Clutch/Brake Pedal Dust Boot Questions

[w30bob]

Hi Guys,

Two questions regarding the draft pads or dust boots that seal the clutch and brake pedals to the floor panel........what's the right way to install them? Meaning which end of the pedal goes in the seal hole first? Seems the hole won't stretch enough either way....but one way must be better than the other. Second question......what keeps the pads or seals attached to the floor? Mine are all deteriorated and in bits, so I can't tell. Do they fit like a grommet around the floor board or is there some kind of retainer that I'm missing?

thanks,
bob

[Cal_Gary]

The flat side faces upward (and check the historical posts for much discussion on how to get the doggone things on). There is a retaining "notch" cast into the pedal arm that keeps the pad from riding down the arm.
Gary

[ken mcculloch]

I just ordered the draft pads from (the dreaded) EBAY yesterday. They are being represented as being NOS so I took the chance. Looks there are a few still available so if anyone else is willing to take the chance...

I will post back if they are really NOS or not once they arrive.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/290926962217?it ... m=&vxp=mtr

thanks, Ken

[w30bob]

Hi Ken,

They'll be NOS......I deal with wcfr4 and he's a good guy. Actually, I just bought a transfer case lever dust seal/boot from him and he sent me the clutch dust boot by mistake. He told me to keep the clutch boot and I got the transfer case lever seal/boot today. His stuff is NOS if he says it is.....so you won't be disappointed. At least not with it being NOS. You might be disappointed to find out the old NOS rubber doesn't stretch as well as it used to, and might be a tough install. I think John at Midwest has reproduced the clutch/brake dust boots with new rubber to address the old rubber problem. But let us know how you make out on the install.....I've got a few of those NOS brake/clutch boots but am not ready to install them. Use lots of Vaseline and curse loudly and you should be good to go!

regards,
bob

[PoW]

I have found if you toss the rubbers into a little jar of Chemtool carb cleaner for a short while you can work them.

Fish 'em out and check to see if they have gone totally floppy, if so they will go right over the pedal end easily, and return to normal after a bit.

Wear gloves that will stand up to perchloric acid and methylene chloride.

PoW

[refit1701]

I have both NOS and the repros and they are all a bear to install. Some boil them first, some soak them in chemicals, but there's no getting around they are not easy to put on. The guy who did that on the production line must have been the highest paid worker there.

The pads are held up against the floor bottom by the pedals, they don't fit into the slots.

[ken mcculloch]

Refit, you bring up an interesting statement. The pads are held up against the floor bottom by the pedals, they don't fit into the slots.

Are you saying that the pads are not actually held captive by the floor panels in any way? Does that mean that the pads actually stay in one place along the pedal shaft & as you depress the pedal, the pad will move away from the underside of the panel leaving the hole in the panel open & expsed? Then when the pedal is returned to the top of it's travel, the pad will come back up & seal against the floor panel?

I was always under the impression that the pad was held captive to the panel somehow, and the pedal shaft slid back & forth through the pad.

Please help me to understand as I am getting ready to install mine in a few days.

thanks, Ken

[Tuko]

Does that mean that the pads actually stay in one place along the pedal shaft & as you depress the pedal, the pad will move away from the underside of the panel leaving the hole in the panel open & expsed? Then when the pedal is returned to the top of it's travel, the pad will come back up & seal against the floor panel?

thats correct

[ken mcculloch]

Thanks Tuco, that explains alot!!

ken

[refit1701]

The pads mount on the pedal arms and you adjust them to that when the pedals are at rest (or when they are not depressed by your shoe), they are up against the bottom of the panel. At one time I thought they mounted in the slot also, but when we installed them it was obvious they don't. So you should be installing them and then adjust your pedals and then just push them up against the bottom and hopefully they will stay there!

[Tuko]

between the old ones and new ones mine had no chance of staying. everytime the pedal drops so does the boot.

[ken mcculloch]

IF this picture posts.. then what I am to understand it that NO portion of the dust pad would protrude up into the cab through the floorboard? It all rides on the pedal, moving away from the floorboard when you depress on the pedal (leaving you with a hole in the floorboard) & then would come back up and seal against the underside of the floorboard when the pedal is at rest? Does this sound correct?

thanks, Ken

[refit1701]

Yes, that is correct.

[m-37Bruce]

This is funny, but K-Y Jelly or the generic version of it will make for an easy install, in case you don't believe me, do a search on S/S for the draft pad install.

[Monkey Man]

Ah - KY lube, you can use it for a myriad of applications on your truck, I have even heard you can use it for S..........o many other things as well

MM