Lightest Clutch Pedal Feel

Hi everyone,

I was wondering what clutch kits you guys are using in your Jeeps with the oddfire. I have some no-name clutch in it that I had laying around when I put it together. It's crazy hard to push in, whether with a new cable or not. It's been that way all along. I recently drove a CJ-5 that I built for a friend years ago and I stepped on the clutch and it was so light. No issues engaging, or staying engaged. Unfortunately, he couldn't remember the brand name on it. It was not a Centerforce. What are you guys running and how is the pedal pressure?

Thanks,
Frank

 

Here’s the one I used on my ‘70

 

I used the same Luk diaphram clutch in the photo above and the 1 piece clutch cable in my 2A.
Stand outside the Jeep and push in the clutch pedal with one hand.

 

Thank you guys! I will order a Luk RepSet like you showed. Looking forward to light pedal pressure and quiet dampening springs in the disc.

 

I'm happy with the...
Schaeffler LuK RepSet

on my 4.3... get a stock organic disk replacement for a big heavy cruiser don't get a hot rod or heavy duty kit.

 

Is this a 70-71 with the cable operated clutch?

 

It's a hodgepodge of pieces, but I think the cable fits an early 70s CJ. It's almost 60" long.

 

Get this cable (you may have to modify the end that attaches to the clutch pedal).
MUCH better quality that the others on the market.
1966-72 Jeep CJ-5 Clutch Cable, Stainless – Inline Tube

 

X2 on the clutch cable from inline tube.
If you really want a soft cable clutch system...... Get yourself a couple bellows installed on each end of the cable and fill the sleeve with spray lubricant like Tri Flow or similar.
You will need to secure the bellows at each end with a zip tie to keep them in place.
Details of how I made this cable work as described are located here.

Norcal69's Common Sense Build.

 

I pulled the little rubber end caps off of mine and dumped a bunch of dry graphite in each end.

 

I have little boots on the Crown cable and I would regularly oil the cable. I took out the original Crown one, thinking it was frayed inside or binding. Still smooth as glass, but changed it anyway. I will pony up for an Inline Tube one though. Going to change the clutch, it was used when I put it in and I have seen other threads where people were complaining about the Luk clutch being too soft. (That seems silly, but it was in a few different google searches. Not that they were slipping, just that they were too soft!) I want it to be like a feather if it can. Why work hard to drive a vehicle!?

 

ECJ pedals force you to push down and away, which means you can't jam your back into the seat to get leverage.

Insure your pedals are smooth, stable, lubed, and don't drag on the body.
Make sure your cable is in the right hole on the pedal shaft.

 

I put new bearings in the pedals when I adapted them to it. When I changed the cable, I regreased the bearings that were still in great shape and lubed. It's all free. Clutch from Luk ordered. Going to yank out the transmission and xcase this weekend. Clutch may get here by then too.

 

Got the new clutch set in, new pilot and all. Pulled the lid off the transmission, was perfect inside. Put that portly SM465 back in. Was too lazy to get the trans jack from the shed, so I wrestled it up with the floor jack myself. Hooked up linkage just to see how it felt and.......light as a feather!! Whoo hoo! Can't wait to finish it tomorrow!!

 

All done. It's glorious. Driving it was a pleasure just now. I have to retrain myself not to mash the clutch though. It's so soft, I clunk the pedal off the floor.

 

OK, I got the whole thing all going and when it gets hot, the clutch seems more difficult to press in. Nowhere near as bad as the original setup however. I have a 58 or so inch Crown or Omix or whatever cable in there. It seems to have a teflon liner in it. It also seems to get tight when it's hot from driving a while. I then bought an Inline Tube cable to replace it. My cable is not routed however a stock cable would be and it has a very sharp u turn. The inline tube one is ok, but honestly, when cold, the Crown version is softer. The Inline tube one does not ever get more difficult however, so I am inclined to believe the stiffness is in that 6 inch u-turn. I just ordered a cable for a 69 Commando, at like 80 inches long, to have more material for sweeping bends and better line up. Hopefully, this will be the final iteration.

 

Interesting problem you have, be sure to let us know if the longer cable helps. If I might suggest try using a good graphite lubricant on your cables. We did use a product called "dry slide" on problem motorcycle cables that worked really well. It was a graphite powder suspended in a really thin evaporating liquid carrier. Might be some other similar lubricants available that might work also.