Armrest mods (raise them)
#11
11-30-2007 | 06:42 AM
Joined: May 2007
Posts: 182
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RE: Armrest mods (raise them)
I'm courious. I'm 6' and wear a size 15 shoe. I don't have a problem with the gas and brake pedal placement. Is it possible these peaddles got redsigned at some point? I did however have a real problem with the E-brake. So I cut it off. Used black touch up paint on it, and noone has noticed yet.This gives me enough room to streach my legs out on a long trip without the pedal cutting into the top of my ankle. I did it right where the arm tapers down to the rubber peddle. There is enough of a nub left to still use the E-brake. At some point, i'm going to re-attach the piece I cut off above the arm. Not sure how, either tack weld or bolts. More likely bolts. Anyboby that is thinking of doing this, please note: Push the parking brake down halfway and cut away from the kick panel with a sawsall. I could try to post pics if anyone is interested.
Ok. Here we go. The first picture is with it removed. The second is what I cut off. The third is what it will look like reattached.
#15
11-30-2007 | 09:18 AM
Thread Starter
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Senior Member
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 101
RE: Armrest mods (raise them)
I don't know about the pedal design. My friend Bryan borrowed the car for 3 weeks and complained about the same thing. I'm not sure what size shoe he wears,..but I wear a 12 EEEE. My H3 is an '06. Here's a pic of how my pedals measure up.
Could it be possible that your shoe is long enough that the widest part is above the brake pedal? I'm sure the reason that the pedals are so close is because of the manual trans option. The brake pedal is also much narrower than most automatic cars.
Moving the gas pedal was super easy. It's a rheostat that attaches to the firewall with3 nuts. 10mm I believe. 2 at the top,..one at the bottom. I removed it,..then sliped a coupleold nuts over the 2 studs at the top to act as spacers. Then re-installed the pedal. The pedal was nowangled back towards the firewall. 5 minutes jobtops.
The brake was more involved. There is a threaded rod going to the master cylinder. You can loosen the jamb nut and turn the rod. That adds slack to the master cylinder, but doesn't change where the pedal tops-out at. What actually determines thelocation where the pedal stops, is a flat metal plate that is welded to the left side of the brake arm. It's purpose is to stop the upwards pedal travel, and also to activate 2 switches. One for the brake lights and the other presumably for the cruize.
You then tip-tie an 1/8" piece of aluminum to it (maybe 1.5" high by 2" wide). This makesthe pedaltop-out farther down. You then have to correctly adjust the rod. You adjust the rod until you have some play,..then just barely take the play out. If the rod has too much pre-load on it,...the hole in the master cylinder that goes to the reservoir will be blocked. Your brake pedal will slowly gain slop at the pads wear out. Not good. I hesitate to even go into this mod,..as it involves safety (if done incorrectly).
Now,..the rods' adjustment is only enough to get the pedal down about 3/4",,,which would corespond to an 1/8" flat spacer for the switch plate thing. I needed more room, so I ended up grinding a notch in the middle of the pin to get even more adjustment range out of the rod, and ended up using an almost 3/8" spacer (.35" The 1/4" shiny aluminum plate you see and the .1" piece of grey foam behind it)
I'll need to buy a new pin from the dealer befroeI turn the car in.
Could it be possible that your shoe is long enough that the widest part is above the brake pedal? I'm sure the reason that the pedals are so close is because of the manual trans option. The brake pedal is also much narrower than most automatic cars.
Moving the gas pedal was super easy. It's a rheostat that attaches to the firewall with3 nuts. 10mm I believe. 2 at the top,..one at the bottom. I removed it,..then sliped a coupleold nuts over the 2 studs at the top to act as spacers. Then re-installed the pedal. The pedal was nowangled back towards the firewall. 5 minutes jobtops.
The brake was more involved. There is a threaded rod going to the master cylinder. You can loosen the jamb nut and turn the rod. That adds slack to the master cylinder, but doesn't change where the pedal tops-out at. What actually determines thelocation where the pedal stops, is a flat metal plate that is welded to the left side of the brake arm. It's purpose is to stop the upwards pedal travel, and also to activate 2 switches. One for the brake lights and the other presumably for the cruize.
You then tip-tie an 1/8" piece of aluminum to it (maybe 1.5" high by 2" wide). This makesthe pedaltop-out farther down. You then have to correctly adjust the rod. You adjust the rod until you have some play,..then just barely take the play out. If the rod has too much pre-load on it,...the hole in the master cylinder that goes to the reservoir will be blocked. Your brake pedal will slowly gain slop at the pads wear out. Not good. I hesitate to even go into this mod,..as it involves safety (if done incorrectly).
Now,..the rods' adjustment is only enough to get the pedal down about 3/4",,,which would corespond to an 1/8" flat spacer for the switch plate thing. I needed more room, so I ended up grinding a notch in the middle of the pin to get even more adjustment range out of the rod, and ended up using an almost 3/8" spacer (.35" The 1/4" shiny aluminum plate you see and the .1" piece of grey foam behind it)
I'll need to buy a new pin from the dealer befroeI turn the car in.
