Clutch Quadrant and Cable Tech
Not all clutch quadrants are created equal!
Featured in this installation article in Mustang Monthly.
Maximum Motorsports raises the bar by manufacturing a clutch quadrant to replace the brittle plastic factory quadrant. The strong, yet lightweight (only 4.4 oz.) CNC aluminum quadrant was our engineering department's answer to the shortcomings of all other clutch quadrants. It allows the use of a durable stock style cable, not requiring an adjustable cable. A firewall adjuster is required.
It is the details that seperates the Maximum Motorsports Clutch Quadrant from all others.
Works with a durable stock cable because we designed the quadrant and the firewall adjuster around the stock cable. All other quadrants require aftermarket adjustable cables which stretch, break, collapse and melt much easier than the factory cable.
The mounting hole diameters are critical. Too loose and the quadrant will "wobble" side to side adding slop to the pedal feel. Too tight and it wont fit. We hold a very tight tolerance during manufacture to ensure the proper fit.
The slotted second hole is Maximum Motorsports' solution to Ford's loose tolerance on the distance between the two shafts that hold the quadrant. To deal with this problem, some manufactures make the second hole extra large to fit all cars. Others do not use a hole at all and allow the quadrant to rest on top of the second shaft. Both methods result in a loose, rattling pedal.
A stock quadrant radius is used on the MM Clutch Quadrant. A larger radius is not necessary and will cause three problems. It increases pedal effort, causes the clutch cable to rub on the cable housing at the firewall, prematurely wearing it out, and it overstrokes the pressure plate. A smaller radius won't allow the clutch to fully disengage.
A machined flat to allow the cable end to sit square. Other companies use too large a radius thus bending the end of the cable. This unnecessary stress leads to broken clutch cables.
We machine the correct side of the quadrant to make installation easier. One end of the clutch quadrant is machined thinner than the rest. This is to make installation much easier on pre 1994 cars that have a support bracket which complicates quadrant access. Most manufacturers machine the wrong side of the quadrant, which makes installation difficult and frustrating. This makes it easy to see who copies problems and who solves problems. The MM Clutch Quadrant is machined correctly, thus solving the installation problem.
MM Universal Ford OEM Clutch Cable!
We have done a lot of research on clutch cables, buying and testing almost every different cable on the market we could find. We have found after all this investigation, that the OEM Ford Clutch Cables are the best quality cables available. They have a multi-material, layered construction that provides better heat, friction and collapsibility protection than all the aftermarket cables we dissected. With that in mind, we have begun selling all year ranges of factory cables, for those customers that demand a cable that will last. We have developed a clutch adjustment package that will work with all OEM Ford cables. Our Quadrant, firewall package will allow the use of all OEM Ford cables (and adjustable cables, too), however the cables all require some minor modifications.
We also sell a package with the MM Universal Ford OEM cable, which comes with all the parts you need to install a Ford quality cable with an aluminum quadrant and firewall adjuster, that requires no additional cable modifications. This MM Universal Clutch Cable will provide more header clearance, and therefore even better heat protection, than any other cable we have found, including the 5.0 liter engine OEM Ford cables!! This cable, quadrant and firewall adjuster can be the answer to all your clutch cable problems! We have also discontinued selling adjustable clutch cables due to the poor quality and repeated returns we have experienced. Based on our research and ongoing testing, OEM Ford cables are the only solution to clutch cable problems.
The photo below compares the construction of an aftermarket clutch cable (upper cable) and an OEM Ford cable (lower cable). Note that Ford utilizes a multi layer construction which helps prevent heat from affecting the sliding action of the inner cable or causing a compression failure of the outer housing, while still allowing the cable to be sufficiently flexible. While we have looked at the construction of many aftermarket cables, none have had a construction that can compare to the quality of the OEM Ford cables.
