[Feetwet]

I got the dreaded 2am phone call. My surf fishing buddy's work truck was out on the point of the Inlet in a sucking wet sand stuck, buried to the frame on a rising tide. When I got there, he had a foot of water 200yds in all directions, wind blowing 25knts and raining sideways. His dad was there in his new, stock Grand Cherokee but had no recovery equipment.

With those conditions there was no time for camera work, much as I'd liked to have taken some pics. We did some fast digging in front of his tires, by now there was 16" of water and small waves slapping us, jammed 4 short 2x12s under them (I came prepared) and linked 150ft of Tow straps to his front hooks, tied my tail to his dad's stock GC and my little YJ winched his sorry butt outa that hole.

The upshot of this whole episode reminded me it was time for a Hand Throttle Install. It would have been a big help to set RPMs and operate the winch from outside the Jeep, where I could better see and communicate during the pull, so I went shopping.

The goods, clockwise from left.
7ft of 1/16" galvanized bike shifter cable with preterminated end and a Shimano Non-indexed shift lever, 7ft of cable sheath, sample sheath with 2 ferrules for end caps, cable adjuster barrel, 1/16" cable double crimp sleeves and stainless fender washers in 2 sizes. Total cost about 18 bucks.


I removed the airbox hose and ccv tube for better access and stuffed the throttle body. My crankcase has all the parts it needs in there already...
the throttle cable bracket has a nice hole all ready for cruise control so I used that.


I want the cable to run down the shifter, through the shift boot, through the tunnel and up into the engine bay. An 8mm socket pulled the outer shift boot and I was able to fish the cable sheath through the outer and inner boots and then pull it forward, routing it along the AX5 breather, previously installed (see my sig).

[Feetwet]

I installed the cable adjuster barrel in the hole in the throttle cable bracket using the smaller fender washers, a lock washer and a jam nut for insurance. I cut the excess cable sheath to length and put an end cap ferrule on to finish off the cable end. I also slid a length of 3/8" fuel hose over the cable sheath before hooking up the forward end of the cable to protect it from heat and chafing. Did I mention I like extra insurance?


I used some WD-40 to lube the throttle wire and fed it into the sheath from inside the cab.


Just like inserting a catheter, right Doc?....Right!

Fished it all the way through, seated the cable end in the adjuster barrel and made a temporary wrap around the open stud on the throttle body spring bracket.

[Feetwet]

A little finesse here to get the tension right. Made sure the lever handle was fully retracted, pulled the wire slack forward and held down on the throttle spring while crimping the first sleeve, up close to the stud. Added 2 more crimp sleeves for insurance.


Here's the routing from the cab. Up the firewall and around to the valve cover lead in bracket.


Reinstalled the Airbox hose ( remembering to pull out the rag) and CCv tube. Looks like the new cable has always been there.

[Feetwet]

Back in the cab I mounted the lever handle in a comfy spot and refastened the outer shift boot. A little cardboard to smooth out the background for a picture so you can see what's what.



Some concerns I had never arose. I've seen some setups using a chain to connect to the throttle linkage so as not to hinder normal throttle operations. I wasn't sure if my new cable would interfere with smooth pedal operation, but it doesn't. The new cable goes slack when the gas pedal is pressed. No worries. I can get full range of RPMs from the lever handle, no problems there, either. The tensioner adjustment on the lever handle can be overcome with a gentle pullback on the handle, no need to fiddle with the adjuster to drop RPMs back to idle.


All in all a very easy job. About an hour total including taking pictures, walking the dog and admiring my awesomeness....


Now it's time for some lunch.

[Fernando]

Sweet, this turned out really good, great job! any pics of the hand lever?

[spyder98]

wow ive been wanting to do this on mine...Yours came out great....and I wish we had that for lunch hear lol

[Feetwet]

Originally Posted by Fernando

Sweet, this turned out really good, great job! any pics of the hand lever?

Hey Fernando! What would you like to see? First pic has the lever, second to last has the lever installed. Anything special you want to see?

[Feetwet]

Originally Posted by spyder98

wow ive been wanting to do this on mine...Yours came out great....and I wish we had that for lunch hear lol

Thanks! Yeah , good eats here at the shore..

[spyder98]

Would I be able to get all of this in a bike shop?

[pasinbuy]

I like how you routed the cable. Looks clean.

For future info, or if you have any future problems with your cable. WD40 on the cable does nothing, in fact you may have wiped off the lube that it came with. Next time use wheel grease. Apply as much as you can to the cable for a long lasting cable lube.

Did you remove the clicker on you hand throttle?

[Feetwet]

Originally Posted by spyder98

Would I be able to get all of this in a bike shop?

Everything but the fender washers came from the bike shop.

[Feetwet]

Originally Posted by pasinbuy

I like how you routed the cable. Looks clean.

For future info, or if you have any future problems with your cable. WD40 on the cable does nothing, in fact you may have wiped off the lube that it came with. Next time use wheel grease. Apply as much as you can to the cable for a long lasting cable lube.

Did you remove the clicker on you hand throttle?

Thanks pasinbuy. The cable was dry to start. No lube, protectant, silicone or anything else. The WD-40 was just to aid in the catheterization process.

The lever had no clicker, just a tension adjustment screw. That's why I bought that one. Easier that way.

[pasinbuy]

Originally Posted by Feetwet

The lever had no clicker, just a tension adjustment screw. That's why I bought that one. Easier that way.

Nice, what is the brand, or do you have any info on the part. Sounds like a better unit than the Schimono shifter that I used.

You did a nice job installing.

[jeepster93]

Looks clean. Good install.
In fact it looks like my install.
I guess great minds think alike...

I also got my throttle from the bike shop. $7.00

[Feetwet]

Originally Posted by jeepster93

Looks clean. Good install.
In fact it looks like my install.
I guess great minds think alike...

Thanks, I think....

Turns out is IS a Shimano shifter, just not an indexed one, like jeepster93 has. Didn't pay much attention to the brand when I bought it off the shelf. It just happened to be what I was looking for. The wire is galvanized 1/16" preterminated on the shifter side. Guess I'll edit that in above.