Hand throttle

[F350farmboy]

I was driving down the highway in the '05 f150 with the cruise control and I was thinking about adding cruise to my older rigs, but I don't really want to mess with electronics and all the goodies that go along with grafting an OE system into my trucks.

Then I came across the idea of a hand throttle, like a lever or "choke" style knob, to hold rpms while on the highway, which is a majority of my daily commute. It would also only be used while unloaded and be in easy reach in case of a sudden need to decelerate.

I remember seeing an interior pic of someone's 80-86 truck that had a "throttle" handle below the dash next to the brake and hood releases. But I don't remember where I saw that at.

So has anyone else thought about a hand throttle, or better yet, does anyone have one?

Just thinking out loud

 

[towcat]

we use them in the older towtrucks.
the new stuff is fly-by-wire.
poke here....
http://www.awdirect.com/exterior-throttle-cable-15-foot-control-cable-vcgtx15/throttle/

 

[91f2504x4]

It seems like it would make it a lot safer if you can make it to where it would disable or reset whenever you touched the brake pedal. That is the only safety concern that I would have for doing this type of setup. The only two ways I could think to make that happen are to use a type of cable with almost no resistance (so little that the throttle return spring could pull it back to idle and then have a set or catch that holds the throttle cable in place that can either be deactivate by electrical means using the brake light switch and a buttom similar to cruise control or make it to where it can be be operated off of vacuum like the factory cruise. Both ways seem a little complex but I am sure if you found some type of means to hold the throttle cable that can be switch off by either means, then the rest would be easy. I just wouldn't want a "stuck" throttle in a panick situation. In automatic trans would make this seem much more dangerous than a manual, because in a manual you could always just mash the clutch in a panick situation like you would always do, and then I would be less concerned about the throttle cable causing a problem.

Sorry just trying to help you think out loud, and trying to help you think of ideas. I will be looking for something to do what I was talking about and maybe it will be feasible. Or you could always just look at aftermarket cruise control.

 

[F350farmboy]

How would you get the "auxiliary" throttle, whether it be the hand one like TC linked, or an aftermarket cruise, to work with the original foot-cable?

 

[sassyrel]

personally, id go to a salvage yard, and get the parts to convert it over to factory cruise--i would think that hardly no one would ask for those parts, as they are very reliable, and should be easy to switch your truck over. you may find most of the wiring harness already on the truck. just the column wires, and the steering wheel would be changed. the rest would be add in--

 

[F350farmboy]

I do have an '89 F-250 460 with cruise. How much would I be able to swap over from the 460 to the diesel?

Thanks for all the comments so far

 

[The Warden]

Chances are the hand-throttle setup you saw was mine. I haven't taken detailed pictures of the setup, but here are a few pictures that happen to show it here and here. I should emphasize that my setup was NOT designed to be used while the truck is moving; it's meant to bring the engine RPM's up for a faster warm-up or to get the alternator turning faster when jump-starting another car.

As to how it's connected to the throttle...I measured the throttle arm travel on the injector pump, and cut the cable so that it stops about an inch before the far end of the arm's travel (i.e. at full throttle). I then took a short length of small chain I grabbed at the hardware store to make up the difference. This way, the foot pedal can travel unimpeded (the chain simply slackens and falls out of the way) when I'm driving normally.

My setup works well, but the purpose-built cable that towcat linked to is a LOT more elegant. I used a cable that was originally meant to actuate an overdrive unit (that had been long-since removed) and that was already installed on the truck.

The hand-throttle comes in handy for jump-starting other peoples' cars, but I use it rarely enough that I probably wouldn't have paid for a cable.

Hope that helps some...good luck!

 

[69oiler]

my dad had an aftermarket cruise control on a '88 dakota that worked like a hand throttle. it would hold the gas pedal in one place when you set it. it sucked. the truck would slow down on uphills and speed up on downhills. he ended up getting a speeding ticket because of it. it was more work to regulate vehicle speed with that getup than it would have been to just used the gas pedal with your foot.

that said, i have thought of a hand throttle myself for faster winter warm ups and better battery charging. on my first IDI i rigged a manual switch for the fast idle solenoid for that purpose.

 

[MIDNIGHT RIDER]

Personally, I believe "cruise-control" is the cause of about as many wrecks as cell-phones; cruise-control and cell-phones together are gonna be a wreck for sure.

My truck came new with cruise-control and in the over-twenty years it was on there it was never turned on; it went into the dumpster when I did the Cummins swap.

I have this Vernier-adjustable hand-throttle on my truck :

http://www.awdirect.com/exterior-throttle-cable-15-foot-control-cable-vcgtx15/throttle/

I use it to bump-up the idle when sitting with the A/C ON or for any lengthy time to keep the oil circulating and prevent cylinder wash.

The only time I would use it when driving is in the event the foot-pedal should mal-function.

I have heard all kinds of scare stories from people using a throttle as a "cruise-control".

 

[david85]

Warden I remember seeing that website a long time ago, might have even been before I bought my 6.9. Didn't realize the creator of that was here on OBN. Small world

 

[Agnem]

The Warden's pages have been an inspiration to many. They go to show that you can do a quality job with what amounts to an in-frame refurb, outside without a garage in your driveway.

 

[In2Fords]

I picked up a afermarket cruise control several years ago and installed it on my 91 f25o. It worked great, was simple to install and was cheap. he controls simply slipped over the blinker shaft and noone knew it was aftermarket unless I told them.

 

[F350farmboy]

I want to know what can swap over from my '89 460 to my '89 diesel....It would be nice if alot of it could be swapped over.

Thanks

 

[91f2504x4]

I want to know what can swap over from my '89 460 to my '89 diesel....It would be nice if alot of it could be swapped over.

Thanks

I've got two cruise control units out in the garage, one from my original gas engine and one from the diesel truck that I got the diesel engine from. I will compare the two and let you know, but from what I remember they were the same except for how the gas cruise connected to the throttle. The diesel cruise control setup slipped over the foot throttle cable at the IP while the gas one had a seperate ball to slip over IIRC.

Both require vacuum to operate, and you will need to mount the vacuum switch on your brake pedal from the truck with cruise. There is an extra hole in the firewall that and hose that runs from the cruise unit into the cab and to the brake switch mentioned above, but yours probably just has a rubber plug in it.

 

[The Warden]

They go to show that you can do a quality job with what amounts to an in-frame refurb, outside without a garage in your driveway.

Thank you, Mel (and everyone else)...those words mean a lot to me. The project was quite a learning experience (both on what to do and what not to do), and really made me feel much more confident with tackling something similar in the future, if it ever proves necessary.

Certainly, my neighbors at the time (including the lawyers next door with his- and hers- BMW's ) were REALLY appreciative of my efforts they certainly encouraged me to finish quickly

As to swapping the cruise control assembly over, I think the actuator may be different, but I've never seen a g@$ cruise assembly, so I don't know for sure. Please post what you find