Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Hand Throttle For Big Blue
 
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Ok, it is time to actually start on this project. And the first thing I'm told to do is to remove the knob off the shift lever. But I don't know how to do that, so I'm going to tag Shaun/salans7 'cause I think he knows.
Having said that, if it isn't easy then I'll slit the bushing they provide and slip it on that way. Here's the knob and it is on a BW1345: 
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Bob - How's Lesley?
As for being closer, on Big Blue the t-case shift lever is closer. And since there's far less movement of it than the shift lever I'm thinking that the t-case lever would be the best place to put the hand lever. Yes? But I'm wondering about how/where to run the cable. The miserable instructions say to take it through the firewall, but why not go down the lever, through the boot, and up over the transmission and the back of the engine to the throttle body? No holes to drill. And, speaking of throttle body, here's a mockup of how I plan to make the connection. The bottom cable is a spare throttle cable and the one that rides piggyback on it is a spare from the speed control. I've drilled the Nylon bracket that attaches to the throttle cable and run the bead chain from a Bullnose speed control through that hole. The inner cable, having come through the outer cable above, will wrap through the connector on the end and that aluminum ferrule will be crimped to hold it in place. And the connector on the end will let me take the slack out. All of that is to ensure there's no binding of the throttle when not using the hand throttle. Does that make sense? Better ideas, anyone?  
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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The transfer case lever is farther to the left, so it's closer in that respect. But typically is a shorter lever and you have to bend down to reach it, while the trans shifter falls right into your hand. Maybe "closer" wasn't the right word. I like having it on the stick that I reach for all the time, so muscle memory helps me find it quickly and easily.
And yes, running the cable down the lever and through the boot seems like the right way to do it to me. Not only no holes to drill, but you don't need to leave a big loop of cable exposed in the cab so the stick can move. Just dress the cable down the stick and leave a little slack at the bottom, under the boot. For hooking it up to the throttle body, most everything I comprehend looks good. What I don't quite get is how much adjustment you'll have. Adjusting it isn't that critical. If it's too tight it's bad as the throttle won't close all the way. But if it's too loose you just won't be able to open the throttle as far. I've found I can only go about 45 mph if I'm using my hand throttle in place of the foot feed. While it might be nice to have more throttle available by hand I've never felt it was really lacking. the "most everything" comes from seeing the big open loop of cable you have between the ferrule and the ball chain. That's going to be a soft spring that you need to stretch out to get the throttle to open. I might just put the ferrule over the cable right as it comes through the end of the ball chain rather than put a loop in it. That might put more stress on the ferrule so it might pull off easier. But it will keep the system a lot stiffer. (I was thinking I had a picture that shows where I have the hand throttle, but this is the best I could find. It sort of shows up at the bottom of the picture.) 
Bob
Sorry, no '80 - '86 Ford trucks "Oswald": 1997 F-250HD crew cab short box, 460, E4OD, 4.10 gears "Pluto": 1971 Bronco, 302, NV3550 5 speed, Atlas 4.3:1 transfer case, 33" tires "the motorhome": 2015 E-450-based 28' class C motorhome, 6.8L V-10 "the Dodge": 2007 Dodge 2500, 6.7L Cummins |
Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Ok, "closer" threw me off, but I see what you are saying about muscle memory. However the ZF boot is actually two boots that fit very tightly, so I'm not sure I want to take the cable down through that.
 As for that loop, I left it loose as I don't want to kink it since it might not go through the outer covering then. But yes, the aluminum ferrule will go right near the bead connector. I tried to put the ferrule in the bead connector but it won't go and, as you said, that would put more stress on it, so I'm thinking that a tight loop is the way to go. Thinking about adjustment, my hope is the have just a little slack with the manual throttle all the way down, and it'll take some movement to raise the RPM. The combination of the beaded chain and knurled adjustment you can see at the end of the outer sleeve should let me dial it in. But I have no idea how much I'll be able to raise it - hope it is enough. 
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Mid-morning report - it is ready under the hood. Drilled the Nylon end for the speed control cable, found about the right place on the bracket for the knurled piece that the cable sheath goes into, drilled and tapped the bracket for that piece, and put the piece in - from the back so it is ready for the cable.
Obviously the chain is too long, but I can pull it out the front and clip it off as needed. And I can use the knurled piece for fine tuning if that's needed by just loosening the lock nut. Now it is time to start inside the cab... 
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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Done! And I quit giving it throttle at 3000 RPM, so I think it works.
 Lots of details to share in case someone is wanting to do this. First, the bushing to go around the t-case shift lever. Theirs has to be drilled out to get it over the lever, but my first attempt wasn't too productive so I cut a piece of 1/2" hose & split it. Worked perfectly.  Next, I moved the hand throttle lever to max and wrapped the cable through the ferrule, bead connector, & again through the ferrule and crimped the ferrule with about 1/4" between it and the adjustment piece to ensure that won't limit the travel. Then I cut off the excess cable.  Then I backed the hand throttle off to Min and took the slack out of the chain, left an extra bead, and cut the excess off. And with the connector on there's enough slack that it doesn't interfere with the foot throttle. In fact, the hand throttle doesn't start increasing the RPM until the lever is moved quite a ways, so I'm sure that another bead could be taken out. However, since I can get to 3000 RPM I don't see a need to do that. 
And, here are a couple of shots of the control. I didn't cut any of the outer sheath off so I could relocate it pretty much anywhere if I don't like it there.  
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Looks good! We're getting there
Bob
Sorry, no '80 - '86 Ford trucks "Oswald": 1997 F-250HD crew cab short box, 460, E4OD, 4.10 gears "Pluto": 1971 Bronco, 302, NV3550 5 speed, Atlas 4.3:1 transfer case, 33" tires "the motorhome": 2015 E-450-based 28' class C motorhome, 6.8L V-10 "the Dodge": 2007 Dodge 2500, 6.7L Cummins |
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Yes, we are!
 Unless you come up with something else (  ) I think the mod's to the truck are done. There may be an adjustment or two, but now I think it is time to start checking on what tools, recovery gear, etc I have in the truck.
Janey and I are taking it to SW OK next Thursday and Friday to drive the Sugar Creek Loop, eat at White Dog Hill restaurant, and then visit the outlet mall in OKC on the way home. It'll be a good shakedown run for the truck after going through the steering, adding the clutch switch bypass and hand throttle, and tightening the power steering connections. Oh yes, I have to also turn the Ewissions light off. It came on, yet again, while putt putting around moving the trailer. I'm sure it is P1506, meaning the engine RPM was higher than the ECU wanted it to be, which usually happens when I'm slowing down in a low gear and the inertia keeps spinning the engine. Haven't figured out how to prevent that.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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Re: Hand Throttle For Big Blue
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We took it to Ponca City and back three weeks ago for ~200 miles. Two weeks ago Steve/FoxFord33 and I took it to Stillwater and back to get that Mountaineer that he called an Explorer - again 200+ miles pulling the trailer. (The difference is significant in that the Merc came as AWD and the Ford didn't.) And next week's jaunt will push 500 miles. I think we might qualify for "driving it".
But if that doesn't qualify I'll bet the ~1000 miles to Moab surely will. We plan to take the "middle" route, meaning out the Oklahoma panhandle to Clayton, NM for 433 miles and 7 hours and 10 minutes. The next day will be through Raton to Durango, which is 362 miles and 6 hours and 13 minutes, although we'll stop in Raton at the quilt shop. Then from Durango it is 158 miles and 2 hours & 45 minutes to Moab. So we hope to be there around lunch time.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile
Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
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You'll be north of us at Black Canyon. My brother and I saw plenty of it when we went to Ouray with Big Blue a few years ago. They had US 50 closed at one point and routed us through there on the way out. But on the way back we got lucky and 50 was open again.
Let's plan to meet up Sunday afternoon in Moab. If we can't get a shake maybe we can get something else. And yes, there isn't a bad route. We aren't in a hurry so will enjoy the drive from Raton to Durango, up over Wolf Creek Pass. Wolf Creek Pass
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