Warning!! Dangerous design flaw in the 2006 Jeep Wranglers!!

The ball-bearing idea doesn't appeal to me - the pressure is basically
uni-directional and remains pretty much static in one quadrant which
is not what ball/roller bearings are designed for. On my MJ I swapped
in a clutch master from a 94 YJ/XJ and had to do some creative
engineering on that pushrod since the stock rod that cam with the
master was the wrong length for my application. I cut the platic end
off and threaded the pushrod for about 3/4 inch from the pedal end.
Then I welded up a metal end oiece that I could screw the rod into
(with a locking nut to secure things) and pressed an off-the-shelf
porous bronze bushing in for the pedal bolt to pass thru. It's an
extra oiling point, but I can now adjust the push rod to whatever
length I want and I can see no wear on the bushing after 5 years/70k
miles.

On Thu, 6 Apr 2006 16:22:18 UTC "JD Adams" >
wrote:

>
>
> The rod itself was made of plastic? Interesting. I have an '05 TJL.
> The clutch master cylinder actuator rod in this model is made of steel,
> with a nylon swivel fitting swedged to the end where it hooks up to the
> pedal pivot pin. IMO, the pivot fitting should be redesigned using all
> metal parts that would include lubricated ball-bearings and seals, just
> like Semi's use.
>
> Inquirie about the new part they plan to use. Insist that they use the
> metal-rod design --it may be a mid-year spec update. I can't see a
> plastic actuator rod being reliable enough for anyone, and I doubt they
> want to see you come back with the same problem.
>
> -JD
>


--
Will Honea

The sealed ball-bearing spherical bearing design's only advantage would
be to eliminate regular lubrication, (as does nylon) but with a very
long service life. It would be expensive, overbuilt and probably
overkill for such a simple application like this, but that's what I
like about Jeeps: simplicity, ruggedness, and ultimate reliability.

If the plastic doo-dad ever croaks on mine, I'll probably weld on a
spherical bearing end just for the novelty. I'd probably opt to weld
the bearing directly to the pedal stud, then cut the actuator rod just
short enough to slip into the hollow spherical bearing rod, bottoming
out to allow just enough freeplay. (Could shim the master cylinder to
accomplish this as well.) The result would outlast the rest of the
Jeep.

I have to wonder if the '07 redesign will also include this part.

-JD