i did the throttle response thing and it works!

[Andy Szkutak]

hey guys well i read the throttle response thing today and i just did it i think anyways...i put 3 sip ties in place btween the spring part and the end of the cable. it feels like its quicker now, and it shifts better now i think somehow. it gets 3000 rpms almost instantly, and the gear changes r felt less...i dont know if thats supposed to do it but i like it...

thanks

andy

 

[Kevin Palmer]

You know what is funny. Several people went out and looked at their pedal when this was first posted earlier today. I know I did, and ummmm, well,,,, lets just say that three wire ties fit.... [Broken External Image]:

 

[Fred]

I'm going to do mine after work.

 

[Mike Wilson]

What zip ties??? What spring???

What mod are we talking about?

Can you tell me how to do it?

 

[Fred]

The link has a picture too!

 

[Kevin Palmer]

One suggestion:

If you need more than one zip tie alternate them. By that I mean thick part of the zip tie on one side and then if you put on a second one turn the zip tie around so the thick side is on the other side of the cable. What this does is keep the cable straight as opposed to the cable bending slightly as pedal pressure is applied.



Once you do it and look at it this will make more sense...

 

[Wes Davis]

I like this and it appears to be a major fix but my question is why is there no legitimate (not rigged) way to remove the slack from the throttle cable? Clutch cable and e brake cables all have adjustments. Is this another stupid American automaker design flaw?

 

[Richard L]

Me,

I'm not aware of any OEM throttle cable on any American car that is adjustable? They all appear to be a fixed length, and non-adjustable.



...Rich

 

[Todd Z]

I would be very careful doing this mod. If you now shorten the cable to the point where the pedal is off the floor and you are pressing to hard on it, you will break the cable or the throttle body or any of the other things that you are over stretching...

The proper way to do this it to have the truck off, remove your intake hose, have someone inside the truck push the pedal to the floor. Now you look inside the throttle body. IF the throttle plate is open exactly flat, meaning the butterfly is as flat as it can get, and doesn't look like it is tilted in any way, your are not going to gain any thing from this... The throttle body has stops on it so you don't over stretch parts. If you are pushing the pedal to the floor and try to push past the stops you will break something. The throttle body is only plastic..

Todd Z

 

[A1cntrler]

I think all the mod is doing Todd is taking the slack out of the cable that is already there, not trying to get more cable or making the throttle body/butterfly open up more. It just eliminates the slack in the pedal when you push it to when the throttle starts responding.

 

[Shawn Hennessy]

Thanks, Todd. I was going to raise the question about safety concerns.



These sorts of backwoods mechanic ideas concern me. If people are circumventing good maintenance/repair practices like this, how safe are they just driving down the road?

 

[Todd Z]

A1 I here you, But it does raise the pedal higher, thus leaving more room between the floor and the back of the pedal... When i installed my TBS i took the slack out using the bracket, this way when i have my foot through the front bumper, the throttle plat is at exactly WOT, and i know there is no un necessary force on any of the parts...

Todd Z

 

[Travis Munday]

When I first encountered this mod years ago over at a Ranger board, it originally had the method Todd suggested to see if you needed the slack taken out to begin with. At WOT the throttle butterfly should be 90° to the intake flow, allowing maximum airflow, and maximum fuel. If, over the years, the cable has stretched, the butterfly will not open the full amount, in which case the slack needs to be taken out to achieve full performance potential. As this 'mod' has circulated around and been posted and reposted many, many times, the butterfly bit has been overlooked as if it's not important. If the butterfly opens all the way already, removing the 'slack' just puts extra stress on the cable and components. Luckily, the way the throttle is set-up in the ST, if there is a failure you will lose all throttle input, and not default to WOT.

 

[Daniel Park]

i dont get how to do it, do you wrap the zip tie around the cable and cut off the dangling piece?

 

[Todd Z]

Do not cut any thing... All your doing is placing the sip tie on there as a spacer...

Todd Z

 

[shawn stonbraker 2]

Daniel, yes, just pull the peddle forward and wrap the tie around the end of the cable just before the ball at the end and cut the excess off the zip tie so it doesn't get hung up on anything. I rarely put my foot to the floor so not to much to worry about there. Nice to get all the "empty" peddle travel out of it.

 

[Conrad AlbertoJr]

I was waiting for somebody today and looked at how much travel there was on my pedal, i couldnt believe how far the pedal came up. I still have the same lingering concern as todd though, my sisters ranger lost its throttle cable and it stayed in the full open position. Arent the ranger/explorer engines similar? SHes got the v6 in hers, and its an 02 with 20 thousand less miles than my truck has. I get what everyone is saying about not adding stress, but since the cable is streched already wouldnt making it taught again stress it more, and eventually weaken it so much that it would snap?

 

[Austin Tatious]

I've had this mod for 3 years... it does respond faster with no problems on breakage or cable stretch. The only problem is with my teenage kids learning to drive...they take off too fast with the better throttle response.

 

[Bill Ellis]

I looked at mine last night and all I can say is this is a bunch of BS. There is no slack in the cable unless you RAISE the pedal. Under normal gravity conditions the weight of the pedal takes all slack out of the cable so when you push the pedal you do get instant reponse already. All you are doing here is moving the pedal closer to the driver's seat which is no different than moving the seat forward. You don't get better anything by doing that. You are only fooling your foot and brain because the pedal is closer than it used to be. After some time, you will adjust and "Learn" to drive just like you used to. This mod is right up there with the TBS and Tornado-cut-up-beer-can votex generator.