Well the weld on the clutch pedal/cross shaft has failed again, second time!(technically the third time)

Does anyone have any tips, ideas or thoughts on reinforcing this joint?

I have had to weld two of them back in place, and both of my welds have been holding.  The failure rate does seem strange, where the lever is welded to the shaft.  And then there is quite a difference in the styles.

The shaft and pedal were in the process of shearing the weld and why the PO had clutch issues and why I snagged the sidekick at a decent price. It broke completely so I ground down the old weld squared the shaft to the pedal and welded it back together and it sheared the weld(my fault, rewelded it again and it lasted about 1800 miles.

If the shaft actually extended completely through the pedal plate a better weld could be laid down, as it is every pedal i have seen/fondled, the shaft sits below the surface of the pedal plate and the weld is only a little button on the end of the shaft to a thin area of the pedal plate.

I bevelled out the left side of the hole in the pedal so that more of the cross shaft could have weld applied. I also set the shaft a little deeper and that required trimming down the tube the shaft rides in with a grinder a equal amount so that when the cable lift arm was attached it didnt bind and prevent clutch pedal movement.

the clutch now works better than it ever has,,,,,,,,,,

I bevelled out the left side of the hole in the pedal so that more of the cross shaft could have weld applied. I also set the shaft a little deeper and that required trimming down the tube the shaft rides in with a grinder a equal amount so that when the cable lift arm was attached it didnt bind and prevent clutch pedal movement.

the clutch now works better than it ever has,,,,,,,,,,

smart thinkin Talonx, sometimes we just have to re-engineer to get what we need. 

LOL, it would have been smart thinking to have re-engineered it the first time I welded it, rather than following the factories example and having to address it again....LOL

BUT I was in a hurry to drive the ride with the new lift installed,,,it took far longer to install than to modify and weld the pedal.

On my daughters Tracker the PO welded  the splined end of a motorcycle gear shift shaft to the clutch shaft. Then they welded part of the splined motorcycle gear shifter to the arm for the Tracker clutch cable. The nice part about this is you can take the shaft out to do the welding. Don't know if this was good or not as the shaft broke where the PO welded it. I rewelded it and it is working good for now. I just thought it was it was a idea worth mentioning.
Bob

That is a very interesting fix as well, at least the install would be far easier! LOL

We have done a similar thing to 86Sumo, put a splined end on teh shaft.  Only we used the end from another Tracker that was being stripped for parts. 

Well the repair has held up perfectly. Before the weld had broke there was alot of "give/flex" in the pedal and that is entirely gone now! One happy trucker now! LOL