King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

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King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

July 17, 2020, 08:01:25 am

After earlier repairs on my King Cruise Control it has finally given up the ghost (PO converted to air throttle and used the King Cruise unit). In attempting to contact Steve at King Cruise, I've learned they are out of business. He is advertising some parts and things but no more rebuilds, no more system sales. Nobody answers the phone or returns calls. What a shame. Two years ago he was so helpful in solving my problem at the time.

I have the mechanical Cummins 8.3 with the Allison 3060R for info. Anyone have some advice as to where I should start research to install a new cruise & high idle control?

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #1 – July 17, 2020, 08:48:20 am

Let me do a little research, have a good spare King control and cable but reluctant to part with it.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #2 – July 17, 2020, 09:30:14 am

Alan,

Have you looked around online? I just Googled "aftermarket cruise control for trucks" and the first hit was Cruise King. No help. The second hit is Rostra. I know nothing about this company, but a quick scan of the web ad makes it sound promising. You might check it out.

Rostra 250-1223 Universal Cruise Control System

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #3 – July 17, 2020, 09:35:02 am

Any chance any of our electrical gurus can buy out Steve and repair the controls?

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #4 – July 17, 2020, 11:36:18 am

I saw that Rostra came up in the archives in relation to replacing the control stick. I was hoping that someone had already solved this problem (with King recently closing probably not). I would love a plug and play! 👀

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #5 – July 17, 2020, 06:23:55 pm

Try taking the unit apart and looking for an obvious problem, broken wire etc, you got nothing to lose.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #6 – July 17, 2020, 06:40:59 pm

I got a control stick from Rosetta. I knew we were in deep dung when Steve closed in Faribault Mn. I bought a new control box and cable before he closed but probably won't be the end of needs. Keep us posted on any vendor that may be of help with these units and good luck.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #7 – July 17, 2020, 08:30:21 pm

Learning that Steve Boller & his Throttle - Cruise Control business is not there for us is a BIG problem . . .

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #8 – July 18, 2020, 09:16:11 am

Yup, when the world went to electronic engines, the cruise control is built into the engine ECU. No more market for an (excellent) external cruise.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #9 – July 18, 2020, 09:31:44 am

If I may, it is Cruise Control and Throttle System, spoke with M&M Electronics about taking on the King product and two other companies who specialize in repairing obsolete/out of production electronics. Same issue Stever Boler was having, some parts in the electronics are simply no longer available. Had my unit rebuilt by Steve last year and now fingers crossed. Not for sure where we go should it fail again.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #10 – July 18, 2020, 09:47:58 am

Quote from: CRY42 – July 18, 2020, 09:31:44 am

If I may, it is Cruise Control and Throttle System, spoke with M&M Electronics about taking on the King product and two other companies who specialize in repairing obsolete/out of production electronics. Same issue Stever Boler was having, some parts in the electronics are simply no longer available. Had my unit rebuilt by Steve last year and now fingers crossed. Not for sure where we go should it fail again.

"Same issue Stever Boler was having, some parts in the electronics are simply no longer available."

Someone should contact Dinosaur Electronics and contract with them for a re-design and manufacture of replacement boards.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #11 – July 18, 2020, 10:36:25 am

Be interesting to know how many Forum coaches have the Cruise King or the Bendix cruise control setups. Our coach has the Bendix, which still works perfectly...but for how long? Due to the dearth of alternative systems, I dread the day ours dies. I would NOT like driving our coach without cruise control - it would be very tiring and not at all fun. Might be bad enough to convince me to hang up the keys.

I would wholeheartedly encourage and support financially ANY sincere attempt to source or engineer a suitable universal replacement system.

If any member tries installing the Rostra system I linked above (Reply #2) PLEASE be sure to post a detailed report on the Forum!

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #12 – July 18, 2020, 11:04:08 am

Quote from: Alan & Gerri Ortiz – July 17, 2020, 08:01:25 am

After earlier repairs on my King Cruise Control it has finally given up the ghost...

Alan,

Have you (or a tech) tried to do any trouble shooting? While doing some quick online research on the subject of this thread, I stumbled across the trouble shooting .pdf file linked below. Not having your system to look at, I don't know if this will be of any value to you.

Note: File contains 3 pages, but not in correct order. Scroll down to see all pages.

Edit: Never mind - I see that same file (plus other info) is available at the now defunct Cruise King web site:

Semi Truck, Bus, RV, Service Vehicle Cruise Control Installation

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #13 – July 18, 2020, 10:34:59 pm

Would this totally disable our King Cruise coaches? Or just disable the cruise control?

I sent my King Cruise to Steve last year for rebuild, but he sent it back and said it was good, but we all know how 25 year old electronic components go.

I bet Dinosaur is the best bet.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #14 – July 19, 2020, 07:25:12 am

Quote from: jhardman – July 18, 2020, 10:34:59 pm

I sent my King Cruise to Steve last year for rebuild, but he sent it back and said it was good, but we all know how 25 year old electronic components go.

Here we follow the 3-day rule. New electronics are powered on and off and used for 3 days and if they don't fail within that time we expect good service, pretty much forever. Our original equipment RCA television blew a circuit board fuse for reasons unknown. eBay and a temperature controlled soldering iron combined with a certain skill set cured that issue. However the act of moving the television caused the age brittle'd circuit board to develop faults. A 19" 12VDC Jensen provided the cure although we did seriously consider running the Jensen in analog mode and continue using our digital to analog tuner converter because it has "good ears."

25 years alone isn't of concern for solid state electronics. I have some concern for our Bendix air throttle, a few hours with a pencil and a catalog eased my fears. The circuit board that is the cruise control? We have in house technicians for that.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #15 – July 19, 2020, 07:38:02 am

Toolmaker,guess I missed something in translation, who and where has these in house techs to work on the board?

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #16 – July 19, 2020, 07:52:24 am

Quote from: John44 – July 19, 2020, 07:38:02 am

Toolmaker,guess I missed something in translation, who and where has these in house techs to work on the board?

Well, I'm a retired old school toolmaker, with enough knowledge of electronics to know when to stop. But my ace card is my partner, a degreed electronics engineer with experience in military electronics. When I'm repairing something simple, it's his job to look over my shoulder and say "I wouldn't have done it that way." A D-104 microphone re-purposing still grates.

Right now we're in Lyons, GA riding out the health care crisis, and since there's no place we want to go right now, I'm re-doing the fuel system on the Siata since the one thing I paid to have done, the gas tank, failed.

You can only haul so much "stuff" and I didn't want to spend $600+ on TIG welding equipment to use only once.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #17 – July 19, 2020, 09:54:55 am

I think the Rostra is probably the way to go, they've been around for quite a while. I was involved in installing one on a fuel injected motorcycle, was involved but ended up being a solid solution. Reading the literature, it seems like it would be worthwhile to mount the small servo unit inside, possibly on the face of the bed platform or more likely in an electrical gang box recessed flush.

Plug and play, no, but inexpensive and doable. Amazon sells it.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #18 – July 19, 2020, 10:07:16 am

Quote from: jhardman – July 18, 2020, 10:34:59 pm

Would this totally disable our King Cruise coaches? Or just disable the cruise control?

I bet Dinosaur is the best bet.

No "one answer fits all" to your first question. Some coaches used the King Control for BOTH throttle and cruise. Others used (or were later converted to) air throttle and King Control Cruise.

I doubt there would be enough volume to get Dinosaur's attention. Many levels of magnitude lower than refrigerator or water heater PC boards. And crash liability if their system failed would be another show stopper.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #19 – July 19, 2020, 05:49:28 pm

Never be down if King Throttle fails.

This thread shows practical temporary alternatives:

cruise king

Link mentions our wooden hinged throttle pedal that allowed us to drive for days without King Throttle Control. Pedal and wire are stored away, hopefully not come out again.

Not exactly a recommended replacement, but who knows. . .

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #20 – July 19, 2020, 06:03:48 pm

Been there, done that.

But, from a liability standpoint, I would NEVER recommend it.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #21 – July 19, 2020, 06:06:49 pm

What about this?

Air Throttle

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #22 – July 19, 2020, 06:40:03 pm

Yes, there have been a number of owners who have converted to air throttle.

Hopefully, someone will post PN's. If not, I am sure MOT or Foretravel can assist with the parts list.

This IS a very good solution.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #23 – July 19, 2020, 08:18:34 pm

We do have an air throttle (put in by previous owner) And the King Cruise as a stand alone cruise control has worked famously for the last year until it's now failure.

Re: King Cruise Closed - suggested replacement?

Reply #24 – August 29, 2020, 11:04:04 am

Had my King control go up on way to Cocoa Fl. In early Jan. Found out King was out of business and no parts or service. Could not get any advice from Foretravel since they weren't aware of King Controls closing. Had an air pedal installed by trucking company in St Augustine. They said it would work fine. Not true. The Allison MD3060R doesn't know when to shift. Any suggestions?

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