Gas Pedal Flex Solution

[FL335i]

After noticing the gas pedal has a lot of travel before it actually starts to work, I looked at it closely. I noticed it's a very bad design. There is a plastic bracket that is bolted to the floor pan/firewall and it has two studs. The metal gas pedal assembly bolts to this plastic bracket. The Bottom right area has no anchoring, and has a gap between it and the floor pan. so when you step on the gas pedal, this whole bracket flexes like crazy. I did come up with a solution. I cut a 1/2" long piece off the end of a free paint stick from home depot. Wedged it between the floor pan and the plastic bracket on the bottom right area. super glued it in place. guess what... NO MORE FLEX. Unreal how I have to do this to a $46k new 2014 truck. Never owned a vehicle with such a poor gas pedal design. Pic below.

Edited December 20, 2014 by FL335i

[POS VETT]

Makes me wonder if the ultra lazy throttle tip-in was significantly caused by this.

[FL335i]

^Exactly. I'll update how it responds now. But 3/16" of flex at that location equates to about 1/2" at the pedal. B.S. BMW gas pedal is a real pedal. I love the gas pedals in my E39 and E90. Has anyone noticed how there is about a 1 foot distance between the brake pedal and the gas pedal (depth)? I'm scared if it had a clutch they'd do something like that too. What's up with that? While we're at it, floor mounted gas pedals should be mandatory. At the end of the day, my new $46k truck has a gas pedal that is flimsier than my 2yr olds power wheels pedal. The new truck has a lot going for it, hence why I bought it... but it still has a lot of "GM issues". GM needs to hire some BMW Quality Control guys or something. what do you think the new F150 and Ram guys would think seeing me put a paint stick behind the gas pedal? I just need a fix. Driving in traffic is horrendous with this pedal. It's all or nothing. I owned a '07 6.0 F250 Diesel and the pedal was super crisp and had no flex. If I worked at GM as a project manger or QC I'd shove this pedal up someone's backside. I'm seriously debating retrofitting a BMW pedal.

Edited December 21, 2014 by FL335i

[jamin87ss]

Great now we have gas pedal issues, lmao I just got mine and I agree it seems lazy let u know how it changes anything good or bad

[Gmcant33]

i never notice any flex but I will drive my tuck asap and check this out and thanks for the heads up

[FL335i]

Update. I drove all day around Tampa in the traffic. It's AWSOME NOW!!! Tip-in response is so good. And I noticed the trans is "re-learning". It's doing better now than it did this morning. The worst for me was coming around a residential corner in the neighborhood. And then getting back on the gas. Truck would lug and I basically had to floor it. It was ridiculous. I've taken that same corner 3x today and its spot on the money. So yes, the flex in the pedal mount is BS GM!!! The pedal now is perfect in terms of response. If I could only get it pulled outward about 2" so it's more on the same plane as the brake pedal.

Edited December 21, 2014 by FL335i

[POS VETT]

I checked my '15 and the flex was when the pedal is lifted or pulled; this is the opposite direction when in operation. There was some flexing when the pedal was pushed but the pedal still reaches the end of travel if there isnt' anything in the way such as floor mat.

 

I looked at the throttle pedal assembly and there is room to move the assembly further away from its bracket. The two bolts (10-mm hex) are longer than needed and there is room to put a spacer on each location. These spacers will make the throttle pedal assembly flex at the end of travel, but it moves the throttle pedal closer to the height of brake pedal but still short.

 

At any rate, I doubt throttle tip-in laziness could be improved other than by changing the calibration in the PCM.

 

As far as bottom-hinged throttle pedals, I agree that they feel more natural as they move in a curvature closer to the foot movement. A top-hinged throttle pedal introduces sliding between your footwear/foot and the pedal itself. I had two '98 E36 M3s and I can appreciate the design of their throttle pedal assemblies.

[FL335i]

^E36 M3 Awesome car. you can see from my pic that I had a 3/16" gap between the floor and the backside of the plastic assembly. when I pushed down on the pedal it didn't start moving until the plastic plate hit the floor pan. Maybe you lucked out and got one with no gap.

[morrislee]

My gas peddle mount looks slighty different than yours, I have a plastic housing that runs outwards from that nut, and it is really hard for me to reach between where you stuffed the wood

[Crf450r420]

After noticing the gas pedal has a lot of travel before it actually starts to work, I looked at it closely. I noticed it's a very bad design. There is a plastic bracket that is bolted to the floor pan/firewall and it has two studs. The metal gas pedal assembly bolts to this plastic bracket. The Bottom right area has no anchoring, and has a gap between it and the floor pan. so when you step on the gas pedal, this whole bracket flexes like crazy. I did come up with a solution. I cut a 1/2" long piece off the end of a free paint stick from home depot. Wedged it between the floor pan and the plastic bracket on the bottom right area. super glued it in place. guess what... NO MORE FLEX. Unreal how I have to do this to a $46k new 2014 truck. Never owned a vehicle with such a poor gas pedal design. Pic below.

Do you have the movable pedals? I noticed last week that if I go all the way forward with them. The brake stops moving before the gas pedal and they get offset real bad, so I backed it up so the gas was more inline. I'm guessing the BMW doesn't have moving pedals and that is why they can mount to the floor where these are mounted from above.

[Spurshot]

I have to check mine. The throttle 'tip-in' is pretty weak. Keep in mind though, it's a throttle-by-wire setup.

Edited December 22, 2014 by spurshot

[foghorn23]

In addition to the sloppy throttle response, I had an issue related to the strange mounting system of the Silverado gas pedal. About a month ago the pedal began to squeak like crazy. The dealer contacted GM and said they had run into this numerous times. If you get a pedal squeak this mounting design is the culprit. BTW the dealer used double sided tape (they said) to fix it. Regardless it is now quiet and the throttle seems to function right.

Edited December 22, 2014 by Foghorn14

[FL335i]

1- I do not have the adjustable pedal options. Wish I did, would help when the wife drives it rarely.

2- I do not have a squeak in the pedal. Never did. All I know is the drive to work today was awesome. Yes it's drive by wire, like all cars today, but I physically would push the pedal with my hand and watch the pedal sensor and the bracket. the bracket would bend until it hit the floor pan THEN the pedal sensor would start to operate. It's just a crap design guys. It's very livable now though. the sensitivity is actually what it "should" be by design.

Edited December 22, 2014 by FL335i

[Silverado-Hareek]

1- I do not have the adjustable pedal options. Wish I did, would help when the wife drives it rarely.

2- I do not have a squeak in the pedal. Never did. All I know is the drive to work today was awesome. Yes it's drive by wire, like all cars today, but I physically would push the pedal with my hand and watch the pedal sensor and the bracket. the bracket would bend until it hit the floor pan THEN the pedal sensor would start to operate. It's just a crap design guys. It's very livable now though. the sensitivity is actually what it "should" be by design.

 

This has been my complaint from day one on these trucks....you have to basically floor the accelerator pedal to get the truck to move. It's raining like hell today but when the weather clears, I'm going to look at my bracket and I might try this fix if I notice the play. I'm wondering if this is in any way related to the gas pedal vibration:

 

http://www.gm-trucks.com/forums/topic/157796-vibration-in-floorboard-not-speedtire-related/

[Silverado-Hareek]

Got a break in the rain and checked the pedal. I see the exact flex your talking about. In lieu of the wood shim, would it be possible to remove that nut and put some washers in there to fill the gap? Seems like it might be more solid.

 

 

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Edited December 23, 2014 by Silverado-Hareek