hand throttle question

well in my never ending quest to do cheap/free upgrades on my jeeps, i've been playing with the "hand throttle" idea.

obviously with running a winch and other accessories, it would be nice to be able to increase the idle a little bit. now i've done alot of research on the hand throttle, but still have one question that i can't seem to find the answer for.

from my understanding, the lever attaches to the shifter. so let's stay you have your shifter in neutral during install, and you get the cable length adjusted properly and it's working. what would stop the cable from slacking when you shift forward (1st,3rd,5th), and tightening (which would cause it to rev up) when you shift back (2nd,4th,R)???

i've been racking my brain about this and can't figure it out. if adjusted in neutral and you get slack while shifting forward, that wouldn't cause much of a problem, but if you shift back and it suddenly revs up while shifting, i could see that as a hazard, or "counterproductive".

what am i not seeing???

If you mount it at the bottom of you shifter there is less movement in comparison to the top, give your self an extra 1/8 to1/2 inch and you should be fine. Did you use a bicycle shifter and cable or did you buy a kit? just curious.

Ummm you guys need to do a little bit more reasearch! The thing that you mount is the OUTER sleeve within which the shifter cable resides. Ever seen a bicycle brake line or shifter line? They ussually reside in an outer sleeve which is solid so as it's shifting around the extra slack you have lessens or increases but it doesn't change anything when it comes to the position of the throttle cable as that's controlled by the inner hard line.

Kejtar said:

Ummm you guys need to do a little bit more reasearch! The thing that you mount is the OUTER sleeve within which the shifter cable resides. Ever seen a bicycle brake line or shifter line? They ussually reside in an outer sleeve which is solid so as it's shifting around the extra slack you have lessens or increases but it doesn't change anything when it comes to the position of the throttle cable as that's controlled by the inner hard line.

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i understand that, but then again i've never seen the handle bars move away from the gears on a bicycle, so the cable would stay the same lenght.

i realize there is a steel line inside the "outer sleeve", but what i'm getting at is that the actuall steel line goes from the handle of the shifter to the throttle body. so when you move the shifter, it would either give slack or tighten up the cable.

i guess placing it lower on the shifter would reduce the distance that it would travel. it just thought i remembered the pictures i looked at to have the lever directly below the shift knob. but i still don't see how it wouldn't throw it out of adjustment. i totally understand how the product is "supposed" to work, i just can't seem to understand how shifting wouldn't affect it. maybe i just have to see it in person so i can see what i'm missing.

scorpio_vette said:

i understand that, but then again i've never seen the handle bars move away from the gears on a bicycle, so the cable would stay the same lenght.

i realize there is a steel line inside the "outer sleeve", but what i'm getting at is that the actuall steel line goes from the handle of the shifter to the throttle body. so when you move the shifter, it would either give slack or tighten up the cable.

i guess placing it lower on the shifter would reduce the distance that it would travel. it just thought i remembered the pictures i looked at to have the lever directly below the shift knob. but i still don't see how it wouldn't throw it out of adjustment. i totally understand how the product is "supposed" to work, i just can't seem to understand how shifting wouldn't affect it. maybe i just have to see it in person so i can see what i'm missing.

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OK... look at it this way: if you have a bicycle, and you unbolt the shifter and hold it in hand adjustement doesn't change. The outer sleeve of the cable is connected to the shifter and connected to the throttle so the distance of the shifter along the outer cable in relation in relation to the throttle never changes. The shape of the cable might change or the shortest distance between the shifter itself but those two have no impact on adjustment. I don't know how to explain it better.

Same as Kejitar said, but different example. Ox Lockers. Think of that. The body stays still but your axle will articulate and move all around, making the cable move, but will not engage the locker until you flip the toggle. You're not actually changing the length of the cable until you flip the handle, or in your case, move the throttle lever. It shouldn't cause a problem at all. In fact, as long as the sleeve is fixed on either end (ie, attached to the gear shifter and attached to the the support near the throttle body) you'll never have any problems. Yes, the cable should move and WILL move, so don't worry.

oh i get it now. because if there is extra slack, the "outer sleeve" will just curve or do something else and keep the cable contained in it. that's the part i was missing. even though i realized that there was a sleeve around the cable, i didn't actually think of it as playing any role in the install. i was just stricktly thinking about the cable.

so then theoretically you do have to install some "extra lenght". cuz if i had the shifter in 1st while installing it, and made the cable/sleeve tight, it would rev up when i shift into neutral or any of the "rear" gears.

ok got it. sorry, i've been sick lately and been using my time to come up with new project ideas for when i get better. so my head working a little slower than normal.

thanks

even if you installed it tight as hell in park and then tried to shift, it wouldn't change the throttle position (not to mention you wouldn't be allowed to shift out of park, the outer sleeve wouldn't let you). Just put your jeep in 1-2 and install it and you should have plenty of slack to allow you to shift and allow for motor flex and all that stuff.