BenWA's 2005+ Power Sliding Rear Window Quick Install Kit

^^ would you care to share how you made those 2 piece that's on the channel, driver and passenger side.

 

Throttle cables for dirtbikes are pretty thin and flimsy. I'm going to look into it. Old choke cables are too.

 

You could fab those up using some pieces of sheet metal (my earliest prototypes used steel brackets that I bought at home depot) cut to size, and then formed with a bench vise or sheet metal shear/brake (can buy cheap bending brakes from harbor freight). Then I cut little blocks out of 3/8" ABS plastic that I secured to the sheet metal brackets with rivets and/or small button head hex screws. The plastic blocks slip into the channel, and have a half-blind hole for the cable housing and a through hole for the actual cable itself, such that the blocks act as cable stops like those on a bicycle frame. The sheet metal brackets are fastened to the window frame such that the plastic blocks that hold the cable housings are cantilevered from the window frame.

Pic is an early prototype that I made by hand of the drivers side bracket. The passenger side and drivers side brackets are different, but use a similar construction/design approach.

 

They don't have the right die cast cable ends to fit into the notches on the regulator spool.

Trust me, I have turned over every stone in search for cables that will work for this, including custom cable/wire rope outfits. They are not readily available.

 

Alright. Just a thought! I'm ok with the semi hidden version. So if I can make it without having to mess with the Honda regulator, that'll be fine.

 

Freackin awesome man. Thanks

 

Please put me down for the window attachment piece but also let us know if the bicycle cable will work with the Ridgeline motor or if it will ruin it as you suggested.
Thanks!
Ken

 

Can't wait to get the bracket. It was mainly that part of this whole mod that I was having a hard time on.

Much appreciated BenWa.

 

benwa are you still selling your original kits? i really want one! lol
or at least point me in the direction of getting what i need?

 

Benwa, thank you for taking the time to post all of this information. One question i just thought of is how long are the cables on the ridgeline motor, and how much cable do you think would be needed for a hidden kit? thanks.

 

I have been working on the window attachment for weeks now. I probably went through five or six ideas/methods of attaching the window, and finally came up with a nylon plastic bracket made from a cutting board. I no that this isn't much help because no one will want to spend the time it took me too make this thing, but it does look like it will work.
I was stuck on the bracket that attaches to the window mainly, and went through five or six ideas/designs. I finally fabricated a piece much like the one that you made, but I made it out of nylon plastic from a cutting board. It looks like it will work with a little more trimming, but the space in the window track is SO narrow, it took a while to trim, sand and polish the bracket so that it moves with little resistance. Here is a look at some of the ideas I was working on for the window bracket (only one has a cut for the cable to slide through the others had not made it that far):



Here is one end of the plastic bracket and ferule. I still need to notch the bracket so the cable can slide through from the top:


Before:

During:

After:


The idea was to either glue or use some good 3M double sided tape on to attach whichever material I decide to go with to the bottom of the window, and the top edge of the bracket can barely be seen just above the lower window seal.

BenWA: I am REALLY glad that you decided to post some more info, and I hope the personal problems have been resolved. Thanks for the info on the cables too. I did notice some really small cable (some even smaller than the Ridgeline cable) and am going to go back and see if it is more flexible than the bicycle cable that I have. I figure that even though the ferule or cable end does not fit the round hole in the Ridgeline motor, as long as the ferule/stop is larger than the hole in the assembly, I can grind/file it down to fit. I don't think that it has to be an exact fit because it is only there to hold the cable stop in place. I know that it is round, but I don't think that it actually moves that much once in place, right?
I would like to get one of your brackets and two of the clamps that fit in the track from you if possible. Not sure I am going to stick with this plastic bracket
Thanks again for all the work you put into this. Like I said, I have been working on fabricating a bracket for like three weeks so I can only imagine how much time and effort you put into the project.
Thanks again,
Ken

 

thats awesome man! /\/\

really getting into this, i like it

 

Hi Ben,

I hope your personal issues have been resolved. I'm glad you're back. Have you thought about licensing your intellectual property to someone whom may want to produce your product? Perhaps you can make some percent of the profit as royalty. Just a thought to get your product to market. From your feeler thread, there seems to be quite a bit of interest.

Scooter

 

Thanks guys.

I still have a lot of PMs to reply to, but just to let you know. I do not have any more switches left. You can get them from GAMA electronics website for about $10.

I do NOT have any anchor brackets that fasten the cables to the window frame. You are going to have to make those yourself using the pics in the thread as a go-by.

I DO have a bunch of the pull-pull window brackets left, probably about 15-20. You will need to buy set screws for them: 10-32 thread, 3/16" long.

 

I already mentioned this but Motion Pro cables will custom make cables for motorcycles, or at least they did when I worked at a motorcycle shop in the 80s. We would send them the old and a new one would come in a week or so. Im guessing you would need to have one mocked up and the OD size of cable and ends you needed so the job would be done correctly.

 

I just got back from OSH (Orchard Supply Hardware). They had what they called "aviation cable" that is just like the cable used on the Ridgeline motor assembly. As BenWA mentioned, the bicycle cable is very stiff in comparison to the cable used in the assembly, so I can see it having a harder time winding around the assembly spool. The cable I got from OSH is VERY close to the Ridgeline cable in regards to stiffness. They had two different types, stainless and I think the other was galvanized. I am going with the stainless.
Also, like I mentioned in an earlier post, I was able to fit the Ridgeline motor in on the back wall right behind the seem where the two rear panels meet by cutting out part of the ridge on the back wall and then slipping the motor down into the hole/pocket that I made. It is in a spot that you would never even know the back cab wall had been cut into unless you took the rear panels off.
BenWA: Does this look like it will allow you to use the shorter cables with the Ridgeline assembly?
Thanks,
Ken

 

To be clear, this thread linked in adio's post is not a DIY for the semi-hidden version. That thread is obsolete and not relevant to any recent embodiment of this mod, semi hidden, full hidden, or otherwise.

There is no DIY thread for the
e semi hidden version. The closest you will get is the rough draft manual pdf I attached a few posts ago in this thread.

 

That's a pretty clever way to hide the motor! Not sure if the cables that come on the ridgeline regulator would reach from there. I tend to doubt it but not sure

Does that cable you got at osh have any kind of die cast cable end?

 

Thanks Ben. Yeah, the Ridgeline assembly fits PERFECTLY into that little cavity I made by removing some of the ridge on that back wall. It almost doesn't even need to be bolted in!
No, the cable from OSH does not have anything on the ends. I DO have a cable cutter that cuts the cable fairly cleanly without fraying the ends, and was going to use any parts I can get from you OR use my plastic window "pull/pull" bracket as a last resort and either:
a) Bolt some noodles into place instead of the brackets that fit into the channel OR
b) Cut the plastic corner pieces that came with the Ridgeline assembly and bolt them into place for the same purpose as a).

I know that you said that there was no "how to" for a hidden version of this mod, and that it was different than the first revision that you posted using the Ridgeline assembly and gluing a piece to the window, but isn't the principle still the same? For instance, in your first method of this mod you mentioned using the Ridgeline assembly and shortening one length of cable/housing 5" and lengthening the opposite side and equal length to make up for the different pull/pull distance. Can we use what we know now, using a more flexible cable, making new housings that are longer but one has a cable/housing that is 5" shorter than the other?
Again, I also wonder about connection at the motor end of the cable, do you think you can take a cable ferule, and grind it down to fit into the Ridgeline cable-stop hole even if it is not perfectly round? To me it seems the only reason for the cable stop at the motor end is to keep the cable from slipping out of the motor, not to "rotate" in any circular motion.
Jeez I hope this makes sense. I wish I could use telepathy or at least a LOT less words to TRY to explain what my slightly damaged briam I mean brain is thinking...
Thanks again bro,
Ken

 

No, this version of the mod is considerably different from that old how-to thread that adio linked to. That previous version used the aluminum track that comes with the Ridgeline regulator, but the current versions eliminate that ridgeline track altoghether and use the window frame instead. The anchor blocks discussed above are what hold the cable tension in place of the aluminum track that the ridgeline regulator has.

Cable length is somewhat arbitrary. As long as the cable housings are long enough to reach the window frame from wherever you mount the motor, all that matters is that there is enough exposed cable to account for the travel of the sliding window (a total of about 14" of exposed cable beyond the ends of the cable housings is recommended to provide adequate travel to slide the window open). The other thing to consider is that the regulator spool that the cable winds around can only handle about 18" of total travel, so you need to be congnizant of where the spool is within its travel range when you figure out how long your cable housings should be (hard to explain).

Another thing to consider is that there is a LOT of tension in the system when fully installed. The cable ends at the motor end (however you end up deciding to approaching this problem) need to be strong enough to withstand that tension. I personally wouldn't rely on anything less than ZAMAK die cast ends.

I was also concerned about your plastic pull-pull bracket being strong enough to withstand the tension (as impressed as I am with your craftmanship!). I have broken a lot of prototype parts due to the large amount of tension being too much.