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Thread: Flaming River tilt column and cruise control

  1. #1
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Flaming River tilt column and cruise control

    Got to working on figuring out how to wire up my cruise control using the Dakota Digita (Rostra) unit with turn signal arm controls and a Flaming River tilt column. After reading the instructions I was disappointed to find out that DD tells you to run the wires on the turn signal lever on the outside of the column. What BS. So I searched the web looking for something on how to get the wires routed inside the column down to the column connector and found nothing so far.

    I did, however, look at FR's site and they sell the same Rostra cruise control. There's a note that says....

    Note: We recommend ordering this item at the same time you purchase your Flaming River column. Our column assemblers will install the unit on the column before it ships.

    http://www.flamingriver.com/index.ph...0025/FR20118-4



    I don't know if they really mean ON the column or if they route the wires inside the column when it's assembled. I know disassembly and re-assembly of a tilt column can be a big PITA so it would be nice to be able to get the wires inside somehow without disassembling it if I can.

    Has anyone here done this or know of anyone who has? Can the wires be routed inside? I sure don't want the wires strapped to the side of my column.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  2. #2
    Registered Member Custer55's Avatar
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    You would think there is a way to get the wires inside the column but probably a big pain and "some dis-assembly required" I Would check with Flaming River to see if they can point you in the right direction. When I modified my van column that was one of the issues is that the wiring was on the outside of the column. I modified mine to get the wiring hidden inside but since I didn't add wires for cruise control so I would probably just go with push button controls that could be mounted in the counsel if I ever add cruise control.

  3. #3
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    I like Custer55's idea. There are better alternatives than on the turn signal switch anyway. I remember Painless use to make a 4 button/relay wireless remote horn button. Seemed like a good idea, but I don't know why it went away. I almost bought one. No modern cars have them on the turn signal lever anymore for some reason?

  4. #4
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    You can put the wires internally in a Flaming River column. It's actually pretty easy if you do it before you install the column.

    I didn't do it for cruise, but added the switch and extra wires for the dimmer switch. But the column doesn't know what the wires are connected to.

    It's been so long I don't remember who I bought the turn signal arm and switch from. The turn signal knob with the switch in it is the same style as the FR turn signal arm and knob. You can use some .023" or .030" mig wire to fish the wires through the column. The whole deal takes about 5 minutes. I'm not recalling now, but the connector for the turn signals, etc. may have had a blank terminal or two, making the wiring exiting from the column seamless also. I will see if I can find the vendor.

    Modern cars have the cruise on the steering wheel, and lots more wires to pass through the column.

  5. #5
    Registered Member WagonCrazy's Avatar
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    1. Call Flaming River Tech support in the morning to ask what's involved in running wires inside your column.
    2. Or get some bluetooth capacity between your blinker lever and the cruise control unit under the hood and nix the wires altogether.
    1957 Nomad- LS1/T56 on C4 chassis
    1959 Fleetside Apache 1/2 ton, shortbed, big window, 327ci.

  6. #6
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    Well I have to walk back part of what I said, but that does not mean you can't get there from here.

    My turn signal lever with switch came from Watson's Streetworks. www.watsons-streetworks.com or 860-859-0513.

    This product can be used in a GM, Ididit, or FR column, and probably many others. It has a round stalk with a flat end bent correctly for these columns. The knob is aluminum billet, not like the FR knob, but they'll sell you a tilt mechanism knob that matches theirs (I need to buy one).

    I was partially correct on the FR connector having unused terminal locations, but I don't have any terminals for that connector and don't have any idea where to get them, so for now I just have two flying wires (20 gauge) exiting the hole and grommet in the FR column where the rest of the harness does. Actually that's no big deal having those two tiny wires in that connector.

    Watson's website is pretty hard to navigate, took me a while to find the product back and not much info. A phone call might serve one better.

    They also have switches for the tilt lever too. Best I can see a couple of styles of knobs.

    Or you could make your own.
    Last edited by Rick_L; 01-24-2019 at 05:42 PM.

  7. #7
    Registered Member busterwivell's Avatar
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    I'm planning on adding cruise to my Ididit tilt column soon. I didn't realize it was going to be a big issue. I'll watch as you guys work thru this before I order anything.

  8. #8
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    I e-mailed FR Tech support yesterday but haven't heard back from them yet. My column is not installed yet.

    As you can see the cruise control turn signal arm has a connector on the end of the wires, so clearly that housing needs to come off. The turn signal harness seems to be a fairly tight fit in the grommet in the center of the column tube. But I think I can get the cruise control wires through it. The wires are all inside of a sheath so it's just one thing I have to pull through. I assume I need to remove the grommet before trying to fish any wires through, then re-install it.

    Is there a particular hole in the top of the column that the wires should exit through? Do I need to take the column apart at all, such as removing the turn signal assembly?

    This DD lever is supposed to be for an early GM column, but it's too wide to fit into the slot in the plastic turn signal switch for some reason. I guess I'll have to grind it down a little to make it fit. The one in the pic I posted looks like it's ground down a little and mine doesn't look like that.

    On another note I called Dakota Digital Tech Support this morning. I was wanting some information about their PAC-1300A headlight/dome/retained accessory power module. I asked the guy how much current the "DOME" output could sink.....he had no idea and said he's never had that question asked so he put me on hold and came back without an answer. I asked how many incandescent bulbs it could drive and he said 2-3. He said if I wanted to drive more I would have to use a relay. I reminded him that using a relay would negate the function of the "soft" dome dimming and he said "oh yeah". I want to use the DOME output to drive a relay to invert my dome signal to +12V when the doors open to drive the lights in the doors, so I told him I wanted to drive that relay. He said he wasn't sure you could do that because the relay would "chatter". So why did he say I needed a relay if I wanted to drive more than 2-3 lights?

    Next I asked him what the difference was between the "Headlight" and "Park light" outputs on the module. He put me on hold and came back and said they both go active low at the same time. So I asked why they have two different relays then, one to drive the headlights and one to drive the park lights. He said it was a "safety" thing. Huh?

    One thing I forgot to ask is why they don't automatically turn on the taillights too. They need to go on with the park lights and stay on with the headlights. But if everything is driven the same, everything turns on at the same time. The instructions don't say a thing about taillights.

    In the end I didn't know anything more about the controller than I did before I called.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  9. #9
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    Here's another thing I found. In the Dakota Digital Cruise Control System manual there are a few things that are kinda weird regarding the wiring....

    "Violet: Connect to cold side of brake light switch. This wire should have 12 volts only when the brakes are depressed. When the brake is not depressed it should be grounding through the brake light bulbs. If the brake light bulbs are not contacted or are burned out, the system will not operate. LED brake lights will not provide the proper grounding. If you have LED brake lights, use a relay to switch the violet wire between 12 volts and ground."

    So apparently the violet wire goes to a "floating" input inside the controller that needs to be pulled to ground. I'm assuming it's an open-collector input with a pull-up resistor on it that pulls the input to 12V when the ground is not connected. I wonder why they didn't use a positive signal instead.

    However, looking at the wiring diagram I see another signal......"1 Red/Brown positive brake". This signal goes to the 4-pin connector that goes to the column. It looks to me like the column switch just sends a 12V signal to the control unit when you turn the column switch to "off". So why couldn't a guy connect the brake switch to that input?

    The violet wire input actually says "2 violet negative brake". To me that implies that the input should be GROUNDED when the brakes are applied, but the description above says it's grounded through the bulbs when the brakes are NOT applied and goes to +12 when the brakes are applied! Guess I need to call DD again and get another non-answer.

    Moving on....Page 2:

    Lt. Green: This wire is taped up in the harness and should not be connected to anything."

    But on page 14:

    "Light Green - Neutral Safety Switch (NSS) - (wire is taped at beginning of harness)
    The NSS function is a safety feature of the cruise control. If a vehicle with an automatic transmission is accidentally "knocked" into neutral while the vehicle is in motion and the cruise control is active, the NSS wire, when connected, will disengage the Cruise Control before engine over-rev. Is the NSS wire is not "hooked up", the cruise control will function; however the engine over-rev protection will be inactive; this is dangerous and not recommended. This wire terminates in the harness."



    Page 13:

    "Dark Blue: Tachometer (TACH) wire
    The TACH function is a safety feature of the cruise control. If a vehicle with an automatic transmission is accidentally "knocked" into neutral while the vehicle is in motion and the cruise control is active, the TACH wire, when connected, will disengage the Cruise Control before engine over-rev. If the TACH wire is not "hooked up", the cruise control will function; however the TACH over-rev protection will be inactive; this is dangerous and not recommended. Dakota Digital, INC. always recommends the attachment of the TACH wire."



    So the above seems very conflicting to me. They tell you NOT to hook up the light green wire, then they say if you don't hook it up you can over-rev the engine. But the TACH input seems to protect from that as well.

    The front page of the manual says "Manual of Automatic Transmission Compatibility". "No Clutch Switch Needed (Except Diesel)".

    Since I have a manual transmission, I guess I only need the TACH signal. It must cut off at a fairly high RPM, thus the need for a clutch switch on a diesel.

    Lots of confusing and conflicting stuff from DD.
    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

  10. #10
    Registered Member chevynut's Avatar
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    56 Nomad, Ramjet 502, Viper 6-speed T56, C4 Corvette front and rear suspension


    Other vehicles:

    56 Chevy 2-door BelAir sedan
    56 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    57 Chevy 210 4-door sedan
    1962 327/340HP Corvette
    1961 Willys CJ3B Jeep
    2001 Porsche Boxster S
    2003 Chevy Silverado 2500 HD Duramax
    2019 GMC Sierra Denali Duramax

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