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Fat Feet hitting too many pedals

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M

MalBJ8

Freshman Member
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Maybe its my bunions, but I'm constantly pressing the brake and accelarator at the same time, clutch and brake are also a problem. Does anyone have suggestions on how to increase the spacing between pedals. I'd hate to have my bunions operated on if there's an easier solution. Thanks
 
The pedals are removable. You could take the brake pedal off and move it to the left side of the pedal support. Do the same thing with the clutch, but insert a spacer between the pedal and the support to move the pedal further to the left. This will probably make it hard to get to the dimmer switch, however, which you could move to the dash.
 
How wide are your shoes? Try a pair of wrestling shoes or purpose made race shoes-they are very narrow.
 
Your problem is not uncommon. When I buy shoes for my shop or recreational driving I try to find the one that have a narrower base sole. Admittedly it is becoming harder since today the trend in shoe design is to provide a wide platform.
Purpose made racing shoes are helpful. But since they are not that supportive for shop work I haven't bought them. So here are two other things I have done. When I buy shoes I intend to drive in, I buy ones that have a molded edge instead of a stitched edge. Then I go down to the shop and use my grinding wheel to grind the edges away on the shoe. Just a little bit, not enough to damage the utility of the shoe or even make it noticeable. You'd be surprised that it only takes a little bit of grinding. The other thing that I have done is that I remove the rubber pad on the Healey's brake pedal. With only the metal pedal there, there is more room between pedals. I have noticed that the biggest problem is between the gas pedal and the brake pedal.
 
vette said:
The other thing that I have done is that I remove the rubber pad on the Healey's brake pedal. With only the metal pedal there, there is more room between pedals. I have noticed that the biggest problem is between the gas pedal and the brake pedal.
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If you tried that in the UK you would fail the MOT, they do not mind a bare throttle pedal but clutch and brake must have a rubber covering - at least that what my tester told me, thankfully I carry spares of those.

You can move the end of the pedals over and bolt them to the other side of the arms that has helped me.

:cheers:

Bob
 
Sorry to here about the MOT situation. Are they bosom buddies to California. Actually that rule may even apply here in Pennsylvania but we don’t pay any attention to them.
 
vette said:
Sorry to here about the MOT situation. Are they bosom buddies to California. Actually that rule may even apply here in Pennsylvania but we don’t pay any attention to them.
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Except that California doesn't have inspections.
 
Well then we can give them a wee bit of credit for not being so excessively over regulator. Here in pa we do have inspections but I think only things that really effect safe driving are taken seriously.
 
red57 said:
Says the guy who just bashed Portland because a race car was stolen.....:smile:
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Sorry if it came off that way; I meant it to be sympathetic (please re-read my comment in that light). The recent conflicts in Portland aren't how I see the city or the state, and I was just wondering what's going on.

Oh, yeah, I like Washington, too. Spent lots of time in Seattle and I've criss-crossed the state several times in my BJ8.
 
Legally, you don't need an MOT (Ministry of Transport) Inspection i
n the UK. ​
Cars older than 40 years are exempt but you may have to do a bit of expaining to the insurance company if you're involved in a serious accident.
AJ
 
All of the pedals in all of my race cars are bare metal--two being Tilton sets.
While racing I wear rubber-soled racing ankle-height boots and though i have made plenty of mistakes on the track none was due to my feet slipping.

On the Healey I have the usual covers on the brake and clutch pedals as sometimes I am wearing a leather-soled shoe which offers no slip resistance on metal.
 
C5 Corvettes have bare pedals and I imagine many others as well. You could drill wholes in the Healey pedals and rough up the surface a bit but i suspect that wouldn't really help much. As for my bare brake pedal, I have never really had a problem with it. But i would refrain from wearing leather sole shoes while driving the Healey.
 
HealeyRick said:
Surprising how slippery a bare pedal can be against a wet shoe bottom. I tried a peel and stick traction strip on the pedal, but it wore off quickly. Wonder what racers use on their pedals to get that non-slip surface?
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I use 3M Weatherstrip Adhesive (aka 'yellow snot'). Works for 10K miles or more.
 
I have bare metal too and wear rubber soled shoes and no problem with slipping. I think it is actually safer than with the little covers. IMO when the rubber covers come loose (and I have never seen ones that don't, eventually) they can cause a distraction - can be really scary when you are in the middle of a brake/turn traffic situation and all of the sudden you have something blocking/moving under your feet.
 
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