Hi guys,

I just installed a short shifter, shifter and underhood bushings and now the shifter is MEGA stiff. I mean, I don't know if it normal or not... If I put it in neutral and try to wiggle it left and right its so stiff that if I push it to the right the shifter stays there instead of returning back to neutral...

Is the short shifter supposed to be like this??? I just want to know since this is the first short shifter I have installed/driven.

 

Same thing happened to me when I installed the underhood bushings. It's the bracket that's holding the shifter cable to the trans. Put the palm of your hand on top of the bracket and push down but not too far. Push it down little by little until it looses up to however you like it loose. It should go back to the middle by itself after this.

The bushing is the problem to this stiffness and not the short shifter. The bracket was meant for the stock bushings and since the stock bushings were rubber, it flexes and could return to the middle just fine. Since the new billet/cnc bushings are solid, they don't flex and it presses against the linkage, causing that stiffness to the shifter.

 

Thanks for the quick response! The thing is that I had installed the underhood bushings about a week ago and had no problems. Yesterday I installed the the SS and know the shifter is stiff as hell. Is there any posibility that when installing the SS the bracket you are talking about was affected?

 

Mine is very stiff. Sounds like what you're describing. I love it. Underhood bushings, base bushings, and short shifter.

 

Which short-shifter did you get? The main pivot ball was machined too large on some of the eBay kits. Its a very easy fix though, just drill out one of the pivot cup bolt holes slightly larger so it doesn't squeeze so tight on the ball and lets it move more freely. Also be sure to use plenty of grease during the installation. The shifter should move and return to center freely with no resistance.

 

I agree, sounds like something is binding. Id check everything you installed for a binding pivot point or cable connection.

 

Kracka,

I bought the ebay one and it sounds exactly how you describe. Could you give me more details on the fix??? Thanks in advance!

 

+1 on ebay ss

 

In the picture above you'll see the pivot cup that bolts down to the shifter assembly with 2 bolts. Drill the hole for the rear bolt in the pivot cup (the nylon piece that holds the shifter down) slightly larger so it doesn't squeeze the shifter pivot ball down quite so tight. You basically want to just loosen it up a bit to accommodate the slightly larger ball size. You'll also notice that I'm using a heavy-duty marine axle grease.

 

Kracka,

Thanks alot for the info! Actually what I did to fix the problem was using a dremell to shave off the new shift retainer. I was using the new pivot cups provided with the kit which suck badly like you said on the "how to" so I carefully removed the old ones that came with the factory shifter and reused them on the SS. Now the shifts are WONDERFUL!

Guys, if you haven't done this mod yet... DO IT ASAP! I cannot believe how great the shifts feel now. The car actually feels like I thought it should feel from the start. The shifts are stiff, precise and just plain awsome. I'm using a AMS shift knob with the SS kit, under hood and shifter base bushings and I couldn't be any happier!

 

ill remember to stay away from ebay ss

 

Congrats on the repair . Did you make sure to lube everything in the shifter?

 

luuuuuuube....lol

now i wanna do this

 

luuuuuuube....lol

now i wanna do this

 

Hardly, its pretty tough to beat for $29 shipped even if it does take a little modifying (seems hit or miss).