I need to extend my clutch pedal arm, to go about a foot forward to where i've mounted my master cylinder.

I had a turnbuckle style setup, but it wasn't going to work... had to unthread it too far, and it bent the 3/8" threaded rod.

I'm now wanting to go the way I wanted to go before. Basically a rod end (5/16" hole), threaded into a round or hex tube, about 11" long, then that tube needs to have 5/16" fine threads (which is fine, typically a 5/16" rod end will have 5/16" fine threads...).

So, I think I can find a 5/16" LH rod end, now I just need a piece of tube that long, that's threaded. Hex aluminum preferred.

Where on earth do I buy this?!?? I can't find it anywhere??? I was hoping locally, but apparently this stuff is rare like hens teeth. Any ideas?
Thanks

 

I doubt you can buy something that's already threaded. You can buy the metal stock from Metal Supermarkets. You'll need to find a LH tap and that could be the hard part. House of Tools maybe.

 

a'rgh... I was hoping you WOULDN'T say that....
I have a drill press, so I could probably drill something semi straight... crap...

Well, LH thread rod ends are also kinda rare, now that i'm looking into it... greggs doesn't seem to have them. acklands doesn't have them either I don't think.
Geez, like i'm re-inventing the wheel here....
Is there a commonly done easy way to do this?

 

You don't need anything LH threaded, unless you need to make it adjustable without taking the lilnkage apart.

 

Agreed

 

It sure would be nice, but you're right, not absolutely necessary... Hmm, avoiding the LH thread means I can buy the stuff locally, and skip ordering from USA... Save me the weekend, and 3-4 days after that...
Will give it a shot.

 

hey dude, lookey what i found in 2 minutes
even the exact size you want

http://www.midwestcontrol.com/catdis...ort.php?pg=199

i was just pecking through their website, and damn, the have a lot of cool little linkage parts. they have the rod ends you want too.

 

bookmarked!!! fan-freakin' tastic! Why the heck couldn't I find something like that?!? Last night I searched for over an hour... I guess "turnbuckle" would have been a good search term.. bah.
Well i'm going to try to "borrow" some rod ends from work, and try to rig something up with female rod ends and ready rod. If that doesn't work out, then i'll take the time and order from the states.
Thanks muchly 86TA!

 

You might also check out McMaster Carr. They have just about anything you could want, and ship pretty fast. They are reasonably priced too. I know they have LH thread rod ends because I was looking for RH thread stuff and came across them.

I dont know the actual site, just google McMaster Carr and it'll come up though.

J.

 

Why not just use threaded rod for the linkage and buy some rod ends? I know speedway motors has them.. McMaster Carr probably. Got to be someplace local as well.

That's what most people do when building linkages for forward controls on motorcycles/choppers.

Mathius

 

let me know how it works out, iv been wanting to do the same thing.-Art

 

Yea, mcmastercarr.com is my favorite site in the world. They just didn't have pre-drilled /tapped tubes.

So I work at a company who deals with industrial engines (250-4000HP), natural gas burning turbo'd engines. Anyway, they typically use 5/16"NF rods, and female rod ends for the throttle (carb) actuators! Exactly what I needed!

So I "borrowed" a 12" piece of rod, which has LH and RH threads, and two rod ends.
Problem - the rod coming out of the firewall for the clutch is a 5/16" rod, but it has a collar. You can only put your rod end on it so far, ie. not far enough to engage the cotter pin hole. So I'd have to superglue it on there so it doesn't slide off or something.
Or, I use a "yoke", which threads on to the end, then use a jam nut. Then just use half of the yoke.

Then I put a yoke on the MC, and tapped the rod shorter, (cut off excess length), and put on another female rod end. Bolted it all together and tried it.

No go. Too much articulation with 2 rod ends, the whole thing just makes a big Z when I push on the clutch.

So I went to Rona and bought 3' of 5/8" steel rod. I cut about 12", and tapped both ends with 5/16"NF (no such thing as a LH tap up here...)

I threaded on end directly onto the MC. The other end, I put a 1" piece of ready-rod on it (actually the piece of the threaded rod I referred to above, the excess that I cut off), and put on a yoke. I rigged that up now, and removed all free play.

Pedal is up at the wall, and tight. I started the car, and I STILL CAN'T GET THE DAMN THING IN GEAR.
I think my linkage is ok, but.... something else is amiss...