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Hand Throttle Install |
A hand
throttle has been on the back burner for a long time (read 2+ years). I
didn't really like the looks of the Rubicon Express kit and like all
things on the yzership,
I figured there had to be a better and cheaper way. A friend gave me
enough components a year ago to get started, but I really didn't like
all of the mounting options under the hood I'd seen in the numerous
write-ups online and I didn't care for the feel (no smoothness) in
using a bicycle index style shifter. Here is what I came up with;
parts list: 1 - BMX hand brake lever $11 1 - bicycle brake cable & housing $4 1 - TJ throttle cable & housing (ebay) $6 1 - electrical crimp on free (in tool box) First, I installed the brake lever. The one I chose has a spring to return the lever back to zero. That way the feel of the throttle is no different that if I was using the gas pedal. I removed the shifter knob and cut about ¾" of the rubber off the bottom for the lever to clamp around. Using a small hose clamp underneath, I secured the lever to the shifter...  Second, I routed the cable and housing through the firewall by poking a hole in the rubber grommet that is above the gas peddle. I pushed/pulled all of the cable through so it was tight...  Here
is the TJ accelerator cable/housing I got off ebay, and the bicycle
cable...
 I then cut off and discarded the TJ accelerator cable and most of the cable housing. I kept the plastic piece that mounts to the engine and acts as a pass through connector and the rubber hose that goes over the cable to protect it from the engines heat...  At the end of the cable I used an electrical crimp on connector to connect to the throttle body. I pulled the cable tight, marked where the end of the connector should be, and then crimped it on and attached it to the throttle body. Super easy. You can see in my blurry picture that the install looks like a factory job except the connector on the end of the cable. I could go and buy the little gray connctor everybody suggests in their write-ups, but that is $6 more and I'll wait to see if I need to get one as I think the crimp on connector will suffice!  Total time was 30 minutes and total cost was $21. The bottom of the brake lever has a tension nut that I can screw down to tighten the cable. Doing this increases the rpm's. I can now tighten that and increase my rpm's to about 2500, which is a wonderful help when using the onboard air!  It worked flawlessly in Moab. A few people argued with me that the return spring on the lever causes a jerky throttle response on really bumpy trails, but rather than click it to a pre-set on an index shifter that acts as a trail cruise control, I'm able to use it to get over ledges and obstacles. It acts as that missing leg when I'm pointed skyward and need to have one foot on the brakes, one on the clutch, and still need to access the throttle. This keeps me from rolling back, which is something the index shifter can't do. So I'll stick with my set-up. To each their own! [
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