Oh Brother! Now there's a real change of pace for a Forum Title! Does anyone else have this problem? In my left hand drive Series II, my right foot just doesn't seem to have enough room width-wise, and it keeps getting caught under the brake pedal. Especially my boat shoes which have a sole that sticks out just a bit all the way around. But other shoes and sneakers also. So... my solution was to hacksaw 3/4" off the right side of the brake pedal. It is 4 3/4" wide, so that reduced it to 4" which is still plenty of brake pedal. I'm a left foot brake pedal kinda guy anyway, so that does not prove to be any sort of negative situation. Had to cut down the rubber pad by 3/4" and hot glue it together. I now have enough room for my right foot. And I only wear a size 10. So I can't believe that if I have this problem that no one else does? Thoughts?


Before - with rubber pad on

Before - with rubber pad off

Cutting right side

After

 

Very interesting, Bill,
I have Series 2, and there's 2-1/2 inches between those pedals.

Parallax error makes it look like only 2-1/4.
There's Plenty of room for my wide soul sneakers, not unlike those you're wearing, but mine are only 8-1/2.

I like your straightforward solution though. Sort of like something a Farmer might do. Hot Glue Gun included.
(';')

 

Bill,
I have had this same project on my to-do list for some time now. My approach was to be the same as yours, except I hadn't worked out the issue of cutting down the rubber pad. How is the hot glue holding out for you? I think I've seen rubber epoxy or glue somewhere. Like you, I have always been a left foot braker, but many times I have gotten the edge of my right shoe caught on the brake pedal while taking off at a green light, not as smooth as I would like. You have inspired me to move this project to the top of the list. Thanks

Dave

 

Very good fix. On my RHD XJS I did the same, but on the LHS of the pedal, as there was no rrom to get my left foot onto the (also home made) dead pedal.

 

No one counted on Big Footed Mercan men driving these I guess.

 

Jury still out on the hot glue solution. I only did the job yesterday and have only put about 50 miles on it since. Holding out, but only time will tell. When I got the car 20 years ago it did not have a dead pedal in it. A junked XJS provided me with one that I installed. Don't know how I would do without it.

 

LnrB - My size 10 sneaker is 4 6/8 inches wide. So 2 3/8" confirms you would have the same problem if you wore a men's size 10 or above. Size does matter!

 

Now that's innovative....we have the same problem with R/H/D i have an xj6 s2 ( as Lnrb knows) and club members behind me always saying "why you flicking the brake light going up the mountain?"

 

Just a thought, but has anyone considered tweaking the arm of the pedal?

...I know it all but assures one will have to yank it out of the car (or not, maybe it's possible to do in situ), then it's an oxy/acetylene rig and hammer time. But am I wrong in thinking there's likely a fair bit of, err...leeway in the location of the pedal from car to car?

 

Was driving my S3 the other day in work boots, and managed to get my foot jammed between the accelerator and the brake. Nothing like a brief moment of terror to refocus the mind.

 

Not adviseable, I believe. That arm is a forging and the last thing you want is it failing! The huge pad welded onto most automatic brake pedals is quite unnecessary, I think it was adopted as a psychological reassurance when automatics started becoming the norm in the 1960s to make the pedal bay look impressive as otherwise it would look a bit sparse compared with manuals gearbox cars.

 

Hello, I am six foot two with size 13 shoe, In Florida I wear sandals every where. I get in the car, reach down and remove sandals and hand them to my spouse or put them on passenger seat. I do left foot brake.

Thank you.

Larry Louton

 

Hey Greg, yeah come to think of it I think you're right about the pedal size - looks like there's at least one caveat to the old saying that size matters, no?

Much easier to mod the pedal pad - that much is certain.

 

To punctuate the point of small vs large brake pedal size - just look at the size of the brake pedal on a manual shift automobile. You know, the old fashioned kind before paddles!

 

UPDATE - No the hot glue didn't work. I resorted to smearing RTV on the junction of the two halves and let it dry. Then smearing the back of the pad and installing it on the metal brake. All is well now.

 

Should be good. I use windscreen sealant or an architectural sealant rated to hold windows in for this kind of stuff. The later sounds fancy but its off the shelf in big hardware stores.