Quote:
Originally Posted by jacobcarrasco7
so I should be good!  ? the bearing and the PP fingers are supposed to touch even though I don't have even .5 in. of freeplay?
I was planning on getting the Ram pedal adjuster to give the pedal more freeplay, would this also give the bearing a bit of an airgap or does it only apply for the pedal? |
Ohhh, a clutch thread! I love clutch stuff/
I'm trying to understand what you mean by free-play. You want the clutch to travel some before it starts disengaging? I'm not sure I understand why you would want that.
It sounds like maybe what you're experiencing is an engagement point that's higher than you're used to with your last clutch. That's common when going from a factory style clutch setup to an aftermarket clutch like you have now. It can be weird getting used to engagement starting higher in the pedal travel.
I propose that the "right" solution is to eliminate the deadband, rather than move it to be beginning of pedal travel, rather than the end of travel. After all, what purpose does that deadband (travel of pedal without changing engagement) serve other than to make finding the engagement point more difficult, and slow your clutch actions with more than necessary pedal travel?
With engagement near the top of the pedal (as it should be for best shifting performance) you're already pretty close to having the problem solved - you've got just to eliminate all the unnecessary travel that happens after the clutch fully releases. For this, you use a pedal stop. It's exactly what it sounds like, it's an adjustable travel limiter for the clutch pedal. There are many designs, but the most common and easy to implement attach directly to the clutch pedal itself, and contact the fire wall ahead of the pedal itself, to limit travel.
Adjusting the pedal stop is pretty simple, and can be done in a few ways. Some will have you raise the rear tires off the ground, put the car in gear, and add then adjust the stop to allow travel just beyond where you start to feel drag when turning the wheels against the engine shut off. Another method (which I use) it to attempt to put the car in gear with the engine running. If it doesn't drop in easily, I need more travel, and I adjust my stop. Once I find where it goes into gear easily, I add just a bit more travel, and I'm setup.
The pedal stop will do a few things for you. First, it puts your maximum pedal position right below where engagement begins. This means when you go to take off, as soon as you start to release the pedal, you enter the friction zone. No more having to "feel" for the engagement zone half way up the pedals travel - you'll consistently be right on it when you start your pedal release. This is the feel most people are after when they run those accumulator setups to move the engagement point closer to the floor - and that makes sense, other than it introduces all that deadband in the pedal.
Having disengagement happen right as you start to travel the pedal is ideal as it will help you improve shifting, getting your clutch release happening quicker than it would when having to travel the pedal further.
Finally, it's easier on your clutch hardware. Many aftermarket slave and clutch setups REQUIRE a pedal stop to limit over-traveling the pressure plate or the slave itself. Over-traveling a pressure plate will often cause some re-engagement or drag on the clutch, which impedes shifting, and over-traveling the slave can be catastrophic, blowing out seals, and even driving the piston right out of the slave body.
Maybe a final win, it's also a lot cheaper than using one of those pedal adjusters. I think I paid $50 for the one I have.
Your air gap at .193" sounds ok - Mcleod suggests a very wide range of .100-.250". It would come down to how much travel the slave has, and if that's enough to travel the .440" of travel needed to release the clutch, plus your .193" of air gap - so .633" total travel. I don't know what the Ram slave has, but I do know the Tilton bearing has .700" of travel, so that would be acceptable, but cutting in close. I have always targeted .125-.150 and that works well for me.
A final thought - if you haven't already, ditch that awful factory return/assist spring. That cam-over feeling in the pedal is all because of that dual action spring, and once you get rid of that, you'll be much happier with the overall consistent feel of the pedal. You can omit a return spring entirely, as the pressure plate should return your pedal to about the full up position, but I opt to run a light linear return spring to ensure that I get full pedal up travel when released, which keeps the transfer port open on the master cylinder. That only opens at the VERY end of pedal travel, and you may not quite get there just relying on the pressure plate to push the pedal back.