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[2286]

Has anyone modified their series vehicle by altering the standard master to slave ratio or adding a remote servo or similar in order to make the clutch pedal lighter in use

not interested in chopping, only bolt on reversible mods preferably with land rover stock items, or girling or similar

any pics or tips appreciated

[Peter Holden]

I think Alan (Wittsend) may have a servo on his clutch.

It should work as it is just taking the load off your leg and I know that it is done on many other cars

Peter

[GlenAnderson]

I have a clutch pedal box from a late Defender that has an over-centre return spring that helps hold the pedal down instead of the stock tension spring on the series item. It takes 12lbs less effort to hold it down than before.

I cut the smaller Defender pedal pad off and used one off a scrap Series lever, so the look is unchanged. It's a bolt in mod, no cutting, uses a stock master cylinder. The only other difference is it's held in with 6 off M8 bolts instread of 5/16" UNF ones, which may or may not irk you. It certainly irked me (I'm not an obsessive, honest), so I replaced the captive M8 nuts with 5/16" ones.

[Wittsend]

I do have an inline remote servo on my clutch hydraulics - bearing in mind I have a Series 3 box (which is supposed to have a lighter foot action than the Series 2/2A system).

The servo ratio is the same as for the Lockheed Powerstopper brake servo at 1.9:1

Unfortunately the Band camper has been off the road now for 2 seasons whilst I (slowly) make some repairs and I've not yet tested the clutch action out on the road.
Plenty of room on the passenger side bulkhead, under the wing - IF you don't have a Series 3 heater fitted.

 

[Wijendra]

I have also fitted a servo on the clutch, (passenger side) same as Alan, and have hade the car on the road for the last three years, much lighter clutch.

My first intention was to fit a red booster servo directly action on the master cylinder, unfortunately as mine is a six pot there isn't sufficient space for the kit, hence went down the remote server route

definitely an improvement and much easier on the knees

[2286]

Glen when you say late defender, is that the mod that land rover did out of the factory that coincided with the r380 box?

I had a quick look and earlier 90/110 were as s3 pedal, the folded item with tension spring as opposed to the one shown with the thick metal pedal and the the torsion spring.

Does the 90/110 brake pedal use the solid pedal and torsion from launch, I have not cross referenced the parts books yet.

Did you retain the series master and simply change the pedal assembly, or do 90/110 defender pedal box only accommodate the 90/110 defender master.

When I gave the matter a little more thought prompted by wittsend reference to s3 box.  I have the s3 gearbox and diaphragm pressure plate as opposed to the earlier spring type.

Finally are these adaptations, declarable to insurer as modifications. 

[GlenAnderson]

As I understand it, the pedalbox you need is commonly described as a “TD5“ one, but there is a bit of overlap with late 300tdi models having them too.

Yes, the Series master cylinder bolts straight on.

I was beginning to really struggle with the original setup in stop-start traffic. A crude test with a bit of wood and some bathroom scales showed that it needed 55lbs of pressure to hold down the standard clutch pedal. My series 3 gearbox/clutch setup with this pedalbox drops that to under 20lbs, which I can manage with ease.

If that’s not light enough, LOF offer a stiffer spring and also a different master cylinder, both of which can lighten it even further.

Personally, I would not consider it anything that my insurance company would be remotely interested in.

[2286]

Has anyone simply reduced the spring rate of the existing pedal assembly, or does this risk damaging the master cylinder in any way?

I am not in the habit of riding the clutch even though a lower spring rating would make the chances of this happening increase.