Where to buy: Rosewood (or similar) cruise/horn bars

[ratdude747]

My Horn bar (rose wood with cruise) is in terrible shape (broken, chunks missing)... and some days something loose inside shorts out the horn switch, honking the horn as a turn the wheel!

I thought I saw that the could be found but the logo was a bit different. This still the case?

[kramttocs]

The rosewood ones in good shape go pretty high on eBay and the nos ones are often several hundred.

I haven't heard about a different logo but there is the van woodgrain or the later truck burlwood.

Some have had decent luck re-making rosewood with markers and stain.
There was also a discussion awhile back where a member was looking into hydro dipping or making pre-cut stickers.

When you say "similar" does that mean you are ok with something not rosewood?

[ratdude747]

Honestly if push came to shove, I'd take anything that fits and has the cruise buttons. I'd take mine apart and try to fix it if wasn't already chunked out (was that way when I bought it two years ago, but has gotten worse). Maybe I will see if I can fix the switch and it will stay chunked out since I'm not doing a full show-truck restoration on it. Just annoying to have the horn go off without warning and not shut off until I yank on plunger just the right way to break the connection.

Logo wise, what I saw was on the logo having raised lettering or being flat. Mine is the former

[rcarlisle]

My bar looks like someone has worked on it in the past.   It was missing a logo on the middle.  I ordered this one from LMC for like $5.  Shows that it isn't available currently.  It is a stick on and doesn't fit perfectly but was better than nothing.  THose bars always seem high to me, even used.  

https://www.lmctruck.com/1980-96-ford/steering-column-parts/fd-1980-86-steering-wheel-components

This is only photo I have showing it.  Cloisonne kinda thing.  

[Gsmblue]

These parts are getting very hard to find. The cruise horn pad and the radio bezel (with the cut outs for the clock/trip). I search every day for anything that is sensible and I have not found anything for months...

My local junk yard has not had any "new" bullnose trucks since winter.

It is getting real tough.

[Rusty_S85]

Gsmblue wrote

These parts are getting very hard to find. The cruise horn pad and the radio bezel (with the cut outs for the clock/trip). I search every day for anything that is sensible and I have not found anything for months...

My local junk yard has not had any "new" bullnose trucks since winter.

It is getting real tough.

Same here, I saw one wood grain NOS horn assembly on ebay 3 years ago.  Its the correct part number for my '82 with cruise control I didnt buy it cause the guy wanted $650 for it and felt that was way too much.  Now I wished I would have bought it cause its been the only one I seen and now all I see are non cruise ones.

Bezels the same way, Id love to buy new bezels for my truck but no one makes them anymore.  I remember a post made a couple years ago about LMC looking to expand the product line up for our trucks but nothing since then.  Someone needs to start doing something for some of these parts.  I dont think the original molds exist though cause Dennis Carpenter has the original molds for the door panels so if they still existed for the bezels they would have been making them.

[ratdude747]

Sadly all they have are the non-cruise variety... I guess I could technically DIY cruise controls outside the wheel, but I'd prefer to keep it stock.

Guess I'll try to fix what I have... If not, well, hope I don't get road raged/pulled over for a randomly blaring horn...

[ratdude747]

Took it apart yesterday. The leftomost spring perch broke off the horn bar and the spring was rattling loose. Reassembled with the spring removed and the leftmost section of the horn bar contact strip cut off... seems to work. Not ideal since I can't use my left thumb to honk any more... but better than having a randomly honking horn or one that honks if I brush the wheel the wrong way.

[Gary Lewis]

Well that's progress, and as Jim says progress is good!  

[1986F150Six]

I thought of this thread when seeing this used 1985 steering wheel with cruise buttons:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/124816536585?hash=item1d0fa53409:g:O9EAAOSwD15g52ZF

[ratdude747]

Very tempting but out of current budget!

Good point on looking for the whole wheel, not just the bar... Duh.

[1986F150Six]

Here is another consideration at a lower price:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/294283004403?hash=item4484a249f3:g:3RQAAOSwBD1g9McO

[1986F150Six]

One more, from a van:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/184952724485?hash=item2b100a9c05:g:pnkAAOSwpd9g9Y66

[1986F150Six]

Making do at a much lower price?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/304071126872?hash=item46cc0d2f58:g:UJwAAOSwhTtg81gu

[ratdude747]

Best offered.

My rosewood is shot on my cover so this is close enough. I can always try to refinish it later if I cared that much... At least it's not in literal cracked up chunks.

Edit- bought. Was able to haggle it down a bit... Other than the wood pattern (or lack thereof), that's a very close match to what's on there now (buttons are correct, bar shape is correct, and the logo is embossed).

[Gsmblue]

Now you are all causing me problems!!!

One more beer and I’ll pull the trigger in that wheel..

[Gsmblue]

Urgh… trigger pulled. It took one more sip not one more beer.

I now have more steering wheels on the shelf than in trucks..

[1986F150Six]

Gsmblue wrote

Urgh… trigger pulled. It took one more sip not one more beer.

I now have more steering wheels on the shelf than in trucks..

 

[ratdude747]

Came in today.

Good news:

-Unit is in good (enough) cosmetic shape. Only broken piece is the silver trim ring around the coast/set switch (which I'm pretty sure I have intact on mine, requires dissecting the switch).
-The fake tan leather around the cruise buttons is all one tan plastic piece unlike mine (which is a black plastic under layer with a plastic wrap containing the rosewood finish, which is all falling apart).


Bad news:

-Took it apart... found chafed wiring on the cruise buttons. Will address while I have it in pieces.

Not digging the worn fake leather finish... since I doubt I can just buy a rosewood look-alike "wallpaper" to wrap things, what to do? Paint it brown and call it close enough? Or come up with a different color scheme for the rosewood in the rest of the interior? The only other rosewood I have is on the dash (instrument cluster and radio/HVAC bezel)... it's in OK shape, but not perfect (chips/flaws) and my truck isn't a show piece either. Maybe red or orange? Ideas welcome here...

[ratdude747]

Switch part swap complete. Do not recommend; the upper plastics are glued on and very fragile. was able to make it work, but it required breaking the lower plastics of my existing switches (buttons corroded, hence why I didn't just move them directly). Broke the upper too... but since I had both pieces, I was able to glue it all back together.