Date:         Thu, 21 Mar 96 16:27:56 UT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Scott Allred" <Scott_Allred@msn.com>
Subject:      RE: '71 Clutch Cable

Edward Claiborne Gould wrote:
>I believe your bus has a setup of some sort at the front of the cable 
>where it attaches to the pedal which keeps it from being twisted up 
>and down right at that attachment point.  
>
& Chris Venema wrote:
>Gooday,  I have the '71 also, and I know what you mean.  I've been thru
>about one a year.  Sometimes they last longer.  I just keep one in the bus
>all the time.  It seems that the chatter clip on the pedal end is more
>important than you might think.  I theorize that when you are clutching
>the cable flexes at the ends.  That clip needs to be snug so the cable
>bends a couple of inches from the end(where the cable wires break). Seems
>like if the cable is adjusted a little loose it bends/breaks faster.  There
>should have been one on the back end too, 'cause it breaks there too.
>What gripes me about it is that I have 4 bugs, and have NEVER had to change
>a clutch cable in any of them!  I guess a longer cable bounces around more?

Thanks for the thoughtful responses. Here's what I discovered last night:

The cable was holding on by only 4 or 5 strands and cut nearly clean off at 
the swedged fitting at the pedal end.  The first time that I changed the cable 
I had taken the pedal assy apart to clean and lube everything. There is the 
housing (that bolts to the frame) , the pivoting extension (that the pedal 
attaches to) which has a shaft that goes through the housing. On the inside of 
the housing there is a "bracket" (where the cable attaches) that is attached 
with a nut to the end of the shaft. The "bracket" has a straight side and a 
curved side. I had re-installed it wrong. The curved side needs to be toward 
the rear. It allows the cable end to stay relatively straight as the pedal 
moves through its arc. As I had it the straight side caused the cable end to 
be pushed up to 40 or 50 degrees from horizontal there by crimping the cable 
at the swedge point.

Thanks again.





-Scott
'71 Westy, the Wayback Machine
http://coyote.accessnv.com/wayback