Hey all,

So I'm nearly done with my TKX swap, but ran into one tiny problem right at the end... I got the full hydraulic TOB/ Tilton MC kit (for an 83-92) through Hawk's, and everything fits great. The PROBLEM, is that I have 4thgen pedals... went to connect the rod from the MC to the pedal yesterday, and the angle is slightly off. To be clear, I DID put a factory 4thgen bushing on the rod, the one that came on the pedals I put in my car actually; I know the sizes are different between 3rd and 4thgen pedal pegs. The issue is with the angle of the rod as it comes out of the Tilton. If you look at the page for the 98-02 equivalent kit here, you can see that for 4thgens, they use a spherical bearing rod end, most likely to account for this angle difference. "No big deal", I thought, "I'll just call up Hawk's and see if they'll sell me one on it'[s own". Well, after having to guide the customer service person to the page for the 98-02 clutch master so she knew what I was talking about (she was very polite, just didn't know what a clutch master cyl was), she went and asked someone else about it while I was on hold; came back to let me know that they don't sell these individually (which I was aware of, they aren't listed). I'm still not convinced that everyone here was on the same page, as it was suggested that I go to O'Reileys.... for a specialized aftermarket spherical bearing rod end..... I'm thinking they thought I just needed a regular factory bushing, but honestly I do not care to try to call them back right now. I spent over a grand on parts for this swap from Hawk's, and they can't be bothered to sell me a rod end for my clutch? I wasn't even asking for one for free, I wanted to pay for it. Unhappy to say the least, but that finally leads me to my main question....

Does ANYONE know where I can actually find one of these spherical rod ends? I'm gonna try calling Tick later, see if they can help me out, but if this is actually something I can just find locally, I would love to know. For the time being, I'm just going to have to bleed the clutch and go for my first start without a bushing I guess. I could just jam the bushing onto the pedals, but I'd really rather not. Miffed to say the least, not happy with the prospect of having to wait on such a tiny part to show up. Gonna go through older threads that talk about making the custom adjustable clutch master rods, but it really shouldn't be this hard to get a single stupid rod end.

 

Just came across this thread, which I had actually read awhile back..... sounds like McMaster-Carr might save the day. Still kinda annoyed with Hawk's, but whatever. I'll just have to run it without a bushing for a couple days until the part comes in (and hope that the thread size is the same.... 3/8-24 seems to be my best bet). This SHOULD be the part I need, in left hand thread and all.

 

Update: I'm an idiot lol, must have been real tired Wednesday night when I was going to put the pedal on..... the stock bushing fits on the peg, just takes a good bit of force. Got it all hooked up now, just need to fix a leak at the HTOB (apparently the fittings on the Ram HTOB are NPT, overlooked the part of the instructions where it told me I needed Teflon tape on the threads, so I get to pull the trans again after work today). If anyone else is getting the 83-92 hydraulic clutch kit from Hawk's, and they're running 4thgen pedals, just keep in mind that you'll either need the rod end from McMaster-Carr, or a stock replacement for a 4thgen from Dorman or somethin (assuming you don't already have the stock bushing from the pedals like I did).

Apologies for the confusion here, I was getting frustrated at the tail-end of my first transmission swap and overthinking as usual the first start with the TKX went well though, just got a few more kinks to work out!