Peddle adjustment...

[Speedtrip]

Hi all,

Apologies for another daft-boy question, but how do you adjust the brake and accelerator peddles?

I find the brake peddle far too low when trying to heel and toe.

Cheers.

[TomB]

Good timing as last night I fitted the recent bulk buy pedal extension piece to my accelerator pedal. 

How do others set their pedals to allow heel and toe? Does the brake pedal at rest need to be about 1cm above the throttle? How do others set it up?

[Jonathan Kay]

... how do you adjust the brake and accelerator peddles?

They're very adjustable but for some of us it's necessary to bend the throttle pedal and for all of us there's a trick that preserves the clutch cable. 

The initial moves are in the Assembly Guide: have you got a copy already? If not please send me a Private Mail with your email address.

Jonathan

[Jonathan Kay]

How do others set their pedals to allow heel and toe? Does the brake pedal at rest need to be about 1cm above the throttle? How do others set it up?

I don't know a general rule beyond trial and error. I found I needed to wear the same shoes and to build up the throttle pedal: I couldn't get what I wanted by simply bending it. At the moment there's a piece of mahogany banister bolted to it, but two kind Members have offered to replicate the lift in metal.

Jonathan

[TomB]

What is frustrating me it the inabilty to adjust the throttle cable at the pedal end.  I like the cable to be tight so they is no slack to take up.  But if I adjust it on the threaded adjuster at the engine end to lower the pedal, there is slack at the pedal end meaning pedal movement without opening the throttle.  

What I want to do is adjust the cable at both ends to maintain cable tension and adjust the position oif the throttle.  Thanks to the agricultural arrangement with the fixed nipple, I cant see a way to do it.  Any suggestions?    

[Jim 123]

Tom if you snip the end of the cable inside the pedal box to remove the sweated on cable end fixing, you should find that there is a hole drilled in the top of the throttle arm which your throttle cable can now pass through.  A couple ot theses Go Kart thingies (as per link below) fitted where the cable passes through the throttle arm should enable slack to be eliminated.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/i/322292474039?chn=ps&adgroupid=43106429403&rlsatarget=pla-434446043927&abcId=1128926&adtype=pla&merchantid=101723126&poi=&googleloc=1006622&device=c&campaignid=857233083&crdt=0

 

[ChrisC]

The manual says bend the pedal to adjust the cable at the pedal end, then you can do you fine adjustment at the throttle body end.    On my S3 duratec and sigma metric cars you have to bend the pedal a long way to take the slack out of the cable.     That said the cable end fixings above look far better solution,  I wonder if they would pass IVA ? 

[Smiffy555]

When I built my car I couldn't get the throttle cable to adjust as required and I did NOT want to start bending hollow tubing as it will 'kink' unless you bend it using a pipe bender. So I did as Jim 123 has suggested but I used one of these (link below)..........I cut off  the 'nipple' off the cable and used one segment of the electrical connector - job done.

https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/products/7822816/?grossPrice=Y&cm_mmc=UK-PLA-DS3A-_-google-_-PLA_UK_EN_Connectors-_-Terminal_Blocks_And_DIN_Rail_Terminals-_-PRODUCT+GROUP&matchtype=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIk8P_77WY2AIVTRDTCh0zjAOJEAQYASABEgJvV_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds 

[Jim 123]

Chris with my build I was not too comfortable about bending the pedal end especially as the new position looked like it would encourage the cable to fray over time.  As an alternative I came up with the above which passed the IVA without any issue.
 

[TomB]

I don't like bending the pedal idea which is why I've not done despite having the car for 15 years!  There seems too much scope for over bending or under bending, back and forth fitting and adjusting.  Carefully adjusting the cable by a few mm to move the end of the pedal sound much more sensible.  

I like the go kart part linked above, as I think I could fold back the cable through the second clamp for additional security.  If using a clamp of this type, would you fit one in front of the pedal as well as behind? Would this be beneficial? 

The other attraction is that the cable would go straight through the pedal with no bending or rubbing - it seems a much better solution than the fixed nipple.  

Ive got some electrical connectors at home already.  With the plastic insulation removed is this essentially the same thing as the Go Kart part linked above?  It needs to be secure and safe, would a dedicated cart thing be more secure I wonder? 

[ChrisC]

Got to say, I didn't like bending the pedal either, but knew it was coming after doing the same with my previous car sigma car.    Given all that the powder coat held up and the pedal didn't kink, and I didn't use a pipe bender, just force applied with a trolley handle.    I didn't bend it on the car, it was removed wrapped to prevent paint scratches and bent repeatedly until the perfect fit and position was found.   

[Smiffy555]

I've used the electrical connector since I built it 15 months ago & 6k miles, all is well.

[SLR No.77]

The pedal box offers 3 positions for the pedals, on both the cars I've owned (both Imperial chassis) I've found I've needed to have the throttle pedal mounted in one position nearer to the drive than the clutch/brake pedals, whether in the centre or long-leg positions, no pedal bending or cutting of the cable is necessary. This drops the foot end of the throttle pedal into about the right position without pulling the cable through some silly angles. My car's nicely set up to heel and toe with this configuration .... although I can't say the same for my brain control of my right foot!

Stu.

[TomB]

 one position nearer to the drive

Nearer the drive?  All of the pedals are on the middle setting of the three.  Ill have a play, but I think if I move the throttle pedal forward on to the one nearest the engine, Ill have to much cable to keep it tight.  I wonder if Ive got the right cable!!

I think being able to adjust at both ends will give a more satisfactory result.   

 

 

[SLR No.77]

Sorry Tom, nearer to the driver.

 

[Jim 123]

Speedtrip try this link on pedal adjustment which hopefully you will find useful:

http://www.sevenracing.co.uk/Caterham_Build_Diary/Entries/2012/12/28_Setting_the_driving_position_and_pedals.html

Tom / Smiiffy  I'm sure that the the electrical connector will work fine.  If I could make a comment which you may want to consdier as I went down this road before,. The connector is brass (i.e. soft) and designed to clamp copper wire (soft).  It is also intended to hold the copper wire in static applications.  Remeber that your throttle cable is stainless steel (hard) and will be acting in a sheer plane relative to the brass connector, so it might be worth adding a "tighness check" to your service schedules to avert unplanned pit stops.

[TomB]

Gotcha.