Cruise Control - to buy or not to buy?

[Ricos54]

Just wondering how many of you put cruise control in your truck? I have a flaming River column and I t will cost $400 plus shipping which I have to sent my column to them to have it installed. I know I really like it in my new car, but should I add it in my old modern street Rod? Or is the money better spend somewhere else, so what are you guy's doing?

Thanks

[G&R's57GMC]

Well its a matter of personal choice .

Now if your planning on long drives 100 miles or more on a regular basis then you might want to consider it.

Of course being in Oroville you are a 100 miles or more from fun stuff that you might want to go to

I'll be putting CC in my projects. After all I'm 150 miles from everywhere

[Sweet Willy]

This is no joke. I put CC in my '54 Chevy truck to avoid speeding tickets. I drive alone most of the time and my mind wanders all over the place and the next thing I know I'm doing 80. Love my CC.

[lv2tri2]

So much more freedom even for short trips. I put it in a newer truck and have not regretted it once.

[mr48chev]

One ticket saved or not gotten on a road trip will probably pay for all of it.
I've never had it in the 48 but there is a good chance it will have some sort of cruise control this time around as we have several trips of several thousand miles each planned for it after it hits the road.

In July we took a 5500 mile road trip in the OT car to Kansas and Texas and back through Vegas so the wife could visit the Gold and Silver pawn shop, home of Pawn Stars. The car has a note come up on the instrument panel that says speed is limited to 90mph that is due to my not having put resistors in the system to fake out the electronic suspension. A few times coming up though the middle of Nevada the computer shut the engine down because I had hit that magic number as I wasn't running on cruise control like I had for most of the trip.
The other thing and main thing is that when you get where you are going for the day you aren't near as tired as you would have been without the cruise control.

[Donaldo]

So how are these CC's initiated ? Anyone using a speedometer drive driven one ?

[S10Fan]

I have CC on both my trucks, Dakota Digital on the C-10, Audiovox on my 50. Both use a non column mounted switch, the Audiovox unit operates from a drive shaft sensor, the DD unit connects to a 700R.

Both units operate with no issues and I've come to depend on them for comfort and as stated above, traffic safety.

[1project2many]

Originally Posted by Donaldo

So how are these CC's initiated ? Anyone using a speedometer drive driven one ?

The retrofit types generally use a magnetic sensor. They'll attach a piece of steel or a magnet to the driveshaft and the sensor is mounted so it will generate a voltage as the driveshaft attachment passes by.

OEM type cruise for speedo cables requires a split cable, one in and one out. That might have to be custom made. And the parts to repair / rebuild those units seem to be getting harder to find while the quality is dropping. Many of the tried n true suppliers of OEM cruise repair services are no longer offering them, and some of the biggest guys who used to offer a strong warranty are now offering very little for replacement.

Some of the aftermarket kits are good. Or at least they used to be. I've seen aftermarket cruise modules that work 30 years after they were installed.

[Russell Ashley]

I installed an aftermarket CC on a car back in the 70's and it was still working fine at 201K miles when I sold it. I got it at Sears but it was a Dana kit. I still have a Dana kit from that era that has never been used. A friend bought it but decided he couldn't install it so he sold it to me for $20. I have thought of installing it on my truck but haven't had the need or energy to do it yet.

[_Ogre]

installing cc is all a mater of personal preference, i prefer to have it
it also depends on how many miles you plan on putting on your truck
i use it all the time in my dd and installed it on truk 25,000 miles ago

i have rostra global cruise control on truk rostra.com/universal-aftermarket-cruise-control-by-rostra
back 12 years ago when i started there weren't many options
now i see most aftermarket vendors carry them; summit, amazon, wallmart
i personally would buy it from a vendor that has tech support, as i needed to ask a few questions on my set up

not sure why flaming river needs $400 to add it to the column, my system was way less than that
rosta has a variety of switches: truk has an gm column, they sold me a replacement multi function switch
they also have dash/console switches, piggyback clip ons, switches to fit any vehicle
mine hooks to my 700r4 with a vss on a short add on speedo cable

while they don't recommend installing it in the cab (noise), i did, to keep under hood clean and i've never heard it.
one thing i would recommend when setting up the dip switches: set it to the least aggressive mode
most cars have minimal hp, truk does not. hang on when you hit resume

[Ricos54]

Thanks guy's after looking at a few I think I'm going to get the Dakota Digital CC I have DD gauges so it only makes sense to get there's to hook up to my gauges. Summit has the kit for $242 which will be a lot cheaper than flaming River. Thanks again.

[roger55]

Originally Posted by Ricos54

Thanks guy's after looking at a few I think I'm going to get the Dakota Digital CC I have DD gauges so it only makes sense to get there's to hook up to my gauges. Summit has the kit for $242 which will be a lot cheaper than flaming River. Thanks again.

Rostra makes the Dakota CC.
I have one in my '55 Bel Air. It's great.

[Donaldo]

So to revisit this once again - and the choices available - the Dakota system offers two ways to run - mechanically with the speedometer cable or electronically by a driveline magnet and sensor. Am I correct in thinking the speedo cable is not used with the mag/sensor model ??


Which is better, I'm leaning towards the magnet/sensor model as it would have less moving parts to fail.....?? Opinions please.

[OrrieG]

I don't know, my old man was a big fan of the wood block under and brick on top of the gas pedal on long hauls..... Could also rig the manual throttle cable to work.

[_Ogre]

my rostra cc has a speed signal extension cable
basically a short speedo cable with a signal generator on it
hooks right up to any mechanical speedo drive
also makes it easier to hook up a 700r4 with the stock speedo cable
25,000 mile and no problems (from the cc)

and yes orrieg, i have tried the throttle cable often; speed varies too much
though it is nice for hill starts

[OrrieG]

Got a great visual of you trying to chase down Truk after a push and go attempt with to fast of an idle. My wife tell of sitting in the big trucks in the 50's as a Kansas farm kid watching her older cousin who could not reach all the pedals drive the grain truck next to the combine with the hand throttle set.

[Donaldo]

OK, so would using a magnetic pick up/sending unit negate the use of the speedometer cable as the drive ......seems it would....?

[CaliforniaDaddy]

Here is the kit I am going to use on my 50. Im using the 97 S10 5 speed transmission that has (VSS) engine is a SBC350 with a holley 670 Street avenger carb. The column mounted control will replace my current turn signal switch.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rostra-250-1...:X:RTQ:US:1123

[msaintg]

I am the only one that used the factory CC that came with the S10?

[CaliforniaDaddy]

Oh....please explain!!

[msaintg]

not much to explain... I did a 'real' S10 swap and kept ALL of the S10.... not just a stupid frame

[_Ogre]

Originally Posted by Donaldo

OK, so would using a magnetic pick up/sending unit negate the use of the speedometer cable as the drive ......seems it would....?

i haven't seen those magnet on the driveshaft on a cc since the 80s
not saying they aren't out there, just old technology

[Donaldo]

""i haven't seen those magnet on the driveshaft on a cc since the 80s
not saying they aren't out there, just old technology""

I would have considered the electronic signal type a modern upgrade from cable driven.

[1project2many]

http://www.redline360.com/rostra-uni...ntrol-250-1223

+

http://www.redline360.com/rostra-vss...rator-250-4165

[Ricos54]

I bought my kit from Summit Racing which is Dakota Digtial CC but made by Rosta for $242. Same kit as CaliforniaDaddy has. Putting it on my 350 crate motor with a 700R4 and a aluminum 570 street avenger