I drive a W reg Renault Premium 385 with a mechanical engine (not fly-by wire throttle) and it has an 8 speed gearbox and no cruise control. Now im wondering if its possible to convert or retrofit the truck to have these 2 ‘luxuries’?
For example,is all the necessary wiring looms,technology and equipment already fitted to the truck to run cruise control and all that is needed is to simply purchase some switches from the local Renault truck dealer and fit them?
Same with with the gearbox, is the 8 speed gearbox exactly the same as the 16 speed box minus the splitter unit inside the box, and all that is needed is to locate a splitter unit and gear lever with switch from a truck breakers? and if so will these parts fit pretty simply?
I cant imagine things are so simple.
Otherwise Scania would only build V8 engines with 750 horses. You dont need to use them all
An 18 speed renault box is there for a reason 
I have found you a cruise control unit from a Renault its not the most ideal but apparently it is the latest in French lorry technology,
Its the best they could come up with at the time, you justwedge one end on the pedal and the other end under the bit of dash thats falling off and when you feel the need to break you just pull a piece of string ( not supplied) and hey presto you slow down.
Sorry mate coudlnt resist it i hope you can do it i just cant stand Renaults cars or lorries i think the French should be banned from making any kind of vehicle FULL STOP…
on w reg?
i would have thought it hardly worth the cost.
keep buying the lucky bags - you might get a later model in one.
try european vehicle sales, they are advertising a 51 plate 420dci with aircon etc at less than £15k.
it would probably cost 5k to fit what you want to a truck worth around 7k.
have you tried setting fire to it 
i drove a premium for about 8 weeks last year 
caused me some serious back pain. i just couldnt
get comfortable in the seat
I doubt you’d be able to fit the cruise control, the 420 DCI is a very different truck to the 385.
I would think the gearbox would be a lot more simple as a 16 speed gearbox was an option for the 385, but the cost might not be worth it. Better to trade it in for a 400 with the ZF box.
Prob not even worth the hassel of doing it!!!
On the other hand, for all the Renault slaters, I regulally drive a brand new (well, 6 months or so) Premium 420 DCi and in my opinion its a complete and utter load of tat compaired to the ‘old’ 385 i used to drive.
The old one was more liveable in, pulled better and gave better MPG than the newer ones i now drive.
But to retro fit a cruise controle? Stick to the block of wood Jammy’s got.
Depends on the make of TSL fitted if its Groeneveld then it may be possible as the ECU on these have a cruise control function
I have repaired a couple of these on pre electronic engined DAF CFs
they work like this,
Once you get to your desired speed and toggle the switch to the Set Speed position the speed limiter ECU sends a signal to a solenoid valve this then sends an air supply to an air cylinder that opens the throttle to maximum
The vehicle speed is then controlled by the speed limiter ECU via the actuator cable and fuel pump lever
Hope this helps
ginger69:
I drive a W reg Renault Premium 385 with a mechanical engine (not fly-by wire throttle) and it has an 8 speed gearbox and no cruise control. Now im wondering if its possible to convert or retrofit the truck to have these 2 ‘luxuries’?
For example,is all the necessary wiring looms,technology and equipment already fitted to the truck to run cruise control and all that is needed is to simply purchase some switches from the local Renault truck dealer and fit them?
Same with with the gearbox, is the 8 speed gearbox exactly the same as the 16 speed box minus the splitter unit inside the box, and all that is needed is to locate a splitter unit and gear lever with switch from a truck breakers? and if so will these parts fit pretty simply?
To the best of my knowledge, and i’ve on my 4th premium, the 385/400 engine is a completly different engine to the 420 dci unit, so the “fly by wire” which is how the cruise control is operated wont work on the 385 unit.
the 8 speed box, is the B9 Renault box and if you can find whole B18 box the 16 speed splitter verion then that would be a goer to swap them over, the 420 as a ZF box, this may marry upto the 385, and is in my opinion a better box than the Renault box 
eddie snax:
the 420 as a ZF box, this may marry upto the 385, and is in my opinion a better box than the Renault box
You could also get a ZF box in a 400 and the 400 is still all mechanical linkages as opposed to the air linkages of the box in the 420.
and you’re right it’s a far better box.