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Lighter clutch


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I know this has probably been done to death before, and is old news to most of you, BUT

Is the spring assisted clutch pedal as fitted to 300s and TD5s worth fitting to older vehicles ? Does it actually make much difference ?

I have never driven a Disco, so do they also have heavy clutches, surely they dont ?

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I fitted one recently.

I never found the original pedal heavy but I was doing so much to the vehicle at the time anyway (galvanised bulkhead, new clutch etc) that another £35 for a brand-new genuine-parts complete pedal assembly didn't seem like much especially as it meant I didn't have to paint the old one to smarten it up.

Made a noticable difference.

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I fitted one recently.

I never found the original pedal heavy but I was doing so much to the vehicle at the time anyway (galvanised bulkhead, new clutch etc) that another £35 for a brand-new genuine-parts complete pedal assembly didn't seem like much especially as it meant I didn't have to paint the old one to smarten it up.

Made a noticable difference.

Where did you get yours from Litch. For £35, i might as well do it.

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Any advance on £10 ?

Thanks guys, sounds like a good bet then. I actually want it for my County 90 V8, even though the clutch IS lighter than the diesel to use, its still killing my creaking hip joint

Years ago I rigged up a power assisted clutch using a Hillman hunter remote servo, but they are a bit thin on the ground now. Worked a treat though. VERY light, but you couldnt really feel the biting point.

Only other option is to go Auto I guess

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I got the spring a few months ago, but fitting it stumped me, well had an ephiphany about 4hrs ago and fitted it no problem - without may I add taking the whole pedal assembly apart... in fact I didn't remove anything. when I moved the car back around to its parking spot, I nearly planted the pedal through the bottom of the bulkhead, its certainly a fair bit noticably lighter. well chuffed, should help city driving.

Mav

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Any advance on £10 ?

Thanks guys, sounds like a good bet then. I actually want it for my County 90 V8, even though the clutch IS lighter than the diesel to use, its still killing my creaking hip joint

Years ago I rigged up a power assisted clutch using a Hillman hunter remote servo, but they are a bit thin on the ground now. Worked a treat though. VERY light, but you couldnt really feel the biting point.

Only other option is to go Auto I guess

there is a clutch pedal servo called Redbooster, there was a thread about it a few weeks back.

this one http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=74631&hl=redbooster

& this one about lighter clutch pedal http://forums.lr4x4.com/index.php?showtopic=73493&page=2&hl=redbooster#entry628880

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I got the spring a few months ago, but fitting it stumped me, well had an ephiphany about 4hrs ago and fitted it no problem - without may I add taking the whole pedal assembly apart... in fact I didn't remove anything. when I moved the car back around to its parking spot, I nearly planted the pedal through the bottom of the bulkhead, its certainly a fair bit noticably lighter. well chuffed, should help city driving.

Mav

Mav, is this a spring that fits the earlier pedal?
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Mav, is this a spring that fits the earlier pedal?

As far as I can see it will only fit the pedal arms that are stamped out of a single plate (later type), as apposed to the early folded steel type...

Again I had a think, and I see that the pedal is restrained by a return spring, if you stretch/tamper with this I recon I'd be able to get the clutch even lighter...

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The old setup has a big return spring thats always acting to push the pedal back out, thus when depressed your leg is fighting both the clutch pressure plate, and the return spring.

The 300tdi spring is an over-centre arrangement, where once you tip it past a certain point, it actually helps you push the pedal down.

I think if your using the 300tdi spring, you dont also need the original return spring. When you release the pedal, the pressure plate pushes the pedal back so far then the 300tdi spring takes over and pulls it the rest of the way out, thus the original spring isnt needed.

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I fitted the 300Tdi pedal assembly to my V8 90 years ago, and it did make a noticeable difference. However it still wasn't enough to save my clutch knee from the effects of a day's driving. Heavy traffic or off road driving, not sure which was worse.

In the end I opted to remove the clutch pedal all together :o

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The old setup has a big return spring thats always acting to push the pedal back out, thus when depressed your leg is fighting both the clutch pressure plate, and the return spring.

The 300tdi spring is an over-centre arrangement, where once you tip it past a certain point, it actually helps you push the pedal down.

I think if your using the 300tdi spring, you dont also need the original return spring. When you release the pedal, the pressure plate pushes the pedal back so far then the 300tdi spring takes over and pulls it the rest of the way out, thus the original spring isnt needed.

Yeah I engaged brain and took the other "return" spring off this evening. I think you need one spring on or another as its there to take up any slack in the pedal movment.

Anywhoo, greatly improved pedal lightneing, much closer to the realms of a car feel which is appreciated...

Mav

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I only ever have issue with the clutch when stuck in traffic on some god-forsaken motorway somewhere. Otherwise it's no problem as I do very little urban driving. In fact when the slave cylinder went on my car the other week I was able to drive 15 miles of my 18 mile commute in one gear, so it's not as if I'm changing all the time :P

Still, I have a "spring-assisted" clutch pedal box in the garage somewhere (thanks Ross!)... so next time I have need to remove the one on the car that one will be going back on instead.

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Where did you get yours from Litch. For £35, i might as well do it.

Bought it earlier this year from Ribble Valley 4x4. I was shopping around and they were the cheapest by far, genuine part as well. After them MPS Trading are the cheapest, buy direct (not via Ebay) and they will do you a better price.

Just to avoid confusion, this wasn't just the spring (that is over £20 on its own!) but the whole assembly. Just bolted on a new master-cylinder, fitted a foot-rubber and on it went.

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I only ever have issue with the clutch when stuck in traffic on some god-forsaken motorway somewhere. Otherwise it's no problem as I do very little urban driving. In fact when the slave cylinder went on my car the other week I was able to drive 15 miles of my 18 mile commute in one gear, so it's not as if I'm changing all the time :P

Still, I have a "spring-assisted" clutch pedal box in the garage somewhere (thanks Ross!)... so next time I have need to remove the one on the car that one will be going back on instead.

Totally agree, but nearly got a new job which will mean more city type driving so quite keen to make it a little more traffic driveable...

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I would give it a shot if I were you. For a whole year I felt a discomfort in my groin which felt worse when I drove my 90 for longer periods. I was getting worried that it may have been a hernia. A friend of mine had a surplus spring assisted pedal. I fitted it and the discomfort disappeared the next day!

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