Help with pedals!

[brian hood]

I am trying to remove the clutch and brake pedals from the Transmission bell housing. They will come out to a certain point and stick on the piviot/ throwout bearing shaft. Any suggestions? I am working on a 53 B-4 with a 6cyl 3 speed. I did remove the key.

[grey beard]

Brian,

I, too, ran into this problem with my own 3-seed floor shift. I was able to remove the clutch pedal, but the brake pedal hit the steering column and the driver's side floorboard. The only way to get it off was to either remove the cab or the steering box/column.

I'm lazy and chose a lesser route. With the aid of a six-foot pinch bar, I pried up the drivers' side floor board about 8 inches and shoved a piece of cribbing in between it and the transmission case. Then I was able to pull the brake pedal rearward far enough to clear the steering column and then slide the pedal off the clutch cross shaft. Put things back the same way, too. Worked just fine.

My need to remove these pedals stemmed from worn out pedal pivot bushings. Actually, the clutch pedal was worn far worse than the brake. Both pedals scraped the floor with a terrible noise.

Once off, it became evident that both pedals had grease zerks, only no one had bothered to grease them very often. The brake pedal casting has a bushing from the factory, and this we renewed at the machine shop. The clutch pedal turns with the shaft, and therefore should need no bushing, right? Wrong!

The clutch pedal is a heavy casting and its own weight makes it walk and wiggle around enough to totally wear out the pedal eye in the casting, just from normal road vibration.

With no bushing to renew, my machinist helped me figure out a work-around for this problem. We cut into the pedal eye, and then welded two ears onto either side of this cut. These ears were then drilled and tapped with a 5/16-inch bolt and jamb nut. Now after the pedals were reinstalled, I adjusted the clutch free play in the usual manner, then tightened the pedal down onto the clutch shaft with the pinch bolt we installed onto the pedal. Now both pedals feel like new - no sideways slop and no noise from rubbing the floor boards any more.

I am amazed that there is not more discussion about this problem. I have lookd at many Pilothouse trucks, large and small, and many have had the floor boards releived around these two pedals with a torch, just to keep the pedals from scrubbing and making that awful noise. Matter of fact, I have yet to see a Dodge B series truck that does not have this problem.

Getting these pedals off is not easy. The fix isn't particularly easy either, and the machine work isn't cheap, but it is the only way I know to fix this problem. short of new pedals, and where in the world would any of use find those?

Gooed Luck. Let us know how you fare with this job.