I'm thinking about using Jeff Gosling hand Controls in my car, does anyone have any experience of using Them and if so do you like them?, this is for UK members. as i dont think they are available in the States.

I have them in 2 cars and personally I like them. Very simple, and I think they are fine to look at.
Having said that I know some members prefer something better, but for the price, they are fine. Much much better than say Alfred Bekker which IMHO the only thing you could say about them is 'utilitarian'.
Dont think I can say much part from Im happy with them and have served me well.

Hi Jakhep,

I have Jeff Gosling hand controls ( push/pull) and had them provided and fitted by Da Vinci Wheelchairs in Liverpool. I am pretty happy with them overall. They are pretty sensitive what I mean by that is that pushing down on the brake seems to require a lo0t less effort than when I used to push down on the brake using foot pedals. I am not sure if this is because I am heavy handed or what. This is good, but meant I was braking a tad too sharply when I first got them..
I am not sure where you will be getting them from as i see you are in Scotland, but I had mine fitted by Da vinci like I said and they were fabulous. They came and picked up the car ( we had the car delivered to our home without controls). My husband was going to take the car to them but they were more than happy to pick the car up. They had it for the afternoon and delivered it promptly at the time arranged. This may be a quality of many of the agents who fit it...hopefully!
The hand controls are easy to use ( pull to excelerate, push to brake). The only down side I can think of is that they cluck a bit when my husband drives the conventional way, and the cross piece of the controls ( under the part you grip) has a cover over it ( rubber) sometimes starts to come off which is cosmetic and doesn't affect the function or safety in any way. However, looking at the Jeff Gosling site it appears that this has changed since I got my controls, with this part not actually being there anymore so it won't be a problem. I am actually being really picky trying to find any bad points as I really don;t have any complaints per se.

Of course if you meant the IR ( infrared) controls, I have no experience of those, sorry.
Like I say, visiting the website it appears that they have changeed/improved the controls recently, although mine do have the qualities they claim on there.

Best of luck with what you decide.

K

I have used Jeff Gosling (push/pull) hand controls as well as those from other companies. The Jeff Gosling ones are fine, but the critical part is the fitting. Like Kewlcatkez, I find the brake a little too sensitive but I can't be bothered to adjust this. Appearance is fine. If you have not used hand controls before, I would recommend having an indicator switch fitted to the end of the hand controls; makes things a lot easier. Also, if someone else is to drive the car as well, it is worth having a detachable steering wheel knob. These only take a second to remove or refit.

My husband occasionally drives my car when we go out as a family for example. He actually uses and likes the steering knob!

K

I have used Jeff Gosling push/pull hand controls for the last 13 years in all my Motability cars and have always liked them for wase of use and price - but this year when I ordered my new car they now actually come free if ordered at the same time as the Motab car, and the steering knob is free too.
My husband also often uses the hand control and steering knob rather than his feet when driving my car.

Here's a post I made on this subject a while back -------




The problem I have with the Jeff Gosling isn't just that it just looks unfinished it's that I end up with a footwell full of pedals.

Photos of the Cowal Mobility conversion on my Volvo first pic with pedals down and possibility of foot getting under brake pedal and preventing braking but allowing normal driving of car and second with pedals flipped up leaving plenty of room for my long legs.





Details of Cowal Mobility controls here http://www.cowalmobility.co.uk/

Dont you live somewhere like Dumfries? If so options are a bit limited. I think Berwick does nearly all the jobs up here. I know they fitted mine in Carlisle, and it was Jeff Gosling or alfred Bekker. No contest really then!

Thanks for all the replies. I must admit the Cowal hand controls have made me think, I really like the way the pedals are flipped up and leaving more footwell space, and they look really neat. I think I will get in touch with them to see if they have any fitters up this way. Yes, Lucydog I live in Dumfriesshire and I have been in touch with Bewick Mobility regarding the Jeff Gosling hand controls. This has given me food for thought so I'll check out Cowal too and take it from there.
Thanks for your help.

Mmmm, I saw Russ's post...

I am wondering if the type of car makes a difference, since even though there is metalwork going down to the pedals, in my car it is almost consealed and can't be seen as clearly as in those pics Russ posted...Or maybe it depends on who fits them? I have an MPV.

True Jeff Goslings aren't the most asthetically pleasing, but they are concealed pretty well in my car. re the foot pedals, I see your point Russ! However, in my case, I am short so my legs never get anywhere near the foot pedals if I just put my seat to a more normal position ( I used to have to drive with the seat sooo close to the window when driving conventionally!)

At the end of the day I would suggest that you research as much as possible ( as long as you don't desperately need something fitted) and make the decision you are comfy/happy with, both financially and asthetically and of course in terms of function too.

Let us know what you decide!

good luck,

K

The flip-up pedals are done separately from the hand controls. You can have flip-up pedals with any make of hand control. I have them with my Jeff Gosling hand controls.

Click to view attachmentseems like its not easy to get a fitter to fit the cowal controls close to me so im now looking at techmobility hand controls, they look really neat too bewick mobilty can fit them, ill keep you posted on what i decide to get

Good post Russ!!

I totally agree that the problem with Gosling hand controls is they are stuck in the way far to much...especially as they are meant to be custom fit!!!

The Gowring ones look great too.

HOWEVER.....

I'm 20 years down the hand control route now!!

and

by far the best, most responsive, best fitted, best looking are ones fitted by LVC mobility

LVC Mobility
Unit 3B Astwith Close
Holmewood Industrial Estate
Holmewood
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
S42 5UR
Tel: 01246 859077
Fax: 01246 859667
Email: enquiries@Ivc-mobility.co.uk


I'm a C5/6 Tetraplegic.

I drive a Porsche 911, a Porsche 944 and a Mercedes E Class estate.

They are great on all three cars!!

Considering the space on the 911 they are tucked out of the way and perform beautifully!!!

Believe me to get this much praise from me they need to be excellant!!!!

ODDLY i can't find there web site grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......... as the server seems down!

I may try to get some photos taken!!

Add to this anyone needing to drive the car "normally" is totally unafected as they are unobtrusive!

10 OUT OF 10 FROM ME!! I'm not on commission either!!

ps. Yes it does matter who fits them and how they are fitted!!

Gosling is a bolt on kit basically!!! I have used them so know them well!!

LVC fit it tidily, precisly to your car so that it sits out of the way and works smoothy and precisely!

and

by far the best, most responsive, best fitted, best looking are ones fitted by LVC mobility

LVC Mobility
Unit 3B Astwith Close
Holmewood Industrial Estate
Holmewood
Chesterfield
Derbyshire
S42 5UR
Tel: 01246 859077
Fax: 01246 859667
Email: enquiries@Ivc-mobility.co.uk


I have to agree. I went to see them and drove a car they had just converted. It was an amazingly neat conversion, and very smooth. However, although their prices were lower than many other companies' they weren't on the approved Motability list as far as I can remember. I don't know whether this is still the case.

I may be wrong! frequently am but I came across them whist working at the motability road show where they were on the Ford stand??!!

Anyway they are very good and have all relevant insurance, etc. So not being on an approved list isn't terribly important?

A bit late to this topic but here's a picture of my hand controls, they are Jeff Gosling newest ones with Leg Impact Protection System(LIPS)



They are very solid and I've had no problems with them.

Now that's what I'm talking about. They look good.

I'm C4/5 and been injured 50 years. I used Jeff Gosling hand controls when I started driving as they we about the only ones around. I'm talking 40 years ago..

There wasn't the high tech stuff there is today, so I worked out my own system to operate indicators and to dip my lights.

I had a 3 way switch (from a motorbike) fitted to my push-pull lever, which I could easily flick left or right, by using my thumb.

I also had a small press-button fitted close to the armrest in the door, which I could tap with me elbow to dip my lights. It sounds rather basic but it worked and gave me the independance we all strive for.

I don't drive now but I know there are masses of high tech adaptions to enable SCI to drive, but like all disability equipment, its very expensive.

But just look how bulky they are!!! The "leg protection system" makes them even more so!!!

Ok they are smooth and work well but £350+?? now?? come on!!

Bit of a thread resurrection, but megatrig. Would you happen to have some pictures knocking around of the 911 hand controls? I have a 991 too, and have Jeff gosling hand controls( only ones I knew about to be honest, other than Bekker.) I really wished I had used this forum more and specially found this thread.

Many thanks.

I also use these hand controls and they are fine. Got them fitted by Da Vinci in liverpool,just 5 mins away .
Going to Da Vinci for my new wheel chair

oooops sorry for the delay! These are the best controls I have used in the last 20 years!

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[i HI I SAW YOUR POSTING ON APPARALIZED ABOUT JEFF GOSLIONG HAND CONTROLS ! I HAVE BEEN USING THEM FOR ABOUT TEN YEARS NOW AND I HAVE HAD NO PROBLEMS WHAT SO EVER I WOULD HIGHLY RECOMEND THEM TO ANYONE !

DAVID

I agree that the Jeff Gosling controls are functional and work ok, but they do take up a lot of room and I have difficulty in getting my legs into the car past them. My knees catch on the hand controls as I squeeze in even though I have the seat all the way back.

When I spoke to LVC, who do the least-intrusive, and beautifully-engineered hand controls they said that they were not on the motability approved supplier list because of the hassle of getting on the list. This meant that they weren't an option for my current car which I got via motability.

If I had the choice I would use LVC so I could get in and out of the car without squeezing my knees past the controls and wearing out my trousers.

With previous cars, that I owned, I just bought hand controls on ebay for a few pounds and modified them to fit. Fitting hand controls is fairly straightforward if you have a workshop. Setting them up correctly takes a certain amount of knowledge. Unfortunately fitting your own isn't allowed by motability.

A useful, national list of fitters is available: click here.

I haven't been down the road of trying different hand controls. Got Jeff Gosling in both cars since accident. DEFINITELY get the indicator fitted. Was more expensive but absolutely worth the money.

I've cut down on my 40,000 miles a year to 20,000 now, so have got a LOT of use out of mine, and frankly they do the job excellently. All this banter about looks... who cares!? It's a car and gets one from A to B. I never had any problems with my knees and I'm 6'2". Like everything it's a matter of technique!

Their L.I.P.S makes makes me laugh though: a very grand name for a bit of polystyrene (however useful!).

The good thing about the JG kit is that it has a nice chunky handle, and that makes it safer, because when you really need to stop or go, you have a good grip. Beautiful is not always the most practical..

Having been to a HUGE disability equipment fair in Germany, I find the choice quite terrifying. I mean what is to tell the difference between all the companies? (Thank goodness I'm not having to choose a wheelchair right now!). Lots of stands with driving adaption kits.

I have used Jeff Gosling & techmobility controls & don’t think there is anything that makes one better than the other.
The only difference between the two was fitment & Techmobility seem to have gone the extra mile & have hidden the controls but then I guess that is down to who fitted them.

All this banter about looks... who cares!? It's a car and gets one from A to B. I never had any problems with my knees and I'm 6'2". Like everything it's a matter of technique!

It certainly not a matter of technique Guido. After two and a half years of struggling with Jeff Gosling controls, I have tried all "techniques". Some of the factors are leg-length (not a persons height), car model, and the position the controls are fitted. Jeff Gosling control cranks and rods are fitted on the driver's side of the panelling and therefore intrude. LVC controls fit all the operating linking mechanism behind the panelling and therefore don't intrude.

We're all different. Just because something works for you doesn't mean it will automatically work for everyone else.

Fair comment: I'm getting back in my box
I haven't had any problems, but I can't speak for others who have.

ABSOLUTELY!!!!

My point exactly!

The LVC controls are very very well enginered so are light and precise and have a far superior"feel" when driving.

This is from every day use to full on track day "pushing on" in a 911!

Hi. I've got Gosling hand controls on a Vito van. Previously I've used Bekker controls, but Goslings are nearer where I live, so I went to them this time. They're dearer than Bekker and I really don't think that you get any more, other than a bit of plastic bar, for the money. The other grumble that I have is that, as you can see from the photo on this thread, the brake connection is very obtrusive. I wear calipers without knee joints and trying to get my feet past the operating rod can be difficult. I can see a way of changing it, but haven't got round to doing it, as it's fiddly. I don't know how this linkage is arranged on other vehicles. Other than this, they're fine, but given that I only need brake/throttle and no other gadgetry, I think that next time I'll just go for the cheapest, or get these refitted. If i can work out how to take on, I'll upload a picture.

Scribbler,

I think you've got slightly confused with your info....

The very first commercially available hand controls were Alfred Bekker controls back in the early seventies. Alfred Bekker then trained many 'agents' to fit his controls, and some of them decided to 'copy' the designs and sell them as their own products. Gosling was infact a Bekker trained fitter at first. This was most certainly not 40 years ago, more like 20. Infact, Gosling advertises that he started in 1988! I think you will find that the original controls you had on your car were infact Bekker controls that were fitted by Gosling.

The current bekker controls to me, and by many people are by far the best. Who in their right mind would by a 'copycat' version of a product? The Focus kit fitted by bekkers IMHO is the best on the market by far. There are no 'LIPS' or rods and levers in the way, just a simple small linkage that slots neatly behind the dashboard, and works brilliantly. The operation is very light and these are the level best controls I have ever had fitted to my car.

It annoys me when people slate companies when they know little or nothing about products.....

Admin note: Just corrected the date from 1998 to 1988.

Hi,

I don't know if it's of interest, but I found the following article quite interesting about Jeff Gosling.

Thriving along with my automobile

When Jeff Gosling lost the use of his legs. he set up a factory to make the best hand controls for disabled drivers. Martin Gurdon meets the man who really understands his customers.

Preconceptions are dangerous things. Before meeting Jeff Gosling I'd pictured him as a bluff, fifty-something Mancunian with regulation jacket and tie, perhaps straining a little at the seams from years of business lunches.

Instead I was greeted by a casually dressed, fit, dynamic man who could have been in his middle thirties (in fact he's 42) and slightly resembles a younger Tony Blair.

I had expected the wheelchair. The legacy of a motorcycle accident it's been a fact of Jeff Gosling's life for the past two decades, but there's nothing wheelchair "bound" about its occupant.

Before the accident, Gosling was an aircraft engineer. When he began driving in a 1968 Triumph 2000 fitted with hand controls, he started looking at the controls both as a designer and an end user, and eventually decided to develop and make his own equipment.

"The design of these systems is fairly simple. Being an engineer and disabled I thought that made me fairly well qualified to say what they should be like."

After taking some time out "to learn French" he set up shop in 1988, works from a mill-turned-industrial-estate on the outskirts of Manchester and has been one of the prime movers behind ditching the utilitarian, crimped metal "NHS grey" hand controls that were being made a generation ago.

"If you're newly disabled, it's traumatic. This (modifying a car) is something you can do that is positive. Also, with a car, you're out and about and on an equal footing with everybody else," says Gosling, a man well used to having conversations with people looming over him.

Before the Triumph, he had visions of being forced in to one of the now almost extinct, pale blue, three-wheeled invalid carriages ("plastic rats") and was hugely relieved to discover there were alternatives. His company now offers infra-red steering wheel- mounted controls for lights, horn, wipers etc, seats that can slide in and out, and a bewildering array of winches and ramps. It can make accelerator pedals fold away, and modify handbrakes and gear quadrants so that they are easier to use.

However, it is the deceptively simple looking push/pull hand controls that remain at the heart of his business. Essentially, these consist of a padded steel bar pivoted under the steering column, attached directly to the brake and accelerator pedals using a mix of ball-jointed metal sections and tensioned cabling.

It's only when Gosling starts talking about how the padding is made from deformable material found inside windscreen pillars and bumpers, how the pivot has its own bearings (making the control lighter and nicer to use), or the work involved in getting the system's geometry right (basically, how all the bits are angled) that you begin to understand the skills employed.

Complex vehicle engineering for items such as fly-by-wire throttles ("there's nothing to push against") and the plethora of airbags found in today's cars makes fitting hand controls a delicate process, too.

No longer can the electrical spaghetti found inside many steering columns simply be hacked-about so that hand controls can be bolted in place. Sometimes there are no obvious attachment points, and this required further lateral thinking.

Where cars have automatically adjustable steering columns, these have to be shut down, and with Mercedes fitting airbags inside some steering columns, further ingenuity is required to make sure they're not interfered with.

It's not surprising that Gosling works from about 650 design drawings for different cars (there are three sets for the Toyota Starlet alone).

"There's a finite amount of room between the dash and the steering wheel," says Gosling, who beyond the serried ranks of Fiestas and Micras has modified Ferraris, Porsches, Aston Martins, shed-loads of BMWs and Mercedes, even a 50-year-old Jowett Javelin.

He's worked on electric sightseeing buggies, JCBs and a giant tractor, modified to allow a recently disabled farmer to stay in business. "I love getting my teeth in to things like that. We're not doctors, we're engineers, but we are fighting disease," he says.

Safety issues keep him busy. His latest controls have padding with the entertaining acronym of LIPS (for Leg Impact Protection System).

"If my wife Sue was driving and kneecapped herself, that would be a real catastrophe," says Gosling, who has two young daughters.

His company is accredited by Motability, the giant organisation that supplies vehicles to disabled drivers. The paperwork and specifications involved with this are as nightmarish as you would expect.

Making the controls inconspicuous is also part of the Motability remit, but has always been a big preoccupation for Gosling. The unspoken implication is that the market for cars fitted with hand controls is effectively a captive one, and it would be easy to adopt a joyless "take what you're given" approach to clients.

Gosling likes to drive. Currently he uses a new-shape BMW Compact ("it's a two-litre diesel producing 150bhp — amazing. They're using engines like this in aircraft"), in which he makes smooth and fast progress. The hand control is pulled towards the wheel to accelerate and pushed away to brake. It's a world away from battling with the tiller steering of a three-wheeled "plastic rat".

Before the BMW, Gosling drove a Toyota MR2. Both had clutchless Tiptronic transmissions offering either fully automatic or manual changes and he's a big fan of these systems for ease of use and fun ("why bother with manuals when automatics are now so good?").

He also flies a modified Piper light aircraft — fitted with Australian-made hand controls — and wistfully concedes that engineering his own system would involve even more red tape.

Jeff Gosling is not a saint, but he's an interesting man who found a way of making creative use of a potentially devastating experience. Although he would clearly rather be judged on who he is and what he does, rather than how he gets about, Gosling knows this informs his work.

"I'm in the same situation as my clients. I suppose that gives me a certain sympathy. I wouldn't make anything I'm not prepared to use myself."

Source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/272669...automobile.html

Hi Speedo,

My controls weren't as fancy as yours. It worked from a tank of air under the bonnet, which helped me brake more easily. If I'm confused, it may be about the make of controls, which were fitted at Coventry, although I lived in Lincolnshire at the time. It was fitted to an Austin Princess; a big car that had power steering.

There's a big difference between C5/6 and C4/5. I also went to Bekker; if he's the Dutch guy? That's another story. As long as you'r happy Speedo, that's all that matters.

Mike

Yep, that's an article from the Telegraph Newspaper back in 2004. At the end of the day, it's each to their own. People naturally have preconceptions of products, whether it be from 'Chinese whispers' or it be through malicious gossip, or in some cases, by word of mouth It's a crying shame that Bekker's didn't patent their design way back at the very start then it would be a whole different kettle of fish nowadays!

Each Hand control manufacturer will have done their fair share of prestige cars, the Ferrari’s, Porsches, Bentley’s I’ve even heard rumours of a Bugatti Veyron, as in the world at the moment there are some unscrupulous people who take advantage of the system by swapping their car at very short intervals and profiting from the VAT element- With the compensation levels going into the millions (and I might add no price can be levied in exchange for your freedom and mobility) there are many ‘top end’ cars out there with Hand controls that are sold only a few months old with a few small holes where the hand controls used to be- again another shame, as the minority will eventually end up ruining it for the majority....

All I can say is that Bekkers were the very first to produce the modern day 'Push Pull Hand Controls'- FACT
Bekkers Were the very first to train a national team of Dieabled fitters to install and research the hand controls... FACT

I'm certain that every set of controls have their good and bad points, but IMHO I would rather buy an'original' than a copy...

Without question the best I've driven on them for over 20 years and never considered any others.

Did have another push/pull before JG but never ever will I stay.

Fitted personally to my cars - over 20 and business vehicles.

I have an issue with them - twice now when needing to perform an emergency stop, the grip has rotated and reduced the braking efficiency quite significantly. These were fitted on my motability car. It is a concern as I have a friend who has experienced an jamming accelerator with these controls too. To be quite frank, I would not want to drive a car fitted with these controls. :-(