that will only be seen by myself during servicing (and by nitpicking busybodies) need so much attention if the vehicle is not going to be entered into any type of judging contests 

[Young Ed]

My 46 pedal rubbed the floor too. Little heat and no more rubbing. Personally I'd go that route before cutting the floor.

[minicooper]

Same issue with my 52'. It was missing the support bracket and bushing assembly that goes between the pedals and supports the shaft. There was a homemade replacement in it place. I got lucky and found a replacement from a rusted out 1950 that someone was parting out on eBay. Was also lucky that the shaft wasn't bent from years of minimal support. After installing the bracket, the clutch pedal rubbed the floor plan, had to cut the pan to stop the scraping.

[bkahler]

18 hours ago, JBNeal said:

just my 2 cents:

Functionality of the clutch pedal should be the priority, then fit and finish of sheet metal...once completed, the floor mat should cover any modifications done to the cab and floor boards at the pedals.  There are rubber draft seals available that help cover these holes also, or a custom approach to closing these holes can be done utilizing easily replaceable sheet rubber or door brush seals etc...I'm all for originality of a restoration, but the law of diminishing returns makes me examine my budget of $$$ + time to determine if some details that will only be seen by myself during servicing (and by nitpicking busybodies) need so much attention if the vehicle is not going to be entered into any type of judging contests 

 

I've given my previous reply some thought and I think I have agree with Brian about fixing the problem by enlarging the notch as it was probably intended too but missed by the factory.  The last thing I want to hear is the screeching of the pedal against the sheetmetal.  Unless you're going for a 400 point concours restoration then modifying the floorboard is probably the smart answer.  I think that is the direction I will go when I get ready to install the clutch pedal.

 

Sorry for the poor advice previously

 

Brad

[Jocko_51_B3B]

Brad,

When I bought my B3B the upper and lower toeboards were missing so I bought a used pair on eBay. As it turns out, the pedal cutout in my eBay toeboard matches the notch in my firewall. Is it the same way with your '51?

That makes me wonder if this problem was corrected in '52 and '53. If someone owns one from those years , would you be kind enough to check and maybe post a photo? It seems unbelievable that this problem would go uncorrected for three years. It could also be that the pedal was redesigned for '52 and '53. As Dodgeb4ya posted earlier, the pedal part number was changed for those years:

B-1 uses # 1262605

B-2 uses # 1264691

B-3/B-4 uses # 1272871

I'm thinking about simply replacing my '51 pedal with a '50 pedal from a parts truck.

Glenn

[minicooper]

On 4/20/2020 at 2:57 PM, Jocko_51_B3B said:

Brad,

When I bought my B3B the upper and lower toeboards were missing so I bought a used pair on eBay. As it turns out, the pedal cutout in my eBay toeboard matches the notch in my firewall. Is it the same way with your '51?

That makes me wonder if this problem was corrected in '52 and '53. If someone owns one from those years , would you be kind enough to check and maybe post a photo? It seems unbelievable that this problem would go uncorrected for three years. It could also be that the pedal was redesigned for '52 and '53. As Dodgeb4ya posted earlier, the pedal part number was changed for those years:

B-1 uses # 1262605

B-2 uses # 1264691

B-3/B-4 uses # 1272871

I'm thinking about simply replacing my '51 pedal with a '50 pedal from a parts truck.

Glenn

My 52 has the notch cutout on the firewall on the right, but pedal is to the left.
 

-roland

 

[bkahler]

On 4/20/2020 at 2:57 PM, Jocko_51_B3B said:

Brad,

When I bought my B3B the upper and lower toeboards were missing so I bought a used pair on eBay. As it turns out, the pedal cutout in my eBay toeboard matches the notch in my firewall. Is it the same way with your '51?

That makes me wonder if this problem was corrected in '52 and '53. If someone owns one from those years , would you be kind enough to check and maybe post a photo? It seems unbelievable that this problem would go uncorrected for three years. It could also be that the pedal was redesigned for '52 and '53. As Dodgeb4ya posted earlier, the pedal part number was changed for those years:

B-1 uses # 1262605

B-2 uses # 1264691

B-3/B-4 uses # 1272871

I'm thinking about simply replacing my '51 pedal with a '50 pedal from a parts truck.

Glenn

 

Glenn,

 

I haven't checked my toe-boards yet.  I'll do that today and let you know.

 

Brad