Swap in cruise control?

[mnewman]

Greetings all. I thought there was an article showing the steps to swap in stock cruise control onto a truck without. I have searched but I can't seem to find it. Anyone have a link? Or am I mistaken and that doesn't exist?

I have two '88s. One with cruise and tilt column but the other does not. I'm curious about the effort to switch it all from one to the other. Is the whole steering column different to get the tilt wheel? I'm trying to get an idea before I tear things apart.

Thanks.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It isn't a super easy thing but to me it wasn't too bad. From what I remember the main power plugs into the back of the fuse panel. You need the harness that runs between the servo and the amplifier (module) and the harness that goes to the steering wheel and of course the horn pad with buttons. You need to run wires down to a speed sensor on the trans/t-case and tap into the brake signal on the outside of the firewall. Install a vacuum switch on the pedals. And run all the vacuum lines (plain tubing)

Servo bracket and vacuum switch bracket are the hardest to acquire. One is riveted in and one is buried in the dash on top the pedal bracket.

A taste of what needs done:





If you go this route and need any help let me know. I have a lot of diagrams, connector pinouts and troubleshooting stuff and my truck is sitting in the garage if you need pics.

 

[ford4wd08]

I did the duraspark and removal of computer on my B2 that had cruise. I know I removed the vacuum reservoir.

I assume this is something I'll have to reinstall to get mine to work again properly?

Is there just one vacuum line going to the speed control unit? Don't have the B2 to go out and look at currently...... @85_Ranger4x4

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

The vacuum side can get funny and may require some experimentation. Vacuum is weird (dare I say it sucks?)

You need a vacuum line to the servo. Also one going to the brake pedal dump valve.

My donor was an 88 BII with a 2.9. Vacuum line went straight to the intake and had a check valve so I did that on mine. It surged bad (low vacuum) but since I was mashing together a lot of stuff that didn’t come together it threw me off. I hunted down a module from a carbed truck, I added a vacuum reservoir and as I installed that I discovered my hood hinge was pinching the vacuum hose on the top of the brake booster. Then it worked pretty good most of the time but it would still have surging fits. I did some more JY recon and noticed carbed vehicles usually didn’t have a check valve... so I deleted that. It had worked fine so far after that.

Going to Ohio it worked great aside from the trip out in Illonois. The bomb craters in the highway would make it surge. I don't know if it was the check valve sticking or if the PCV bounced and did something funny or what was going on exactly. And then after we got back it had two episodes without an impact.

No engine computer required. It does tap into the wiring of a EFI engine so the computer knows the cruise is on. My truck is a durasparked 5.0... so the aside from the aftermarket radio the most sophisticated electrical part on the truck is the cruise control module.

When I get the truck back together I want to bypass the reservoir and see how it works without it before I do a write up.

Factory install on a 2.9 Ranger:

 

[ford4wd08]

The vacuum side can get funny and may require some experimentation. Vacuum is weird (dare I say it sucks?)

You need a vacuum line to the servo. Also one going to the brake pedal dump valve.

My donor was an 88 BII with a 2.9. Vacuum line went straight to the intake and had a check valve so I did that on mine. It surged bad (low vacuum) but since I was mashing together a lot of stuff that didn’t come together it threw me off. I hunted down a module from a carbed truck, I added a vacuum reservoir and as I installed that I discovered my hood hinge was pinching the vacuum hose on the top of the brake booster. Then it worked pretty good most of the time but it would still have surging fits. I did some more JY recon and noticed carbed vehicles usually didn’t have a check valve... so I deleted that. It had worked fine so far after that.

Going to Ohio it worked great aside from the trip out in Illonois. The bomb craters in the highway would make it surge. I don't know if it was the check valve sticking or if the PCV bounced and did something funny or what was going on exactly. And then after we got back it had two episodes without an impact.

No engine computer required. It does tap into the wiring of a EFI engine so the computer knows the cruise is on. My truck is a durasparked 5.0... so the aside from the aftermarket radio the most sophisticated electrical part on the truck is the cruise control module.

When I get the truck back together I want to bypass the reservoir and see how it works without it before I do a write up.

Factory install on a 2.9 Ranger:

I still have that round resevior on the fender. I deleted the one on the passenger side. Maybe all of mine is still intact? B2 is at the transmission shop fighting a no shift issue. When it gets back I hope to try it out.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I still have that round resevior on the fender. I deleted the one on the passenger side. Maybe all of mine is still intact? B2 is at the transmission shop fighting a no shift issue. When it gets back I hope to try it out.

The round thing on the DS in the picture is the servo. It is like a big vacuum piston that moves the throttle cable.

 

[ford4wd08]

The round thing on the DS in the picture is the servo. It is like a big vacuum piston that moves the throttle cable.

I was thinking it would be smaller, but it is an 80's servo lol

Thanks for the info. I'll get mine working when I get the B2 back.

 

[RobbieD]

I was thinking it would be smaller, but it is an 80's servo lol

It was the '80's, man. Big hair, big servos . . .