Gary's "Nothing Special" Moab trip

[Nothing Special]

I've never seen either MI2 or Thelma and Louise.  And while I do know that there's a cliff out there called "Thelma and Louise Point" and that I drove under it, I didn't know exactly where it was when we were there, so I can say that I saw it, but I didn't know when I did.

If you're looking for movies that show the area, it's not quite in Moab, but a little over 100 miles south, near the Arizona border, is "Forrest Gump Point".

And here's a hand throttle kit at least much the same as what I have, if not the same one (I got mine so long ago I don't recal the brand or where I got it).

[Gary Lewis]

I don't know that I can recommend Mission Implausible 2, but it was entertaining.  And I certainly can't recommend Thelma & Louise.  But I can recommend Forest Gump, although mentioning that movie gets snickers around my family.

We were sitting in the Geneva airport at the end of a European Vacation (speaking of movies) and I was wearing khakies (everything else was dirty) and white sneakers (my street shoes had gotten wet).  We'd purchased a box of Swiss chocolate, which I had on my lap.  I heard snickering and looked over and my wife, my daughter, and my son were about to roll in the floor.  Then one of them said "Run Forest, run!"  

Anyway, thanks for the link on the hand throttle.  Amazon has a similar one, and it is the one that everybody seems to carry - TerraFLex.  

And I found two guys that seem to have used bike shift levers - although I want a throttle kit.  This one connects to an EFI system on an 89 Bronco, and this one originally connected to the throttle linkage in the truck but ended up going out to the throttle body.  But it isn't as neat of an installation.

And now for a funny.  As said, Janey is perusing the internet and just asked if we are going to be on Shafer Trail as she'd found a video of a nice truck going on it.  I said yep, and looked to see what she had - a nice red and white 1984 F350 Crew Cab.  Turns out it has Canadian plates.  

[Nothing Special]

I think I've told you that Jeff, the guy who drives Bam Bam (one of the old Jeeps I meet with in Missouri) uses a bike brake lever for a hand throttle.  He likes that because it doesn't lock the throttle in place, it returns to idle immediately when you release it.  I've never used that type, but I like the TeraFlex one because it DOES lock the throttle.  So to each his own.

And nothing wrong with one of the "roll yer own" set-ups using bike parts, but I bet they don't save much money over getting the TeraFlex kit.  And while there's still a bit of putzing around to get the TeraFlex kit installed, at least you're starting with pretty much everyhthing you need rather than having to make multiple trips to bike shops and hardware stores.

As far as Forrest Gump goes (and yes, he does go pretty far, groan!), I can't recommend that movie.  I watched it with Lesley, her brother and his wife, on VHS soon after it hit the video rental stores.  I joke that the three of them all got a lot more out of the movie than I did, because they all slept through at least halk of it while I stayed awake.  To each his own (in movies as well as hand throttle setups), but that one wasn't for me.

[Gary Lewis]

I think I want my hand throttle to stay on w/o holding it.  There's too many other things to do at that point and I don't want to have to concentrate on holding the throttle steady.

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

I think I want my hand throttle to stay on w/o holding it.

Ok, Gary, so it’s time for another add-on to Big Blue’s well equipped cockpit?



There’s the Cessna throttle style:


Or the Boeing throttle style:

[Nothing Special]

Here are a couple more videos of Shafer Switchbacks.  I don't think Janey would say the Jeeps in them are "nice", but I like them!  You might recognize one in the second video from my videos at SMORR.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5GgO8aelRSk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1WpmwozUAo

And if you're interested, that first video touches on Gemini Bridges.  Here's another video he did just of Gemini Bridges where he drove to near the top and then hiked up to the bottom ("up" because he drove around to farther down the canyon to begin his hike).  I don't know anything about the hike, but I doubt it's hard, and being in the bottom of a canyon it might not be in direct sun.  The road to the top is easy too, so it might be a sight to see when you're out there.

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, I recognize the Jeep with the rope on the front and the "This side up" sticker.  (We used to say "Shiny side up" but I'm not sure that one has a shiny side.)

Both of those videos are good, and I enjoyed watching them.  Obviously that's going to be an easy day, but very scenic, for sure.  But those Jeeps made the corners look easy compared to what I think I'll find.

And, as I was watching I happened to look at the videos listed down the right side of the screen.  There's the one with the "nice truck" Janey was talking about!  (Jeff - I'm going to keep tagging you until you comment.  )

[Gary Lewis]

Yes, Jeff, one more control for Big Blue.  I like the Boeing style, but I think the Cessna is more realistic.

And, as I think about it, there are times when having the engine spinning a bit faster than idle would be good, like when using the winch as there'd be more current from the alternator.  So the hand throttle is a good idea.  

[Nothing Special]

Long Canyon Road is another easy trail that lets you know that you're not in Kansas anymore.  Here's a video I just found of a Toyota Tacoma driving down it.  In 2021 Lesley and I drove up it to get to the main entrance to Canyonlands National Park.  It's nothing iconic, or a must-do or anything.  But it's a fun road to know about if you are interested in wandering around and seeing different things.

[Gary Lewis]

Interesting.  It took a while to find it as I was on the national park services map.  But it was easy to find in All Trails.  

[BigBrother-84]

Gary Lewis wrote

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

I would say that Janey has fine taste.

[Gary Lewis]

I tend to think so - she chose me.  

[Gary Lewis]

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]

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]

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?  

[Nothing Special]

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 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]

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]

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]

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