3D Printable Lateral Short Throw for stock shifter assembly

[Lucas@AirLift]

Good afternoon. Thought I would share this little project with you all. So me being a cheap ass, I cut and lengthened my stock shifter by ~20mm below the ball for about a 25% decrease in throw. This was great, but the side to side movement was still too great for my liking. So, we came up with this.. a 3D Printable short shifter that replaces the stock lateral part. Still a work in progress, but I will post pics when the part comes off the printer tomorrow

Gotta figure out how I can upload the STL and IPT files here..

[Compeer]

Does this go under the bonnet? Ive been trying to find one for sale for the under the bonnet one and cant find one, nor could I find the design or measurements anywhere.

Making a cad to have these cut in alloy would be even better.

I was actually about to make a post on upgrading the shifter bushing to roller bearings when I seen this, I have the nst short shifter installled with the solid bushing mounts, speaking of which you shortened the shifter like the nst one but did you make solid bushing for the actual shifter box mounts? alot of the side to side motion comes from those rubber bushings. I had actually planned on getting some longer ones machine to bring the whole shifter box up as far as possible.

Also come join the discord I made for us all, can easily share files there, this is a cool project!

Discord link hthttps://discord.gg/UnmD7VeHMn

[Lucas@AirLift]

Originally Posted by Compeer

Does this go under the bonnet? Ive been trying to find one for sale for the under the bonnet one and cant find one, nor could I find the design or measurements anywhere.

Making a cad to have these cut in alloy would be even better.

I was actually about to make a post on upgrading the shifter bushing to roller bearings when I seen this, I have the nst short shifter installled with the solid bushing mounts, speaking of which you shortened the shifter like the nst one but did you make solid bushing for the actual shifter box mounts? alot of the side to side motion comes from those rubber bushings. I had actually planned on getting some longer ones machine to bring the whole shifter box up as far as possible.

Also come join the discord I made for us all, can easily share files there, this is a cool project!

Discord link hthttps://discord.gg/UnmD7VeHMn

So this link is one that attaches to the side of the shift box in the interior. It would be fully compatible with a stock or NST/Ralco shifter.

Because it is in the interior, I dont think it would be cost effective or required to machine it out of aluminum. I printed this out of ABS as it has the best material properties over a wide temp range that the interior of a car will experience. I am fairly positive that the stock shifter assembly is made from PA6 Nylon, but I have found in my experience with FDM printers that printed PA6 does not retain the great material properties like injection molded PA6. ABS is a much better material to work with when it comes to printing car parts IMHO.

Anyway here it is! Prototype #1. The peg that the spring rides on snapped off when I removed the support material, but I made it hollow like stock so Rev2 will have it solid. For now I am just going to use a bolt in place of that peg. Installing it this afternoon so I will take some measurements of the reduction in throw

[Compeer]

Really bloody cool! get it done I will buy one and fit it to be another test dummy!

[Lucas@AirLift]

Originally Posted by Compeer

Really bloody cool! get it done I will buy one and fit it to be another test dummy!

Honestly, if you covered shipping costs from MI, USA to you in NZ I will send you it for free to test out. I have a total of maybe 4 hours in design time in to this, and it costs ~$2USD in material to print one out.

I couldn't wait for my lunch break so I snuck out of work and threw it in the shifter really quick.. and it works perfect! With the 2" shifter extension I am running, I measured a full lateral travel of ~4.5" stock. With this printed arm I measured ~4" which is about a 12% reduction in lateral throw! In the V1 model I moved the pin 10mm farther from the pivot to get this reduction. I am going to do the V2 in 2 different flavors, 10mm and 15mm. The 15mm should drop the lateral throw by at least another 5%. Personally I LOVE how it feels at this point, but I think others may want it shorter.

So here are the pics. I have learned from my 3d print adventures in the gun cad world that pegs that come from a flat surface are super weak and will likely fail. To combat this, I drilled and tapped the shifter peg with a 6-32x3/4" button head screw, and I can SLAM the shifter side to side and it did not damage the part! I am also using a bolt to replace the broken spring peg on this revision. The final will have a 6-32 bolt on both pegs to prevent breakage.

[Compeer]

Originally Posted by Lucas@AirLift

Honestly, if you covered shipping costs from MI, USA to you in NZ I will send you it for free to test out. I have a total of maybe 4 hours in design time in to this, and it costs ~$2USD in material to print one out.

I couldn't wait for my lunch break so I snuck out of work and threw it in the shifter really quick.. and it works perfect! With the 2" shifter extension I am running, I measured a full lateral travel of ~4.5" stock. With this printed arm I measured ~4" which is about a 12% reduction in lateral throw! In the V1 model I moved the pin 10mm farther from the pivot to get this reduction. I am going to do the V2 in 2 different flavors, 10mm and 15mm. The 15mm should drop the lateral throw by at least another 5%. Personally I LOVE how it feels at this point, but I think others may want it shorter.

So here are the pics. I have learned from my 3d print adventures in the gun cad world that pegs that come from a flat surface are super weak and will likely fail. To combat this, I drilled and tapped the shifter peg with a 6-32x3/4" button head screw, and I can SLAM the shifter side to side and it did not damage the part! I am also using a bolt to replace the broken spring peg on this revision. The final will have a 6-32 bolt on both pegs to prevent breakage.

More than willing to cover shipping!will private message you, Once you have this design you should 100% start on the linkage end for the gearbox, they made this steeping thing to extend it I will show you images.

The ebarings are just roller skate bearings, i go go buy some today and try put them on! RReviving the old drive train mods from 10 years ago lol!

[Lucas@AirLift]

Sent you a PM

So that red part, I am guessing that clips on the shift cable mount on the trans and pushes the pivot farther away? This must be the TRD style short throw that needs a new shifter cable bracket.

As for the trans side cable bushings, I will take a measurement of the shaft size and see if there are any OTS bearings that will fit. I am currently running delrin bushings, but I know over time they will wear out so a roller bearing would be ideal.

Edit: what are those smaller aluminum bushings with snap rings for on the bottom right?

[Compeer]

Originally Posted by Lucas@AirLift

Sent you a PM

So that red part, I am guessing that clips on the shift cable mount on the trans and pushes the pivot farther away? This must be the TRD style short throw that needs a new shifter cable bracket.

As for the trans side cable bushings, I will take a measurement of the shaft size and see if there are any OTS bearings that will fit. I am currently running delrin bushings, but I know over time they will wear out so a roller bearing would be ideal.

Edit: what are those smaller aluminum bushings with snap rings for on the bottom right?

Yes NST just copied the trd stuff like all their parts. The bearings are 608zz 2rs need two of them, the little bushings come with the nst short shift kit and replace the rubber shifter assembly bushings in cabin. Thats what I said you should replace next they really make the transmission feel better.

Now nst sells the entire shift ssembly along with the hardmount bushings but dont sell the 2 roller skate bushings or the red part for under bonnet.

[Compeer]

Did you end up making a new version? and how sthe shifts feel so far?