Wilwood or Tilton Brake/Clutch Pedal Assembly in an A-body?

[goldduster318]

I've never really been very happy with the feel of the stock brake pedal and clutch pedal assemblies on the Duster - they always feel kind of loose, never really precision. The clutch linkage always bothered me as well - so I'd go to a hydraulic clutch as well.

Has anyone installed a Wilwood or Tilton Brake/Clutch assembly with a balance bar like these ones?

I did see something similar in Kevin Wesley's 76 Dart Sport, but I wondered if anyone else had done it.

The Duster will be getting the Dr Diff Mustang Cobra brake setup next year as well. I currently have a 15/16 bore master cylinder and the 11.75 front disk setup and 10x2.5 rear drums.

I found this great calculator for brake output. I never felt that there was enough brake output since I have to push extremely hard to get my 275-35-18 front tires to lock.

Here is the 11.75 setup with a 10.5" cobra rear for simplification. This is with what I believe the stock pedal ratio is (6.5:1) and a 15/16 master cylinder. I used .3 for the pad mu since that's a pretty normal pad for older calipers

Here is the 13" front, 11.75 rear cobra setup with 3/4 bore master cylinder, 6.25:1 wilwood pedal and .45 pad mu since these are easy to get for the Cobra brakes

The idea is to get a 1g stop at 100lb of pedal force - this would make a very effective brake system. We can see the stock system isn't even close. Higher pad mu helps, but isn't enough.

Also, you can see the pedal travel should be roughly the same.

(link to calculator Jake Latham's 2000 Radical Prosport )

 

[goldduster318]

11.75, 15/16 mc, stock pedal:

Wilwood pedal, cobra brakes, 3/4 bore master cylinder

 

[71DodgeDemon340]

My clutch and brake assy is tight. Pivots warn in yours?

 

[goldduster318]

I put new bushings in about 5,000 miles ago. The brake pedal is okay actually, the clutch pedal on the other hand is pretty loose. The design is pretty bad since its weighted to one side. Perhaps there's enough play in the pedal box or the inside of the brake pedal since the clutch rod goes through it to make it feel loose. The brake pedal and clutch also feel differently depending on which pedal you apply first. I also really don't like the bellcrank clutch since it seems to be able to find a way to rub on the headers occasionally.

I plan to put a T56 in the car at some point in the next year or two as well, so I'll need to put a hydraulic clutch setup in for that. I figured I may as well just kill two birds with one stone. I'm not really worried about cutting the firewall up to be honest. Looks like the balance bar would help with getting the best brake performance anyway.

 

[71DodgeDemon340]

Do it! Sounds like you got a pretty good plan. Honestly i think it would be a better setup than the zbar. Plus im sure those pedals would look awesome

 

[goldduster318]

Yeah, all I really need to do is make the firewall flat in the area where these need to go and have enough space for the column. The rest shouldn't be too bad.

I then also have to either go to a pressure switch for the brake lights and clutch interlock or fab a bracket

 

[71DodgeDemon340]

Id say the presure switch would be the easiest