Call to Fabricators, clutch pedal 68 69

I'm glad to see you found the part you wanted at the price you wanted to spend. Good luck with your T5 swap, if you have any questions I should be able to help as I am doing (redoing) mine right now.

Later,

Jason

ultrastang said:

That's nuts! They'll sell disc brake conversions but not manufacture and sell a brake pedal?? Which one is the most likely to be a potential liability here? People (big companies and small) are producing all sorts of restomod components that have way more risks than a simple clutch/brake pedal. Their response was lame. --That's my 2.5-cents worth on that.

www.ultrastang.com

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Who are you referring to when you say "their"? If you mean NPD, they were just passing along what mfg's were telling them. Nobody is obligated to make you a pedal, much less for under $100, just because you really really want one. Liability issues are real, and while many ignore them and go ahead and make parts, they are one lawsuit away from a lifetime of debt. Is it really worth it to assume that kind of risk because a handful of people want "cheap" pedals? I sure wouldn't do it.

Max Power said:

Who are you referring to when you say "their"? If you mean NPD, they were just passing along what mfg's were telling them. Nobody is obligated to make you a pedal, much less for under $100, just because you really really want one. Liability issues are real, and while many ignore them and go ahead and make parts, they are one lawsuit away from a lifetime of debt. Is it really worth it to assume that kind of risk because a handful of people want "cheap" pedals? I sure wouldn't do it.

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There are many parts on the market today for Mustangs and related Fords that werent around 5-10 years ago. Some of the parts are repops of original components, some are later parts made to adapt to older chassis, and some are complete departures from stock (purely aftermarket add-on components).

I understand what you are saying about the potential of the parts having liability issues, but of all these components being produced, I haven't heard any incidents about any of them failing.

I know that Mustang Steve produces some aftermarket pedals, but best I recall, the cross-shaft is welded to the pedal. The original Ford pedal's cross-shaft wasn't even welded. It was just press-fitted into the pedal. I haven't heard of any of the pressed shafts coming loose from the pedals, but obviously, a pressed shaft would fail long before a welded one. --Additionally, even the factory pedal pins for the master cylinder pushrods were pressed (not welded) into the brake pedals.

In the grand view of things, NPD was mentioned as offering brake components, but they would not produce brake pedals.

From a liability standpoint, NPD would be much less at risk producing brake pedals than selling the disc brake conversion components they offer, since a bake pedal has basically no moving parts to fail.

ultrastang said:

From a liability standpoint, NPD would be much less at risk producing brake pedals than selling the disc brake conversion components they offer, since a brake pedal has basically no moving parts to fail.

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NPD "offers" kits using the existing pedal, so if they are better or worse than an aftermarket design, it does not matter. They dont manufacture the parts, so their risk is limited. They are not selling you a pedal, so they are off the hook for that as well. Of course, other components may fail, which NPD may or may not be liable for, depending if they had a hand in manufacturing it. I bet if somebody made the pedals, NPD would be happy to sell them all day long.

Let's not focus too much on NPD on this, the guy was just passing along what potential mfgs were telling him. It really could be any vendor.

Another thing to consider is that complate brake systems cost a LOT more than just a pedal, and I am sure a lot of people in the mfg business don't want to deal with the risk for a $90 part. They would be more willing to take risk for a $1000 system.

I also have no doubt that someone could make a far better pedal now than was designed 40 years ago, although I am not sure that is the point.

At some point somebody will probably start making the pedals. Probably when the stockers have dried up and gone away.

As far as lawsuits, you don't have to hear about them. They do exist. Usually it's just somebody looking for a settlement. A few years ago a lady in La Holla won a big settlement against Porsche for a broken brake pedal, and we all remember how much Audi had to pay to defend themselves just based on pedal placement, not even a failure.

Anyone looking into the pedal business will look at those cases and have to form a decision on their own. For a $90 part, it appears that most aren't willing to risk it.