I would like to install cruise control on my 1980 F 100 5.0 c4.
what are my options?

1200 lbs

 

Practically one of the after-market units is going to be your best bet. Rounding up all the OEM bits to do an OEM conversion and making all the wiring mods would be an exercise in frustration IMHO.

 

Aftermarket units are still out there, the few searches I have done show one maybe two companies still make them. Their common ones utilize the existing speed sensor signal which your truck doesn't have, so you will have to buy the magnet kit and the sensor for the driveshaft. They are not cheap either.

You could round up the parts for a Ford setup. But like was mentioned, it will take some work. The Ford system was a separate box that you will have to wire in place, wire in the switch to the brake pedal, etc. I don't know what they did in 1980, but most I have seen have the controls in the steering wheel. That would be another can of worms, you would have to rewire the horn circuit and run the wiring from the steering column. And then you would need to change the speedometer cable. It was two pieces with a speed sensor in the middle. And you would need to make a bracket to mount the vacuum dump valve onto the brake pedal.

I have found the speed control system in the late 70's and early 80's trucks AND cars seemed to use the same components. So you could get some of the pieces you need from a old LTD or something like that which had cruise on it. But it will be some work and you need to know how to read electrical diagrams. If you want to mount separate switches for the factory system, you will need some resistors also.

 

Thank you for your input. Is the cruise control system a harness that is added to the main harness, or part of the main harness?

 

Thank you for your input. Is the cruise control system a harness that is added to the main harness, or part of the main harness?

 

It is integral to the main harness.

 

I recommend you go aftermarket. You could get the stock one in there, but they wired the horn differently on a cruise controlled truck and added a relay for it. So there is a problem if you try to use the steering wheel controls and tried to plug it in stock. You would have to hand wire it with separate buttons on the dash. I would imagine with the different horn wiring, the main harness was probably different as it came down the assembly line.

 

I'm planning on installing a Rostra cruise control in my 1984...it's on my to-do list, but I just haven't gotten to it yet.

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/191955700959...hoCvd0QAvD_BwE

I have installed a couple of these in the past and they work awesome! They are servo controlled, so they do not rely on vacuum (which I like) and are very precise in their operation. They have proven to be reliable as well.

For an input, I'll be using a factory style VSS in my transmission. I already have one and the speedo cable that goes with it, but I also have a 1990 5spd in my truck, so I don't know for certain if the later style VSS works with the earlier transmissions (although I'm sure it works just fine...I just can't confirm as I have not done it personally). I spoke to Rostra about the Ford VSS and they confirmed that it should work just fine. I think the Ford standard is 8000 pules per mile? Not sure.

Anyway...I'll get to it eventually. Covid has slowed this project down since I can't travel all that far with the truck, cruise control instalation has dropped down the priority list.

 

I did a quick look at 1990 speed sensors, and they all look dead ended. In other words, the gear turns the sensor and that is it. On our old trucks you need to be able to hook the cable up for the speedometer. Not sure how that worked, as I know 1990 still had a cable speedometer. Unless you have two gears? Or do you have a sensor that feeds the drive through to sensor to the cable?

 

Correct. It is a VSS that also drives the speedometer cable. As far as I know, this style sensor started showing up in the later Bullnose years...maybe 1985, but definitely in 1986. They were common in the late 80's right up until 1991 when they retired the cable driven speedometers. You need to order a cable specifically to use with these sensors, and the driven gear goes on the sensor,...not the cable. You can also buy new plug/pigtails for these, which is what I did. Tie one wire to ground, and the other becomes the output for the Rostra cruise control.

Here is the Dorman brand, but there are several others...

https://www.summitracing.com/parts/rnb-917-614

It should work on the earlier transmissions, but I have not tried it personally. If you bought a pickup with no cruise control, nothing changed in the transmisson. The earlier Bullnose VSS was mid-cable, and sometimes right up behind the speedometer in the dash...it worked exactly the same (2 wire, same pules per mile).

 

Thanks for that part number. I looked up the cable, looks very much like a fuel injection pipe connection with the little bump and the c-clip that slides in to hold it.

 

The Ford VSS will work on ALL Ford autos and all their manuals post WWII, and almost all of the Borg-Warner stuff. Just about everything in the bullnose era will take the Ford VSS.

 

Ive got the factory cruise on mine. The sensor is cable driven and was hard to find when mine went. But eventually discovered that almost any old ford v8 car or truck used the same speed sensor, and I found one new in the box for a 78 , cant remember the car but it was a car not a truck like my 81. Worked great. There are two types tho, on one the cables push in, then a fitting screws down to hold it in, both sides of the speed sensor, the others I found the cable pushed in still, but it was held in by a piece that slips over the end and has a clip to hold it instead of threads. So make sure you get the right cables for the sensor. Cables are readily available as is the vaccum pieces. As for the brain, not sure if thats available, but mine looked easy to wire, but the main harness has provisions for the brain harness, not sure if a non factory cruise vehicle will have that harness, so splicing would be needed. Yuck! After market ones are electronic, so easy to wire up, no vacuum !

 

Dave do you have a link to this cable?
Dave ----

 

Here is one

https://www.ebay.ca/itm/281117075511...9a5JKl&vxp=mtr