What do you guys suggest for moving the pedals closer?
I want to sit a little more upright but then I am little too close the the wheel.... I'd like to move the pedals towards the seat a little and in the process get the brake and gas pedals in a better position for heel toe.
Anyone here tackle this already?
Full Version: Moving pedals
You will have a tough time getting the brake pedal actuator rod geometry correct. You will need to find a source for a longer rod (unless there is a trick I haven't heard of....which is possible) to correct the geometry. Or, you can just get a gas pedal cover from Sparco (or similar) with an extension for heel toe that will thicken the gas pedal about 1/4" and give you a "wing" that sticks towards the brake pedal to make it easier to reach. That may be the cheap/easy solution. Try www.ogracing.com for pedal covers (and many others have them as well).
I only changed my gas pedal, but FWIW ...
The gas pedal is fairly easy to bend side-to-side. I bent it slightly toward the brake pedal. Don't try to raise it by bending though - you will probably break something before it bends. On my car (LS1 with traction control, which has a more complicated throttle linkage), there was about 3/8" of slack in the cable between the pedal and the TCS servo. At the pedal end, there's a bullet-shaped tip on the cable that fits into a fairly deep hole in the top end of the pedal arm. I made a spacer to fit under the bullet to tighten the cable and raise the pedal.
On cars without TCS, the cable may be adjustable. On TCS cars, the adjusters are "downstream" of the servo, which doesn't help.
BTW, don't go overboard on the heel-toe setup for a daily driver. It can make driving in boots interesting, especially in winter.
The gas pedal is fairly easy to bend side-to-side. I bent it slightly toward the brake pedal. Don't try to raise it by bending though - you will probably break something before it bends. On my car (LS1 with traction control, which has a more complicated throttle linkage), there was about 3/8" of slack in the cable between the pedal and the TCS servo. At the pedal end, there's a bullet-shaped tip on the cable that fits into a fairly deep hole in the top end of the pedal arm. I made a spacer to fit under the bullet to tighten the cable and raise the pedal.
On cars without TCS, the cable may be adjustable. On TCS cars, the adjusters are "downstream" of the servo, which doesn't help.
BTW, don't go overboard on the heel-toe setup for a daily driver. It can make driving in boots interesting, especially in winter.
If you care about looks super cheapo Pepboys pedals will do the trick, there's one style they carry that allow you to adjust the width of the bottom of the gas pedal. Be warned though. I've gotten my shoelace stuck to a pedal before due to the way it is mounted, good thing my left foot was free cause things got hairy. If I had to do it all over again, I'd just cut some plywood and superglue it on my pedals.
I have pedals from Autovation. the extension there is just enough to make it easier to get my heel to get a good 'blip' on the gas. And they mount very solidly to the pedals (dilled holes, with 4 mounting screws, no stupid clips on the back.)
QUOTE (Jabberwocky @ Sep 8 2004, 06:06 PM)
If I had to do it all over again, I'd just cut some plywood and superglue it on my pedals.
There's no *bling* with plywood.I've got some of these babies: http://www.mbaproducts.com/images/gmhtpedal/page2.jpg
Not perfect mind you, but the pedal do feel "next to" eachother instead of jumping from one to the other.To be fair I couldn't heel-toe more than one downshift a day to save my life... but that's a whole lot better than I could before. I've actaully gotten much better at it in the past year or so but I'm hoping to get a Proformance Driving School weekend in next year to get things rollin.
You could make spacers and mount them to the pedals and then get a set of pedal covers and mount them to the spacers. You could make spacers from delrin pretty easily. With a bandsaw and a belt sander you could shape them to fit the pedals. Then drill and mount.
I modified my gas pedal a little bit a while back, and I have some crappy pics of it. I remember posting on ls1.com about how i made the spacer.
it was a nylon spacer that i got from lowes, probably 1/4 or 3/8" OD and hollow so the throttle cable can go through it. I cut a slit in it so i can put the cable through, (so looking at the side of the spacer it looked like a "C") and rounded one of the ends so I can force it into the cup thing that held onto the stopper at the end of the throttle cable at the top of the gas pedal assembly.
What that achieved was, to take up some of the space of the cable and lifted the gase pedal by that amount roughly. I also put a g2 pedal cover on the gas pedal. I never got around to installing them on the brake and clutch, plus i'm not too thrilled with the design of the attachment on those pedals (i don't drive with the ball of my foot on the center of the pedals at all times - and never on the clutch, and i didnt feel it was mounted well enough to drive like that).
Anyways, the gas pedal cover raised the pedal, and extended it towards the brake. i still need to raise it more to fit my liking, but I am able to heel/toe with this setup. honestly, its probably pretty close to where it needs to be (or at least i learned it this way), since the brake pedal depresses to a point that is about level with the gas during moderate braking. I've done heavy braking at turn 10 at beaverun and my pedal was actually too high up, as i ended up revving the motor more than I wanted since i was so hard into the brakes there.
it was a nylon spacer that i got from lowes, probably 1/4 or 3/8" OD and hollow so the throttle cable can go through it. I cut a slit in it so i can put the cable through, (so looking at the side of the spacer it looked like a "C") and rounded one of the ends so I can force it into the cup thing that held onto the stopper at the end of the throttle cable at the top of the gas pedal assembly.
What that achieved was, to take up some of the space of the cable and lifted the gase pedal by that amount roughly. I also put a g2 pedal cover on the gas pedal. I never got around to installing them on the brake and clutch, plus i'm not too thrilled with the design of the attachment on those pedals (i don't drive with the ball of my foot on the center of the pedals at all times - and never on the clutch, and i didnt feel it was mounted well enough to drive like that).
Anyways, the gas pedal cover raised the pedal, and extended it towards the brake. i still need to raise it more to fit my liking, but I am able to heel/toe with this setup. honestly, its probably pretty close to where it needs to be (or at least i learned it this way), since the brake pedal depresses to a point that is about level with the gas during moderate braking. I've done heavy braking at turn 10 at beaverun and my pedal was actually too high up, as i ended up revving the motor more than I wanted since i was so hard into the brakes there.
All great in put! thanks.
I used this guy's pattern as a starting point.
http://www.xse.com/leres/ss/heeltoe.html
I used thick 3/8 plastic and drilled a bunch of holes in it for lightening. It works very well.
http://www.xse.com/leres/ss/heeltoe.html
I used thick 3/8 plastic and drilled a bunch of holes in it for lightening. It works very well.
this may sound kinda dumb but what about modifying an automatic's brake petal so your toe could hit easier. and you could still have a factory look to it.
QUOTE (NecoOmnis @ Sep 18 2004, 03:23 AM)
this may sound kinda dumb but what about modifying an automatic's brake petal so your toe could hit easier. and you could still have a factory look to it.
Thanks man...
That sounds like exactly what I was needing.
The new pedal idea is great but, getting my wife to make this is a better idea!
If I get pedal extension think enough then the the gas pedal will come forward too. just what I need.
There can be serious problems by making the clutch and brake pedals wider than they are. If the extra brake pedal width is toward the accel. side, you could get your foot stuck under the brake pedal during a panic stop. Reason?, your not used to the brake pedal being that far over. Under these circumstances, you might wreck the car and yourself.
If the extra brake pedal width is toward the clutch side, you might accidentally hit the brake when you go to shift. The results aren't as bad, but would be annoying none the less.
You also have to figure in foot size. I'm a 12-13 and have gotten pretty good at "heel-toeing" by pressing the left side of the ball of my foot on the brake and then bending the right side ball downward to blip the gas. So I don't actually use my heel. I can't use the conventional method because my foot is too big to pivot around down there. I just needed to bend the gas pedal about 1/4-3/8" closer to the brake pedal.
So depending on your foot size, you will have to experiment to see what works. Also, when you bring them closer, there is the very real problem of hitting the gas under heavy braking. When the gas pedal is accidentally pressed, it will feel like the brakes have gone out on you. Pretty scary. So don't move them too close together nor raise it much in relation to the brake pedal.
Just use caution and don't move them around or widen them too much as that can lead to serious problems. Start small and always try the mods in an open place or in the driveway first just to make sure there are no problems.
Another thread on the topic.
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=488368
Also check this video about 45 seconds in for an example of the style I use.
http://www.pfyc.com/z06/virfull0303.wmv
Here is the guys site. Some other good videos are here, also.
If the extra brake pedal width is toward the clutch side, you might accidentally hit the brake when you go to shift. The results aren't as bad, but would be annoying none the less.
You also have to figure in foot size. I'm a 12-13 and have gotten pretty good at "heel-toeing" by pressing the left side of the ball of my foot on the brake and then bending the right side ball downward to blip the gas. So I don't actually use my heel. I can't use the conventional method because my foot is too big to pivot around down there. I just needed to bend the gas pedal about 1/4-3/8" closer to the brake pedal.
So depending on your foot size, you will have to experiment to see what works. Also, when you bring them closer, there is the very real problem of hitting the gas under heavy braking. When the gas pedal is accidentally pressed, it will feel like the brakes have gone out on you. Pretty scary. So don't move them too close together nor raise it much in relation to the brake pedal.
Just use caution and don't move them around or widen them too much as that can lead to serious problems. Start small and always try the mods in an open place or in the driveway first just to make sure there are no problems.
Another thread on the topic.
http://www.ls1.com/forums/showthread.php?t=488368
Also check this video about 45 seconds in for an example of the style I use.
http://www.pfyc.com/z06/virfull0303.wmv
Here is the guys site. Some other good videos are here, also.
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