Broke yet another Throttle Cable.

[Stanglover]

Today I was at a car show and as I left, just pulled onto the roadway, the throttle cable snapped at the little stop block. This is the second one in two years that has snapped at exactly the same place. There is no obstruction or anything the cable could rub on, so why? My guess would be cheapo repops with a weak strength cable, not aircraft grade.
The result was a flat bed recovery truck ride home costing a 100 bucks (Cdn) and that was "my price" as the truck owner is a guy I know.
So now, I have a question; does anyone know of a better cable or fix for this? It's of course a 351C.
I probably could fabricate one that would not be this easy to break, but.............
Any thoughts?

 

[Cleveland Crush]

I've heard a fair share of quality complaints about aftermarket throttle cables for our cars. Two things I'll throw out:
1. Keep both the carb end and the pedal end lubed. I use these 12" spray straws to reach the pedal side throttle cable sleeve and lube the clutch and brake pedal bushings at the same time annually.
20 12" Long Reach Extension Straws for Aerosol Spray Can Tips https://a.co/d/0RFJTHS

2. Good used oem Ford throttle cables are available (about twice the $$ of the repops) and easily outlast the reproductions.This may be the way to go after the two failures.
Sorry to hear of your Stangs breakdown.

 

[giantpune]

My first thought is how is everything setup? What's your linkage look like where the throttle cable attaches to the intake and carb?

Next up, do you care about it looking stock? I run the lokar throttle and kickdown cables in some of my hotrods. I'm going on 20 years on 1 of them and still haven't broken it.

As far as having to get trailered home, you could have made it home like that. I'm not 1 generation removed from the trailer park. I can remember riding around with a redneck uncle up in ohio. His shitbox truck had a broken throttle cable. He drove all over town with a piece of speaker wire tied to the throttle of the carb, running in through the firewall, and tied to a hair brush. Pull the hairbrush to give it more vroom vroom.

 

[Sheriff41]

I'm with Chris on this - get a good OEM cable.

 

[Stanglover]

I've heard a fair share of quality complaints about aftermarket throttle cables for our cars. Two things I'll throw out:
1. Keep both the carb end and the pedal end lubed. I use these 12" spray straws to reach the pedal side throttle cable sleeve and lube the clutch and brake pedal bushings at the same time annually.
20 12" Long Reach Extension Straws for Aerosol Spray Can Tips https://a.co/d/0RFJTHS

2. Good used oem Ford throttle cables are available (about twice the $$ of the repops) and easily outlast the reproductions.This may be the way to go after the two failures.
Sorry to hear of your Stangs breakdown.

Thanks Chris.
I don't think lubrication was the problem, but stress. But why was it stressed?
Actually, this was the third cable to break at that point now I think of it. When I went to LA to see and buy the car in 08, the cable broke right when the owner was going to take me for a test drive. We took a trip out to Ventura and NPD for a replacement. It had broken at the same place.
So before I put in another, I need to crawl under the dash and try to figure out why. I don't recall any problem in that area, but definitely going to be checked.
As for a new cable, looking for an NOS one is a good idea, I'm done with this repop POS.
Actually, as someone with a machining background and many years prototyping automotive parts, I think I may have come up with a way to reuse the cable outer sleeve and make up a new stronger inner cable. The look will be the same, but the cable will be much stronger and more importantly, replaceable.
As I work through this, I'll post up what I decide to do. For now it sits in the garage,

 

[Stanglover]

My first thought is how is everything setup? What's your linkage look like where the throttle cable attaches to the intake and carb?

Next up, do you care about it looking stock? I run the lokar throttle and kickdown cables in some of my hotrods. I'm going on 20 years on 1 of them and still haven't broken it.

As far as having to get trailered home, you could have made it home like that. I'm not 1 generation removed from the trailer park. I can remember riding around with a redneck uncle up in ohio. His shitbox truck had a broken throttle cable. He drove all over town with a piece of speaker wire tied to the throttle of the carb, running in through the firewall, and tied to a hair brush. Pull the hairbrush to give it more vroom vroom.

Thanks for your input.
The cable set up is stock for the 351C. It's a manual trans car, so no kickdown.
I would certainly consider a non stock cable, but if you read my reply to Chris, I think I've figured a way to make up a stronger cable and still keep a stock look.
Buying an NOS would be my choice if all else fails. I'm done with repop cables. Besides, the last one I got for the 71/72 pedal from NPD, was an inch too long. 71/72's are supposed to be 22.5" long. The 73 with a different pedal attachment, is 23.5" The repop 71/72 was 23.5" and I had to shorten it by uncrimping the "eye", cutting the cable and re-crimping the eye. That was NOT the problem or cause for the breakage.
I did think about limping it home with the idle set up high, but I was over 10 miles from home and would have to travel on a very busy road. Trucking it was my safest option. I did however actually drive the car up onto the flatbed deck, that was "fun"!

 

[351c1971]

As a last resort, you might check your ground from the battery to the block. If this is marginal, current might be flowing thru the accelerator cable. I had this problem once with the shift cable on
my T-Bird.

 

[Cleveland Crush]

As a last resort, you might check your ground from the battery to the block. If this is marginal, current might be flowing thru the accelerator cable. I had this problem once with the shift cable on
my T-Bird.

Interesting...may I ask how you determined said current flow? Thanks!

 

[MikeGriese]

What does the cable look like at the break? Is it frayed, cut, discolored? Might give an idea as to why it is failing. It seems odd to have this happen repeatedly in the same fashion on a single car, when other cars don't have this problem.

 

[72mokk1]

Could it be that your cable is pulling the linkage too far over center? Check for cable slack at full throttle...

 

[rcadd1ct]

I am running a lokar unit, but my car isn’t stock

 

[Stanglover]

As a last resort, you might check your ground from the battery to the block. If this is marginal, current might be flowing thru the accelerator cable. I had this problem once with the shift cable on
my T-Bird.

Not thought of that, but I know the grounds are all good on this car.

 

[Stanglover]

I am running a lokar unit, but my car isn’t stock

I could look at the Lokar cable if it's not too long for a stock setup. Thanks for the pic.

 

[Stanglover]

Could it be that your cable is pulling the linkage too far over center? Check for cable slack at full throttle...

Good point, definitely worth checking.

 

[rcadd1ct]

I could look at the Lokar cable if it's not too long for a stock setup. Thanks for the pic.

They are cut to fit universal part.

I made a plate to mount it to the firewall and and a metal adapter at the pedal. I didn’t want to permanently modify the pedal.

 

[351c1971]

Interesting...may I ask how you determined said current flow? Thanks!

The shift cable was welded together internally and the trans could not be shifted out of park. Replaced the shift cable and added an additional grounding cable from the frame to the block. The problem never recurred.

 

[Stanglover]

The shift cable was welded together internally and the trans could not be shifted out of park. Replaced the shift cable and added an additional grounding cable from the frame to the block. The problem never recurred.

Weird!!

 

[Stanglover]

They are cut to fit universal part.

I made a plate to mount it to the firewall and and a metal adapter at the pedal. I didn’t want to permanently modify the pedal.

Thank you. An interesting idea and fix.

 

[roboconklin]

As a last resort, you might check your ground from the battery to the block. If this is marginal, current might be flowing thru the accelerator cable. I had this problem once with the shift cable on
my T-Bird.

I agree. I’d check the ground from the block to the fire wall too. Also make sure the mounts are good. Lokar makes good cables,but they are flashy silver. Could paint it black . Just an option.

 

[Stanglover]

I agree. I’d check the ground from the block to the fire wall too. Also make sure the mounts are good. Lokar makes good cables,but they are flashy silver. Could paint it black . Just an option.

Electrical feed back is not something most would even think of, but definitely worth checking. However in my case, I know the connections are new, clean and good. That said I will double check.
My thoughts right now is to take the Lokar carb connector idea and machine my own. I don't like the set screw to hold the cable into that connector (if that is what it is). I will then use the existing cable outer, use a thicker ss inner cable and make up a new, replaceable pedal connection, yet to be devised. I want something that is easily repairable but hope I never need to again.