Another reason to like the 1st gen..

[John Smith]

Bronco II's or Rangers.....

NO CLOCK SPRING....

I found this out dis-asembling my spare steering column...it happens to be tilt/cruise..from an "88"..

old school..low-tech..I like it

I guess I'm curious when they started using clock springs in RBV's I only have 1st gen experience..

I remember changing one in my "94" Leisure van..."gotta heed that air-bag warning..." I guess..

 

[bobbywalter]

but complication no matter how simple we start is inevitable.

 

[John Smith]

But now that i can have a choice...

but complication no matter how simple we start is inevitable.

I just get to decide how much tech i want to deal with...and it seems my vehicle of choice..seems to be even cheaper by the dozen, though admittedly getting harder to find rust free...

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

old school..low-tech..I like it

And no longer available... gotta love it.

Mine has no cruise, but two of the springs are broke for the horn contacts. My parts truck and every truck I check at the JY is the same way, can't find a new switch anywhere... so for the time being my truck is a mute.

 

[John Smith]

I can see keeping a sharper eye out ...

And no longer available... gotta love it.

Mine has no cruise, but two of the springs are broke for the horn contacts. My parts truck and every truck I check at the JY is the same way, can't find a new switch anywhere... so for the time being my truck is a mute.

for a few spares for this type of occasion..i suppose it could be hard to find a horn/pad etc ..in ANY color..or steering wheel..etc..

i guess it's the old problem...Too new to be vintage, yet too old to be available..we may have to learn how to re-make these things.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

I don't think the pad itself is bad, but there is a series of rings around the steering collum for the connection to go past the steering wheel and into the truck. The rings are so the horn will work in any position instead of a clockspring. There are 3 little spring loaded buttons that are supposed to ride on the rings, but when the springs are shot they don't touch the contacts.

I have a 2 year old Grant steering wheel with its own horn switch, it doesn't work any better than the factory one did.

Yeah, I do agree they are too new and too old in all the wrong places.

 

[Twister]

What is a clock spring ?

 

[exbass94]

What is a clock spring ?

Most vehicles have the horn button on the steering wheel. A lot of cars now also have many buttons on the steering wheel for cruise control, stereo controls, etc. All of these buttons need wires connected to them. (Edit: Oh yeah, and airbags too!) But you can't just run some wires up the steering column to the wheel-- every time you turn the steering wheel, the wires will get all twisted and tangled together. They will probably eventually break and/or short out. So, you have a clock spring in the steering wheel. It's kind of like a spool with this thin ribbon-like wire wrapped around it. It connects all of the buttons on the steering wheel to the rest of the vehicle without getting any wires tangled up when you turn the wheel.

1st gen Rangers/BIIs have the horn switch on the turn signal stalk, not on the wheel. They also don't have airbags, cruise control or any other buttons on the wheel. Therefore, they don't have a clock spring.

One of the S10s at work has the airbag light on constantly and the horn doesn't work...it has a bad clock spring. When the clock spring goes bad, it basically unplugs/disconnects the buttons and airbag from the rest of the vehicle.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

Horn on the turn signal stalk?

Mine had the horn on the wheel like every other street legal vehicle I have been in. Even had the little horn emblems molded into the rubber cover. The signal stalk is just a rod sticking out of the collum, nothing moves on it aside from the ratchet back for hi and low beam and up and down for signals. I think the very early ones had a floor dimmer switch so they didn't even have that.

The wiper lever has three detents up for different speeds and the end rotates for variable speeds in the first detent, otherwise nothing moves on it either.

They had the cruise controls on the steering wheel too, but I have never had the wheel off of one that had it to know what they are like inside.

They don't have a clockspring but not because there are no electronics on the wheel, they took a simpler and cruder approach to doing the same thing.

My factory wheel looked just like that but without the cruise controls, you can see the horn things on each side of the oval in the cover too.

 

[exbass94]

83-85 Rangers/BIIs had the horn on the turn signal lever.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107105&highlight=horn+turn+signal

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

83-85 Rangers/BIIs had the horn on the turn signal lever.

http://www.therangerstation.com/forums/showthread.php?t=107105&highlight=horn+turn+signal

Strange my '85 does not, does not have a clockspring either.

I wouldn't be all that surprised if someone swapped in a later 1st generation collum at some point though either...

Didn't know that about the early ones though.

 

[TexCaliBII]

Odd,
My 84 BII was all factory and had the horn pad in the steering wheel center like modern trucks, no cruise though.

 

[John Smith]

This has turned into an interesting bit of info

It seems there may be two types of early Early RBV horn actuation, some with turn signal switches and some with the usual steering wheel pad activation. I wonder if it depended upon the type of options?...

I've seen early 4 spoke steering wheels, and then a 2 spoke one as well.. make a differance either way?..I know i will check my extra "84" turn signal switch to see what it is for sure...

either way they were both not using a clock spring design...all of that neat to know..

In my 94 E150 I believe the mechanic who changed my steering gear might've "over-wound" my clock spring...at least it was broken after i got the van out of the shop and had to change it...

the air bag light was on, horn or cruise didn't work....but a few hours later and about $100 a new clock spring fixed it...I won't miss having to do that to my B2....again lower tech..but easier repaired IMHO

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

It seems there may be two types of early Early RBV horn actuation, some with turn signal switches and some with the usual steering wheel pad activation. I wonder if it depended upon the type of options?...

I've seen early 4 spoke steering wheels, and then a 2 spoke one as well.. make a differance either way?..I know i will check my extra "84" turn signal switch to see what it is for sure...

My '85 brochure plainly shows the horns molded in the cover and cruise buttons on the steering wheel on page 9... must have been an uncommon option thing to get the signal one.

The early ones had a lot of goofy little crap that was changed after a year or two of production.

 

[Twister]

The steering wheel on my 85 looks just like 85_Ranger4x4. The 84 parts truck i have has the horn on the turn signal stick, which i thought was really dumb.