Short throw clutch pedal mod for '05 Tacos

Sonny · 05-26-2005, 03:32 PM

It's too long to post here, so I hosted it on my site. I've thoroughly tested this out and I believe that it is safe, effective, and soooo worth it! It has made the clutch A LOT easier to operate.

http://www.rotormafia.com/sonny/taco/clutchmod/

Sonny

jedi · 05-26-2005, 04:02 PM

Wow, thats awesome. Thanks for the explaination. This always bothered me too. I would have though Toyota would have made a better pedal from the factory. So if you could get to that adjuster bolt, it would do virtually the same thing?

Sonny · 05-26-2005, 04:24 PM

jedi: The adjuster bolt would accomplish the same as a thicker spacer. However, you still need to move the plunger cap if you want the clutch pedal to grab sooner.

If you wanted to keep it totally simple, you could move the pedal down by only 5/8" or so (vs the 1" in the writeup) and not adjust the plunger. This will move the pedal down some (any amount helps), but the clutch pedal grab will not change. I really like having it grab closer to the floor. It makes driving the truck in slow situations a lot easier.

Sonny

jedi · 05-27-2005, 05:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonny

jedi: The adjuster bolt would accomplish the same as a thicker spacer. However, you still need to move the plunger cap if you want the clutch pedal to grab sooner.

If you wanted to keep it totally simple, you could move the pedal down by only 5/8" or so (vs the 1" in the writeup) and not adjust the plunger. This will move the pedal down some (any amount helps), but the clutch pedal grab will not change. I really like having it grab closer to the floor. It makes driving the truck in slow situations a lot easier.

Sonny

Yeah, I agree. The catch point is what aggrevates me too. When I drive, I feel like I'm gassing it too much before the pedal grabs. I'm used to a clutch with a quick, crisp catch. Thanks again!

Sonny · 05-27-2005, 12:58 PM

I decided to go for a better spacer, so a machinist buddy of mine made me 2 sets. One set is made of delrin. The other is aluminum. 2 of the spacers are 9.5mm tall and the other 2 are 10.5mm job. He did a killer job!

Sonny

silvertaco · 05-31-2005, 04:59 AM

Thanx Sonny, I did the dance over the weekend & now the clutch feel is almost "normal".
If you first remove the clutch pedal #1 cushion, the plunger cap can be backed away from the pedal and you do not need to remove the return spring.

jedi · 05-31-2005, 11:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sonny

I decided to go for a better spacer, so a machinist buddy of mine made me 2 sets. One set is made of delrin. The other is aluminum. 2 of the spacers are 9.5mm tall and the other 2 are 10.5mm job. He did a killer job! Sonny

Would you be willing to have some more of those made and then sell them?

Sonny · 05-31-2005, 12:03 PM

jedi: I have 3 leftover. Includes the spacer and the screw to hold it on. $6 shipped. PM me.

silvertaco: Good info. Thanks!

Sonny

mh808 · 08-23-2005, 02:35 AM

what is the switch for that works off the spacer?

worthywads · 08-28-2005, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mh808

what is the switch for that works off the spacer?

At minimum the switch shuts off the cruise control when the clutch is disengaged.

worthywads · 08-28-2005, 04:47 PM

Got done performing the Mod but I'm a little concerned that I didn't successfully turn down the large black cap the 4mm? I loosened the lock nut and feel like I turned it down maybe a turn and a half before it wouldn't go anymore. I cut down the stopper to 10mm and put it in place. I can pull back the clutch pedal and see that I have approximately 2mm of "pre-load" on the clutch as is. The pedal is now nicely lower but it doesn't feel like I have moved the engagement point of the clutch lower. Is that slight pre-load "riding the clutch"?

boone · 08-29-2005, 12:20 PM

This was an excellent mod. I followed Sonny's write-up, very nice.

I too had a tough time with the plunger. It didn't go very far. For the spacer, I used the existing green spacer and cut the back knob off of it. I epoxied that to a 6mm thick nut and boltled it into the existing hole. It was very close to engaging the clutch so I sanded the green plastic down maybe 0.5mm. So I have a 9.5mm spacer instead of the stock 4mm spacer. Works great and so much better driving in stop-and-go traffic. It's solid, a monkey could do it and it makes the clutch much more enjoyable.

Thanks Sonny for the mod.

worthywads · 08-29-2005, 02:40 PM

Well I removed any pre-load.

Do you think you successfully moved the engage/disengage point closer to the floor boon88er or did you just lower the pedal as I feel.

I may try and remove the clutch pedal and remove the plunger and shorten it some, I'll give it awhile as is first though.

boone · 08-29-2005, 02:47 PM

I don't think I moved the engage/disengage point much (if at all). I think I will go back in this weekend and see if I can turn it a little more. I did definitely lower the pedal height, there is maybe 1/8" play (as opposed to 1") with the pedal before it begins to engage the clutch now.

At any rate, it's already 100x better than before I did the mod.

Activator · 09-29-2005, 09:56 AM

I tried to perforrm this clutch mod, but I had a problem.

When I loosen the jam nut on the plunger rod, the plunger cap does not rotate freely on the threaded rod. I tried holding the rod with vise grips (I padded the vise grip jaws with duct tape so they wouldn't scratch the rod) but I could not get the pluger cap to turn without rotating the rod and I didn't want to tighten the vise grips more and damage the rod.

Should the plunger cap turn so freely that you can tighten it with fingertips? Mine definitely does not.

Any ideas?

BTW- just adding a 5mm spacer to the bumper pad makes a big difference in the clutch feel! Since I couldn't shorten the plunger, the plunger rod is being pushed in about 1mm when the pedal is fully up. Do you think this is enough to cause the clutch to "ride"?

Thanks for any ideas/advice.