Stretched throttle cable?

[SixFoFalcon]

I just bought a '99 Ranger 4x2 on Friday and I'm going through the usual maintenance stuff that I do when I get a used vehicle (fluid changes, filters, ignition tune-up, etc.) and getting familiar with the truck. The first thing I noticed when I test-drove the truck was that the gas pedal sat very low to the floor and it felt like flooring it wasn't really getting full throttle to the engine.

So I assumed something was up with the throttle cable/linkage and I could just adjust it. But when I checked both ends of the cable, I saw that there isn't much adjustment that can be done. Does this mean the throttle cable has actually stretched over time from use/abuse? This seems very unlikely but I can't seem to pinpoint any other reason why there would be so much slack in the cable.

From searching around here and on other forums, I found that it's not an uncommon condition, and I was able to use the "zip tie" fix on the gas pedal end of the cable to take up the slack, so it's not a problem any more. But still I'm curious as to how this has happened on my truck and so many others. Any ideas?

 

[Ranger44]

Just fatigue of the cable material.

It just stretches out after repeated use.

Remind you these trucks most of us run are 9-20some years old. That's a lot of pedal smashing.

 

[fixizin]

It's like people who push the elevator call button multiple times, harder and harder, thinking it will arrive quicker, lol.

Same thing with the 3.0L Vulcan engine, we the peeps keep MASHING on that pedal, waiting for the 500 ft. lbs. of torque to show up...

Can't wait for the first Ranger-head to find a "deal" on a wrecked GT or Shelby Mustang w/ that 500HP aluminum V8 BEASTMASTER in it... and fit it to the Ranger!... I will build a shrine to him.

 

[philS]

it felt like flooring it wasn't really getting full throttle to the engine

That reminds me of my Saturn. Nothing wrong with the cable, but there is literally no difference in engine behavior between one quarter and full throttle.