Gary's "Nothing Special" Moab trip

[BigBrother-84]

There's the one with the "nice truck" Janey was talking about! (Jeff - I'm going to keep tagging you until you comment. )

https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n148003/Some_Other_Videos_-_II.jpg

I would say that Janey has fine taste.

[Gary Lewis]

There's the one with the "nice truck" Janey was talking about! (Jeff - I'm going to keep tagging you until you comment. )

https://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/file/n148003/Some_Other_Videos_-_II.jpg

I would say that Janey has fine taste.

I tend to think so - she chose me.

[Gary Lewis]

I tend to think so - she chose me.

Ordered the Terraflex kit, especially because it comes with lots of accessories to let you connect it up and the Amazon kit doesn't. However I think I'll still want to find some beaded chain to ensure there won't be any interference with normal throttle function.

[Nothing Special]

Ordered the Terraflex kit, especially because it comes with lots of accessories to let you connect it up and the Amazon kit doesn't. However I think I'll still want to find some beaded chain to ensure there won't be any interference with normal throttle function.

One other possible project. I'll stop short of recommending this, but I'll offer it for your consideration.

A time-honored technique is to restart the engine with the truck in gear, without pushing in the clutch. That's not possible with "newer" vehicles like Big Blue because there's a safety switch that doesn't allow the ignition switch to tell the starter to spin unless the clutch pedal has been pressed. You might want to consider bypassing that safety switch so you can start the engine in gear.

The main usefulness of this is if you stall the engine in a steep climb. If you can start the engine without pressing the clutch in then there's no chance of the truck rolling backward, either when you push the clutch in or when you start to let it out.

This can be a pretty important trick with small engines and taller gears (like an old Jeep). It's a lot less important with a big torquey engine and a granny low first gear. And of course the hand throttle is another tool to help accomplish the same thing. So I certainly don't think you need to do this. but if you do it will give you another tool that you may or may not choose to use.

I used to do this fairly commonly in my CJ-5, but I rarely do in Pluto. The CJ-5 didn't have as low gearing as Pluto, so that was one reason I needed to more before. But also Pluto doesn't always start so well, so that's a reason it's less attractive to use it now.

In watching some videos, especially of the old Jeeps, I do see quite a few times where a vehicle will have a pretty scary roll back when the driver pushes in the clutch to restart the engine without having the brake pressed hard enough. This is obviously operator error because the brakes will hold the vehicle. But especially if the vehicle has power brakes (and even more especially with hydroboost) that can be an easy error to make. Starting the engine without pushing in the clutch avoids this possibility. I don't expect us to be anywhere that a roll-back like that would be dangerous, but it can still be spooky. So I offer this for your consideration.

[Gary Lewis]

One other possible project. I'll stop short of recommending this, but I'll offer it for your consideration.

A time-honored technique is to restart the engine with the truck in gear, without pushing in the clutch. That's not possible with "newer" vehicles like Big Blue because there's a safety switch that doesn't allow the ignition switch to tell the starter to spin unless the clutch pedal has been pressed. You might want to consider bypassing that safety switch so you can start the engine in gear.

The main usefulness of this is if you stall the engine in a steep climb. If you can start the engine without pressing the clutch in then there's no chance of the truck rolling backward, either when you push the clutch in or when you start to let it out.

This can be a pretty important trick with small engines and taller gears (like an old Jeep). It's a lot less important with a big torquey engine and a granny low first gear. And of course the hand throttle is another tool to help accomplish the same thing. So I certainly don't think you need to do this. but if you do it will give you another tool that you may or may not choose to use.

I used to do this fairly commonly in my CJ-5, but I rarely do in Pluto. The CJ-5 didn't have as low gearing as Pluto, so that was one reason I needed to more before. But also Pluto doesn't always start so well, so that's a reason it's less attractive to use it now.

In watching some videos, especially of the old Jeeps, I do see quite a few times where a vehicle will have a pretty scary roll back when the driver pushes in the clutch to restart the engine without having the brake pressed hard enough. This is obviously operator error because the brakes will hold the vehicle. But especially if the vehicle has power brakes (and even more especially with hydroboost) that can be an easy error to make. Starting the engine without pushing in the clutch avoids this possibility. I don't expect us to be anywhere that a roll-back like that would be dangerous, but it can still be spooky. So I offer this for your consideration.

Bob - I remember you discussing that, and I can see how it would help. And it would be easily done if I can find the right push-button switch and a good place to put it.

Now, maybe this is serious overkill, but why not revise the bezel I made for fog lights to be something like "Clutch Switch" and "Push to start"? The button could go just to the left of the steering column and wiring it in would be easy as the connector going to the clutch switch is right behind that spot.

Any better ideas on the labeling? Y'all? http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/uploads/6/5/8/7/65879365/waving_orig.gif

[Nothing Special]

Bob - I remember you discussing that, and I can see how it would help. And it would be easily done if I can find the right push-button switch and a good place to put it.

Now, maybe this is serious overkill, but why not revise the bezel I made for fog lights to be something like "Clutch Switch" and "Push to start"? The button could go just to the left of the steering column and wiring it in would be easy as the connector going to the clutch switch is right behind that spot.

Any better ideas on the labeling? Y'all?

I'm not sure if you're thinking of a momentary contact switch, but if I were implementing it I'd do it with an on - off switch. I'd turn it on when I went off-road and I'd turn it back off when I was back on the road. That leaves itself open to the error of forgetting to turn it back off, but an indicator light (or a lighted rocker switch) that comes on when it was on could mitigate that.

As far as marking the switch, something like "clutch safety switch bypass" might be the clearest, if it wasn't too many characters to fit reasonably well.

[Gary Lewis]

I'm not sure if you're thinking of a momentary contact switch, but if I were implementing it I'd do it with an on - off switch. I'd turn it on when I went off-road and I'd turn it back off when I was back on the road. That leaves itself open to the error of forgetting to turn it back off, but an indicator light (or a lighted rocker switch) that comes on when it was on could mitigate that.

As far as marking the switch, something like "clutch safety switch bypass" might be the clearest, if it wasn't too many characters to fit reasonably well.

I was thinking of a momentary switch as I don't like the idea of forgetting to turn it off. But why would I want an on/off switch? I was thinking I'd use my left hand to push the button and my right to turn the ignition switch.

I'm guessing that you are thinking I'll need one hand to steer as the engine cranks/starts? If that is the case then what about a timer that gives you a set time, like 30 seconds or a minute, after each push?

As for the lettering, "clutch safety switch bypass" might be too much but I won't know until I lay it out on CAD. The last pass of having that bezel printed wasn't as crisp as I'd hoped, but I'm guessing that in 7 years 3D printing might be a whole lot better.

[Gary Lewis]

I was thinking of a momentary switch as I don't like the idea of forgetting to turn it off. But why would I want an on/off switch? I was thinking I'd use my left hand to push the button and my right to turn the ignition switch.

I'm guessing that you are thinking I'll need one hand to steer as the engine cranks/starts? If that is the case then what about a timer that gives you a set time, like 30 seconds or a minute, after each push?

As for the lettering, "clutch safety switch bypass" might be too much but I won't know until I lay it out on CAD. The last pass of having that bezel printed wasn't as crisp as I'd hoped, but I'm guessing that in 7 years 3D printing might be a whole lot better.

Here's a 10 second time delay relay on Amazon for $15. Wouldn't that be long enough? You wouldn't want to be cranking the engine longer than that would you?

[Gary Lewis]

Here's a 10 second time delay relay on Amazon for $15. Wouldn't that be long enough? You wouldn't want to be cranking the engine longer than that would you?

Well, some dummy mounted an O2 gauge right there. Guess that won't work.

But, what do y'all think of the poor-boy's solution of adding a momentary switch to that gauge's mount and then placing a label there with the desired wording?

And, the relay I linked to earlier may not be the right one as it isn't clear if it doesn't come on for 10 seconds or turns off after 10 seconds. But if not this one will do it for sure as it has NC and NO contacts and an adjustable time. In addition it has an adjustable timer from 1 to 10 seconds, and you can increase by replacing a capacitor.

[Nothing Special]

Here's a 10 second time delay relay on Amazon for $15. Wouldn't that be long enough? You wouldn't want to be cranking the engine longer than that would you?

That would probably be plenty long. And in the unlikely event that you needed to you could hit the button again.

That said, that's the type of elegant solution that I seem to try to avoid more and more as I get older! I used to like going for the solution that is easiest to use and does exactly what you want. But I keep valuing the KISS principal more highly. Like going back to a manual ball valve to switch tanks on Pluto with a separate toggle switch to select which tank the gage reads. It was nice having one switch that did both, until the solenoid valve failed and left me stranded on a freeway, out of gas in spite of having a full tank. This isn't a "mission-critical" function like a tank switching valve, so it's less of a down-side. And I'm not saying that you should balance out trade-offs like this the same way I would! You can go ahead and make your own mistakes rather than making mine:nabble_smiley_beam: