does anyone know where i can find information on cutting my stock shifter and making it into a short shifter??? is it possible???

 

When you cut the height oof the stock shifter you just make it harder to shift. Has something to do with lenght of the rod and where the fulcrum is i believe. Instead what you want to do is spend the 130$ from swa and get a b&m shifter

 

how difficult is a short throw shifter to install? How long does it take? Is a lot of car mod experience required? Thanks.

 

I've cut the stock shifter into a shorter looking shifter. It's a free mod and looks 10x better without going underneath the car. View my webpage for pictures.

 

its not that hard you have to take apart the center console and loosen some rusty bolts above the cat. It shouldnt take more than a couple of hrs what takes so long is letting the wd40 set into the nuts so you can loosen them. Heres a how-to http://www.vbxmaxima.8m.com/shifter.html

 

JamesNH: you said that shortening your shifter makes it harder to shift - wtf? how so? I shortened mine and shifting has become much easier, more precise, and overall better.

Also, it doesn't make sense that shifting would take longer or that it is harder with a shortened lever. Think about it, the taller the lever the greater distance you must move it in order to change a gear. The shorter the lever the less you have to move it in order to change gears. Shortened lever calls for a hella lot easier and faster gear change, even without a short-throw shifter.

 

You are 100% correct. You cannot make a short throw shifter without changing the fulcrum point on the shifter itself. All you'd be doing by cutting your stock shifter is lowering where your shift **** is and achieving nothing else.

 

but the height of B&M is about the same as stock?? just shorter throws..... but yeah not that hard to install done it in about an hour...... and yeah SWA all the way.... i think now they have it for $125 shipped look in the group deals section ....

 

I went with the pacesetter for 60$ and it works great for me. My advice would be to wait until you do some exhaust work to put it in though, having your cat off already makes this about a 30 min. install

 

Both the B&M and Pacesetter shifters introduce a more grainy vibration and they both make it feel like you're really working against the tranny to shift the gears, especially when downshifting. Believe me, I've had both of these shifters. The Pacesetter and B&M also move the shift pattern forward which is very uncomfortable for a 6' 1" guy like myself. The cut stock shifter (mine's cut 1.5") does shorten the throw ~2" however the pattern stays in the same place. For those that say the throw lengths stay the same with the cut shifter, you have to consider that you loped off 1.5" of shifter length therefore the lever isn't as long which means the throw is reduced. The cutshifter doesn't introduce any additional vibration nor does it really increase lever resistance like the Pacesetter/B&M. I enjoy being able to have my elbow on the center console and being able to shift without moving my entire arm.


Dave

 

I'm 6'4" and the pacesetter is very comfortable for me, but I did have the throw too short to begin with. If the throw is too short it is hard to shift and is uncomfortable. If you only shorten the throw by about a half it is comfortable to drive and feels much more solid then stock. Anything over that I think is too much. I also had my stock shifter cut before this and I like the pacesetter better. It did increase vibration though, but barely noticable.

 

...seems that many on here missed out on Physics, be it in high school or college, and therefore don't understand this concept.

 

I have one of those $20 dollar ebay sts......for over a year now....I'm happy with it. The one I received had very good build quality, so I don't know if all of them are $20 bucks.

A cut shifter is better than stock, and looks much better too.....

 

You just contradicted yourself. If changing gears (say from 1st to 2nd) takes a certain amount of energy (work), and you shortened the distance you have to move the lever to do that, you will have to apply more Force because the equation is W = F x d so if you have a shorter distance (d), you have to apply more force to achieve the same amount of Work (or energy).

 

Triangle centers explained, this includes some fulcrum geometry.

http://staff.imsa.edu/math/journal/v...gleCenters.pdf

 

*Takes out college physics book* I believe the equation would be:

Torque = (dist of moment arm) * (Force applied)

So, yes. It would require more force on a smaller moment arm to accomplish the same amount of torque required to change gears manuelly. However, the extra force involved is a trade-off that needs to be made in order to allow for quickshifting. The goal here is not to make the shift require the least amount of force applied. The goal is to lessen the throw/shift time, and the only way to do this is to sacrifice the a physically easier throw that requires less force.

So there ya have it.

 

Geeks, all of you!









But the last few are correct. H3LL, I HATE physics and I know enough to knwo that shortening the arm requires more force to move the other end of the lever the same distance.

Anyway, cutting the shifter is a 50-50 situation- some guys like it, some hate it. If you DO cut it, make sure that your shift **** is on there securely or you could be in big trouble in the middle of a hard shift.

 

Geeks ... Intelligence!

At any rate, if you just want a lower shifter and more effort to shift the same distance between gears, then cut your stock shifter. If you want shorter, more precise throws, then get an STS.

Personally, I prefer to have the shifter higher and closer to the wheel along with shorter throws. So, an adjustable STS is in my near future.

Think about it this way, to properly control and drive your car on a road course or through the twisties, you need two hands on the wheel. The farther you have to reach for the shifter, the more you're asking of one hand in the middle of a turn ... just look at any real race car or sports car, the shifter and the wheel are much closer together. There is a reason for it.

 

Can anyone conjecture why a Pacesetter or CustomMaxima short shifter would introduce more vibration? The only thing that comes to mind is the design of the bottom bushings. The Pacesetter and factory shifter both have Delrin pivot *****, and both shifters are steel, so I don't know what else there could be.

The CustomMaxima short shifter on the other hand is aluminum, at least according to the CM website. I can see how an aluminum shaft might introduce more vibration, because the shaft would be lighter, and aluminum is very stiff, which would further contribute.

 

i cut my shifter too and yeah its a little harder but u get a shorter throw...and ya it looks better check mine out...