The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Brake Pedal Shaft Binding-Solved

I’ve had occasional brake pedal binding ever since my reassembly of the truck, only in situations in which the steering was hard over or one front wheel was lifted on an uneven surface. I’ve procrastinated about addressing that problem.

Yesterday I started my 283 for the first time since I swapped intake manifolds; the joy of that startup was compromised by binding brakes. Close examination revealed that the pedal shaft was binding on the bottom of the firewall hole , wheels straight on flat surface.
What changed since I laid the truck up for the winter?
Aha- I shimmed the rear left cab mount to get the cab any box aligned, that’s what.

I did a bit of sheet metal modification this morning; the pedal moves freely.
Anyone else ever run into this problem?

Not certain what year, etc your truck is offhand but yes...it is common and adjusting can be a fine line. The pedal rod fits through a hole in the floor of the AD truck and it is common that it can bind either all the way out or all the way in. I usually adjust it (loosen the nut/bolt holding it in place) and rotate the rod so that it just misses binding. And you generally have about 1mm of leeway.

‘54 3100.
I chose to increase the clearance at the bottom and lower right areas of the hole.

I just did today. Both the 58 +59. 58 the new floor pans hole was not lining up exact.
Brakes just did work with the spring but made a scraping noise. Enlarge bottom to the right.
The 59 ,when I originally put that pedal rod in , I was unable to keep it centered and tighten down the nut from underneath.
So its been slightly off kilter. Fixed that. Neither 59/59 brake (I guess the part from pedal rod to master cylinder) was the same.

I failed to mention-
Both my brake assembly and firewall new. I’m probably lucky it’s even close.

If that is the case, and you are happy that the cab is level, grinding your toe board holes is the way to go as far as I am concerned. Those felt pedal shaft seals are pretty forgiving.

I tried to open the hole by grinding. I was not happy with the results as it was making the amount of metal holding the felt pad rather small. I took the pedal off the shaft and locked it in a vise. I heated up the shaft and bent it just enough. Fits perfectly now.

Well , that is a very thorough approach.
I found it pretty easy to drill a few small holes in the abrasion areas to facilitate bending, then placed a chisel in the right spot and tapped it with a hammer. That, and a little pry bar work freed it up nicely; the steel seemed soft and cooperative. I didn’t worry too much about the felt, I figured that hushmat type material I use and carpet would suffice if there were any felt loss.

The Jimmy method has the benefit of avoiding any modification of the firewall. I decided to expedite the matter as I am trying to bust out of jail (winter shed) ASAP.
Also, I have the luxury of having a non-show truck.

I've had this issue since a full strip and rebuild which involved left hand front cab mount shimming to align the front clip etc,i'll be adopting the technique you mention.
I reckon a 1/4" will suffice.

Good luck , and let us know how it turns out.

Side note - I’m actually glad that my occasional binding problem became constant after I shimmed the cab because it got me off the schneid , forced me to deal with a problem I had been procrastinating about for a long time.