Bowden Clip Installer and Remover

[Private Lugnutz]

Found this goofy looking thing in a small top side drawer of a mechanics' box this morning at the flea. I admit it. I have never seen one of these before, let alone used one. Given the purpose ("REM. & INSTALL BOWDEN CLIP"), the "MILLER - DET." marking, which I am thinking has got to be a reference to the automotive specialty tool giant Miller Manufacturing Company in Detroit, and the part number ("SP-5162"), which is similar to other Miller Mfg. Co. part numbers in prefix and series, I am guessing this is a tool to install and remove the retaining clips on Bowden type clutch, throttle, brake, and various latch release cable assemblies.

Am I right?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Is everyone else as flummoxed as me by this doohickey? Or just bored by it?

 

[senlow]

Well . . . I'm stumped. Like you, I assume that it's for R&R of the retainer for some sort of Bowden cable. Unfortunately, I have no idea what the specific application is.

 

[four.cycle]

^ I am completely befuddled. Google searches made it just more confusing for me.

 

[Farmer J.]

There are quite a few Bowden cables on various farm machines, but i don't have any nearby just now to check what clips they have on them. They're always a nuisance, they become stiff with age and crud, then break whatever lever/linkage they are connected to..

 

[Farmer J.]

Is everyone else as flummoxed as me by this doohickey? Or just bored by it?

Flummoxed.

 

[Firebrick43]

Miller made specialty service tools for a multitude of OEM vehicle manufacturers. So yes, to service bowden cable/tube set ups.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Glad I wasn't alone @senlow, @four.cycle, and @Farmer J.!

Miller made specialty service tools for a multitude of OEM vehicle manufacturers.

I was thinking that way myself...

...the "MILLER - DET." marking, which I am thinking has got to be a reference to the automotive specialty tool giant Miller Manufacturing Company in Detroit,

...@Firebrick43, but, I was hoping for more than just inference. I was kind of hoping someone could confirm it from direct, personal experience. So I'll ask point blank, is this...

So yes, to service bowden cable/tube set ups.

...the same inference, or have you used these to install and remove retaining clips for those setups? And if so, is one slot for installing and the other for removing? Or are both sides used for installing and removing and they're just like that, short and long, for different clips? I would also love to see exactly what said retaining clip looked like. The only diagram I found was an entire assembly and impossible to see the clip. Lastly, how old do you suspect this is? Thanks!

 

[Modern Garage]

Lugz, I'll take it upon myself to speak for the silent majority:
You're not shouting into the wilderness - we simply have nothing to offer and are waiting with bated breath to see what we can learn.

Although usually in the face of having nothing useful to say I prefer to fall back on a smart-aleck remark.
So, I think it looks like a saw vice to me, and the markings on it are merely a red herring!

Joe

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Snerk. Thanks for that, Joe.

I'm hoping @Firebrick43 returns with testimonials, avowal, and examples, leading us all into the light!

 

[4xdog]

Most of my Bowden cable experience is on bicycles, plus a couple on my old Triumph TR3. I have no idea how that thingie could be useful on any of those.

 

[Ricky Joe]

I had to look up Bowden cable. I find that I have experience with them, even though I didn’t know the name. I will hazard a guess. Knowing that Miller made and makes special tools for Chrysler products, I’m going to guess that it might have been used on the emergency brake cable end. Willys Jeep used a similar setup. Just a guess: please don’t hit me!

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I have no idea how that thingie could be useful on any of those.

Thanks for your input.

Knowing that Miller made and makes special tools for Chrysler products, I’m going to guess that it might have been used on the emergency brake cable end. Willys Jeep used a similar setup. Just a guess: please don’t hit me!

Your inference is a good one, RJ. I got you covered in post #1, though less explicitly to Chrysler and Willys or only brakes.

I am guessing this is a tool to install and remove the retaining clips on Bowden type clutch, throttle, brake, and various latch release cable assemblies.

We have lots of guys making the same guess or allusion. What we need is someone who has actually used the tool or something like it.

 

[Wrench97]

I had to look up Bowden cable. I find that I have experience with them, even though I didn’t know the name. I will hazard a guess. Knowing that Miller made and makes special tools for Chrysler products, I’m going to guess that it might have been used on the emergency brake cable end. Willys Jeep used a similar setup. Just a guess: please don’t hit me!

I thought the same, however why do you need one to install the cable?

 

[Private Lugnutz]

I'm really starting to think the clip is just some kind of spring steel C-shaped piece meant to either hold Bowden cables together or hold them to a chassis or frame or fork or strut etc. Nothing exclusive to Bowden or the Bowden cable sheath itself. As simple as that. Something we would use our fingers or something else to force on (over the cable and the part it is being clipped to) or expanded to force off. And Miller, in typical Miller fashion, devised a special tool instead. That tapered part would slip under the clip and the back end would catch the back of the clip. But I am totally just spitballin'.

The problem I am running into in research is not lack of findings, it's too many findings. Anything and everything, it seems, is a Bowden cable clip, in many applications, only some of them automotive or cycling, and in many eras! See thumbnails. (And that's excluding all the plastic "Bowden cable clips" I found associated with 3D printers!)

 

[Firebrick43]

Snerk. Thanks for that, Joe.

I'm hoping @Firebrick43 returns with testimonials, avowal, and examples, leading us all into the light!

Its a tool thats used to adjust the position of the blend door of the heater box via the cables. There also is a small gauge that goes on the door to set its angle. For the life of me I cant remember which chrysler platform used them.

 

[Ricky Joe]

I thought the same, however why do you need one to install the cable?

I don’t think you actually need one. Screwdrivers and pliers work for removal and installation. My guess is that that scalloped out area is used to push it into place. It has been a while since I worked on one, but I remember the clip being a bit like a horseshoe clip with a double horseshoe, that actually clipped in two places. A screwdriver would fit between the two sections of the clip and could pry it out. A Channellock or pliers adjusted to the wide setting could push it in.

 

[Ricky Joe]

The two sizes of the prongs could make it more universal.

 

[RTM]

Although usually in the face of having nothing useful to say I prefer to fall back on a smart-aleck remark.
So, I think it looks like a saw vice to me, a

Only got a smart @$$ remark too, as I have never heard of a Bowden cable, but I did go to grade school with a Todd Bowden.

And I think MG's correct smart aleck remark should have been "looks like a saw set to me"

Sitting back to see what I can learn also.

 

[Private Lugnutz]

Its a tool thats used to adjust the position of the blend door of the heater box via the cables.

Hmm. Thanks.

I don’t think you actually need one. Screwdrivers and pliers work for removal and installation.

Thanks for confirming my hunch...

Something we would use our fingers or something else to force on (over the cable and the part it is being clipped to) or expanded to force off.

 

[Firebrick43]

The other part of the set

 

[4xdog]

The other part of the set

Wow!

But now I'm at least as confused as before, if not even more!