4spd hard to go from reverse to Neutral

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Mad Dart

Mad Dart

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Ok, I have lined up all the pin holes at the bottom of the shifter and ALL the rods have been put on correct with trans in neutral. The issue I am having is that when I go into Reverse and then try and go to neutral to grab 1st gear it binds up. With some serious wiggling and kind of Pulling up on the shifter it will eventually go. Does this sound like the shifter itself is out of adjustment??

If so can someone give me direction on how to do it?? I can see an adjusting bolt on the front of the shifter. What exactly does it do before I mess with it?
And is there a procedure to follow when adjusting it like the above with the pin holes and trans being in neutral??

HELP........ SHOULD I BUY ANOTHER SHIFTER?? THE TRANS SHIFTS FINE AND ALL GEARS WORK CORRECTLY!
 
Mad Dart said:
Ok, I have lined up all the pin holes at the bottom of the shifter and ALL the rods have been put on correct with trans in neutral. The issue I am having is that when I go into Reverse and then try and go to neutral to grab 1st gear it binds up. With some serious wiggling and kind of Pulling up on the shifter it will eventually go. Does this sound like the shifter itself is out of adjustment??

If so can someone give me direction on how to do it?? I can see an adjusting bolt on the front of the shifter. What exactly does it do before I mess with it?
And is there a procedure to follow when adjusting it like the above with the pin holes and trans being in neutral??

HELP........ SHOULD I BUY ANOTHER SHIFTER?? THE TRANS SHIFTS FINE AND ALL GEARS WORK CORRECTLY!
Click to expand...
I had the same problem. I installed another shifter box,mine seemed to have alot of play. Now it is fine. Also a friend of mine had the same sort of problem,he had to spot weld the rectangular shiter arm on the tranny,now his is fine..Hope this helps..Craig..
 
CRAIG COX said:
I had the same problem. I installed another shifter box,mine seemed to have alot of play. Now it is fine. Also a friend of mine had the same sort of problem,he had to spot weld the rectangular shiter arm on the tranny,now his is fine..Hope this helps..Craig..
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I figure it is going on 40 Years old. Maybe it is time to upgrade or at least rebuild it......Where did you buy yours at??? Brewers??
 
hi, have you tried shifting the lever by itself? with a wrench? there is a shoe inside, it can be too close to the 1-2 shoe and cause reverse to be hard to move. just food for thought
 
perfacar said:
hi, have you tried shifting the lever by itself? with a wrench? there is a shoe inside, it can be too close to the 1-2 shoe and cause reverse to be hard to move. just food for thought
Click to expand...

Yes it shifts SMOOTH as Silk with the rods off the trans. It has to be the shifter mechanism.......does the bolt and adjusting nut do anything to fix this problem?? You know the one on the front of the shifter mechanism?
 
Those are usually the shifter stops that prevent over travel of the shifter rods. Only used on 1st through 4th gears.
 
Just play with the rod adjustments One turn at a time to find medium where it works best, mines sticky to.
Another thing is if the tabs fit loose ,you may have to weld up the key holes a lil and file fit them so they don't slip and misalign the rod adjustment.

check to see if tabs are on correct and are not binding against the cover too=kinda out there but hey ya never know.
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
Just play with the rod adjustments One turn at a time to find medium where it works best, mines sticky to.
Another thing is if the tabs fit loose ,you may have to weld up the key holes a lil and file fit them so they don't slip and misalign the rod adjustment.

check to see if tabs are on correct and are not binding against the cover too=kinda out there but hey ya never know.
Click to expand...

I have done everything that you have recommended. The Tabs are snug as a bug also! Nothing is binding. I got the system down now how to get it out of reverse and into forward gears, it is just a PITA two handed process!

I think I am going to just spring for a new shifter.

Do any of you guys run a REVERSE LOCK OUT????

Suggestions? I like the Stock Shifter and Q ball handle but would like a Reverse Lock out if they still make one.....ANYBODY???
 
So, you've tried shifting the gears with the tabs at the trans, but what about moving the shifter box with the rods disconnected? is it smooth as well?
What about the angle of attack? The reverse rod on my trans is at a strange angle to the tab on the trans, might be that there isn't enough leverage due to a bent rod, like it's going beyond apex or something...kinda hard to explain
 
player1up said:
So, you've tried shifting the gears with the tabs at the trans, but what about moving the shifter box with the rods disconnected? is it smooth as well?
What about the angle of attack? The reverse rod on my trans is at a strange angle to the tab on the trans, might be that there isn't enough leverage due to a bent rod, like it's going beyond apex or something...kinda hard to explain
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I understand what you are saying and the mechanism shifts smooth also. I believe that the reverse lockout in the mechanism is just wore out. All my rods look like from the factory with no weird angles or anything.

I am looking into a different shifter mechanism like the Hurst Comp but you need to use bushings with it or replace all the rods and tabs. The whole set up is around 449.00 plus 79.00 for a new handle that bolts to it since mine is a push in. Then you may as well get the new Q Ball for another 29.00. So around $550.00 for the whole set up at Brewers. I guess I could just get the Mechanism and use the bushings and Drill out my Shifter Handle so it bolts up.............Tossing the whole thing around and I will pull the trigger in the next week or so.
 
1wild&crazyguy said:
Hurst comp shifter is like 2 something last I looked, I wouldn't buy anything from brewers If I could help it. too much $$$$$$$
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Yes they are expensive.......Who else sells MOPAR TRANS STUFF??

$550.00 is a brand new set of Wheels with custom offset and a pair of Street Et Drags!!!! Maybe I will just put up with the reverse thing for now?
 
Mad Dart,

I just went through this with my duster. I even started a thread to ID the shifter I had. I eventually went with the set up from Brewers. They were very knowledgable and a big help, they are more expensive but not by much so its worth the extra expense to get the exactly right parts. In the past I have had trouble like what your experiencing. I am assuming that your have a hurst shifter not an inland. One thing I have always run into with old shifters is rough gate to gate shifting like your talking about. I went and spray some wd-40 down into the slide plates since they tend to bind when ever you disturb the shifter. If it makes it better then take it apart and clean and grease the slides. I hope this helps.
 
Mad Dart said:
Yes they are expensive.......Who else sells MOPAR TRANS STUFF??

$550.00 is a brand new set of Wheels with custom offset and a pair of Street Et Drags!!!! Maybe I will just put up with the reverse thing for now?
Click to expand...

stephens performance, passion performance, mancini racing, bob mazzolini.
 
turbodart68 said:
Mad Dart,

I just went through this with my duster. I even started a thread to ID the shifter I had. I eventually went with the set up from Brewers. They were very knowledgable and a big help, they are more expensive but not by much so its worth the extra expense to get the exactly right parts. In the past I have had trouble like what your experiencing. I am assuming that your have a hurst shifter not an inland. One thing I have always run into with old shifters is rough gate to gate shifting like your talking about. I went and spray some wd-40 down into the slide plates since they tend to bind when ever you disturb the shifter. If it makes it better then take it apart and clean and grease the slides. I hope this helps.
Click to expand...

I will try that tonight. I have tried everything else. If all goes well I will take it apart this weekend and grease the slides!

Thanks for the help!
 
Ok, Last night I took the shifter boot off and squirted some WD-40 on the shift mechanism......What a difference that made! So I know now that the shifter is ok and just needs to be lubed up. I will take it apart this weekend and use some White Lithium Grease to lube it all up. I think this should cure the problem!
 
I purchased a Hurst "Indy" shifter from Jegs for $149. This is an mopar A-body specific unit that comes with the levers for the tranny, rods, mounting adapter, bushings and all the hardware. It appears to be the same body as a Competition Plus without the adjustable stops (but the body is dimpled where they go and I drilled an tapped them on mine) and the dust shield on the bottom (swapped the one from my old shifter). The only thing I didn't like was the short 7" handle but I just drilled out my old handle an bolted it on.

The througths are much shorter than the stock Hurst unit.
 
dgc333 said:
I purchased a Hurst "Indy" shifter from Jegs for $149. This is an mopar A-body specific unit that comes with the levers for the tranny, rods, mounting adapter, bushings and all the hardware. It appears to be the same body as a Competition Plus without the adjustable stops (but the body is dimpled where they go and I drilled an tapped them on mine) and the dust shield on the bottom (swapped the one from my old shifter). The only thing I didn't like was the short 7" handle but I just drilled out my old handle an bolted it on.

The througths are much shorter than the stock Hurst unit.
Click to expand...

Do you have a part number for Jegs on that?? That is a SMOKIN DEAL!

Is this the one??? How long ago did you buy yours?

http://www.jegs.com/i/Hurst/530/503-0032/10002/-1#
 
mshred said:
fork over the extra cash and get something with adjustable stops...its worth it IMO
Click to expand...

Even the adjustable stops won't help in this case, as the stops are only for 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th. the reverse can only be set via the neutral gate, it's a question of alignment. I've got mine too easy to slide in to reverse at this point, I'd like to narrow it down and make it harder, but getting out I'd like to go smooth.

Sometimes not much required to remedy, 1/2 turn either way.
 
I got a rebuilt shifter mechanism from brewers for about 100-120 shipped for a 70 roadrunner. Worked great. Same push in style as yours. Just need to send in your core.
 
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