Who's built their own Gear Vendors control system?

[bookite03]

I have a Gear Vendors on my 87' F350 that came on the truck when I bought it from the previous owner. At that time it had the C6/BW1356 combo and everything worked great in both the AUTO and MANUAL modes. However, about 3-months ago I swapped out the C6 for a ZF-5 and still kept the BW1356 and Gear Vendors for a double OD.
Here's where the question comes;
I now basically run the Gear Vendors in MANUAL mode only and shift via a push/pull switch on the shifter. i understand the ins/outs of operating the unit, shift only at speeds above 45mph, do not use it for down shifting, do not use in 4wd etc. I also use the clutch to smooth out engage/disengagement. I've had a few close calls where I've forgotten to kick down out of the Gear Vendors when coming to a stop and the unit has kicked down automatically...Thus reversing the operation on my push/pull switch and on the occasion going into AUTO mode.
Not good if you dont take notice and it decides to auto shift for you when running a manual transmission. Let's just say when it happened I thought I was going to see the road behind me littered in broken parts.

I want to get rid of the controller all together, I'm thinking about building my own that incorporates a master power switch, 4wd interlock and a couple small indicator lights. Basically something simple that works better with the manual transmission and I dont have to worry about any auto-shifting carnage. Has anyone done this? I have some ideas bouncing in my head but thought I'd see what you guys thought. Thanks

 

[hce]

Thought about it. I was thinking a pressure switch could be used in replace of the speed sensor. SWith turns on at a preset pressure,400 psi?, should essentially work for reverse lockout too. Input shaft in reverse should be turning slow enough so pressure would not build to turn on switch. If a pressure switch worked there would be no semi-conductors needed just more switches for 4wd and engagement. I would like 4wd lockout on the power wire going to the solenoid and maybe a second off the ground. I cringe when thinking about 4wd with gear vendors engaged, it can get nasty.