short shifters!!! Options

[synyster37]

so after doing some research and stuff i decided to cut about 2.5 inches off of my shifter which sets the shift knob right at the top of the first bend. the throw feels alot shorter and i havent had any problems with mis-shifting. thanks guys for all your help! but i would still like to see some pics of short shifters, mine will be up in a few days

[KAOS]

so after doing some research and stuff i decided to cut about 2.5 inches off of my shifter which sets the shift knob right at the top of the first bend. the throw feels alot shorter and i havent had any problems with mis-shifting. thanks guys for all your help! but i would still like to see some pics of short shifters, mine will be up in a few days

It might feel/look shorter to you, but unless you change the pivot point of the shifter you're not going to notice much of anything performance-wise.

[95CelicaST]

Hahaha. You hacked the stock one. Worst. Mod. Ever. Serious, you couldn't even splurge on an eBay special? Your throws aren't any shorter, because that would require a change in the fulcrum, which you didn't do.

Spend 15 bucks and get an eBay short shifter.

[nics]

wtf?? its like cutting stock springs!!!

[synyster37]

have you guys never seen anyone cut down the stock one? it does help cuz it doesnt take as long to go from 1st to 2nd, 3rd to 4th etc.

[95CelicaST]

Wrong. It takes just as long because the pivot point of the shifter has not moved.

[Dyran]

My mate did this on his Trueno lol, It makes it look like its got a short shift which is cool, whether it makes any actual difference or not is another thing, he thinks it does though so I guess thats the main thing.

Theres a thread or how-to on this site that shows how to make your stock shifter into a short shifter (properly) isn't there? Think I stumbled across it at some point.

[KAOS]

I had stumbled on that one too.

I'm on my iPhone right now, but if you use the search function, look for "7th gen short shifter" and something should come up regarding it.

I can't even remember who hacked up their stock shifter and rewelded the fulcrum... ??? I want to say Manny... But I'm not sure. Maybe Dustin??

[synyster37]

Wrong. It takes just as long because the pivot point of the shifter has not moved.

its not wrong, cuz when i shift it takes less time to go from one gear to the next. i know how it is cuz i drove it

[KAOS]

Wrong. It takes just as long because the pivot point of the shifter has not moved.

its not wrong, cuz when i shift it takes less time to go from one gear to the next. i know how it is cuz i drove it

Thats what I meant when I said it only seems shorter...

[95CelicaST]

Sweet Jesus. I can't believe you're going to try and argue a point that is easily disproven with simple mathematics. When I get home I shall make a visual aid to help you understand.

[Tom_SS2]

the way to make short shifter as shown in the 6GC how to http://www.6gc.net/howto/make_custom_short_shifter is the same as cutting down the selector stick, technically the throw will be shorter by cutting down the selector stick

(this is mspaint at its best) the red marks the original travel of the end of the stick at full length, the green marks show that by cutting the stick the actual throw (arm movement) is now shorter as the distance the top of the knob/stick will travel is shorter

[VieT9sD]

so ive been wantin to get a short shifter for my car and i want to see everyone elses so i can get an idea of what its gonna look like! so i wanna see who has the shortest short shifter!

notice, he basically said he wants the look of a short shifter. he doesn't want function, only form.

i do agree with the rest of the guys that cutting the stock shifter shorter makes little to no difference in terms of performance. For me, the aftermarket short shifter made the most dramatic difference on how the car feels. it put a bigger smile on my face than my anti-roll bar.

as for the picture showing the selector stick when cut short (looks like about 30%?), notice that it still takes a great amount of travel between gears. not much of a difference.

This post has been edited by VieT9sD: Jun 22, 2010 - 7:53 PM

[Tom_SS2]

so ive been wantin to get a short shifter for my car and i want to see everyone elses so i can get an idea of what its gonna look like! so i wanna see who has the shortest short shifter!

notice, he basically said he wants the look of a short shifter. he doesn't want function, only form.

i do agree with the rest of the guys that cutting the stock shifter shorter makes little to no difference in terms of performance. For me, the aftermarket short shifter made the most dramatic difference on how the car feels. it put a bigger smile on my face than my anti-roll bar.

as for the picture showing the selector stick when cut short (looks like about 30%?), notice that it still takes a great amount of travel between gears. not much of a difference.

aye the picture is not to scale just showing that technically the throw will be shorter with a chopped stick, that is why you can buy "short throw shifters" and "short shifters" shorter throw just means you have to move the selector less, most "short shifters" are actually only "short throw shifter" wrongly labelled,

a proper short shifter (or a quick shifter) will require a totally different set up to pull the cables correctly. if for instance, you just installed a shifter that was shortened at both ends (above and below the pivot ball) the cable being moved by the bottom stick would not engage the gear at the gearbox end, it would be like when you change gear but you don't push it right in release the clutch and you hear the teeth in the box grind for a second then the selector drops back into neutral,

stick chopping has been done numerous times on this side of the Atlantic by many people and it does work. even the TRD quick shift (also badly labelled) are just shortened/redesigned top ends (above the pivot) of the selectors, the bottom stick under the pivot remains unchanged

take a shop bought "short shifter" and take a standard/stock one and measure the stick below the pivot it should be the same length if not then you are going to totally mess your gear changes

This post has been edited by Tom_SS2: Jun 22, 2010 - 8:26 PM

[VieT9sD]

The desired effect of a short shifter is to reduce the distance your hand needs to move to engage the next gear, thus reducing the amount of time spent shifting, reducing wasted time between shifts, and resulting in improved performance. A common misconception in the tuning world is that a short shifter is just a chopped off version of the stock shifter. In fact, chopping your shifter has no effect on the angle that your shifter shaft travels through between gears and therefore does not reduce the shifter's angular throw.

A true short shifter decreases throw by reducing the angle that the shifter shaft travels through during its stroke between gears. By reducing the angle that the shaft travels through between gears, the distance that your hand needs to move between gears is also reduced. In many cases, the shifter shaft is also re-designed to be shorter than stock thus creating a sportier look and feel, as well as aiding in reducing the linear throw length when coupled with the reduced angular throw.

The geometry of a short shifter differs from the stock shifter in order to reduce the distance that the upper section where your shift knob threads on needs to move to achieve the same degree of movement in the lower section where the shift rod or shifter cables attach. This ensures that although your hand is moving a shorter distance, the transmission is still fully engaged in every gear. The main pivot point, or fulcrum of the shifter lever is re-positioned on the shaft in such a way that the lower section which connects to the shift rod or shifter cables is longer than stock, resulting in the desired effect.

[95CelicaST]

Visual aid:




Looking at a short shifter this way is the wrong way:

[Tom_SS2]

95CelicaST; because the angle is the same the distance is the same? clearly the distance of the throw is shorter, throw is shorter angle has not reduced, distance arm/hand moves = throw, angle =/= throw, angle = angle

VieT9sD; i think you've said what i've said but in a different accent when it comes to keeping the lower shafts movement, 99.999999% of short shifters for the 6GC are only reduced length upper shafts, so many in fact that i have not seen a "real" short shifter for the 6GC so why not make your own? you have the same effect as all the so called shop bought "short shifters" since most the shifters fit into the original housing there is now way the pivots and the angles are actually changed just reduced throw distances

[KAOS]

The actual TRD QuickShift kit is taller than the standard OEM shifter. They built it this way to compensate for the rally driver having his hands on the wheel and then shifter, and then back to the wheel. Less distance traveled I guess... and it makes sense. The entire performance purpose/point of the short shift kit, is less distance traveled on the part of the shifter we DON'T see, to the gear box. Everything from the fulcrum point DOWN should be longer than OEM - this reduces the amount of throw to the gearbox.


So from a performance view - chopping the top off your shifter isn't going to give you any gains.

In conclusion, there would be two types of "Short Throw Shifters" for our car (possibly three, hehehe).
(a) The show kind, where you lob the top off your shift shaft and it "looks" & "feels" like a short shift. Its all for looks.
(b) The performance kind, which require that you use special adapters that "lift" the entire shift assembly up to make room for the lengthened shaft below the fulcrum point. It may not always "look" short in the cabin; but the throws are shortened in the gearbox.
© Both. Where you go through the tedious task of replacing your shifter with a proper performance short throw (like the majority of us have done) and then lobbing off the top of the shifter.

This post has been edited by KAOS: Jun 23, 2010 - 9:27 AM

[KAOS]

Ok; heres a better example... I know its not exact but you'll get the idea.

On the left - 7th Gen Short Shifter on the right OEM 6th Gen Shifter.

I drew the line on the lower part of the 7th Gen and then copy/pasted it over the 6th Gen. So you get the general idea of what I was stating in my previous post regarding the shaft being longer below the fulcrum:



You can also see the the shifter is shorter on the top too...

HTH to the OP and sorry for the thread jack!

This post has been edited by KAOS: Jun 23, 2010 - 9:55 AM

[Tom_SS2]

having a longer lower shaft works on the lines of reducing the angle of shift so the distance/throw of the shift is also reduced and that is a quick shifter (not short shifter) problems arise with these kits by over zealous gear changes when people force the selector too far causing damage to any number of the components, the 7th gen shifter doesn't fit properly and are horrid to drive, i'd take standard shifter over a 7th gen shifter any day, until a proper short shifter is released (that doesn't cost the earth) for the 6th gen i'd run standard or chopped

the TRD shifter i saw looked exactly the same as the standard one except for a short top shaft and the bends were different, maybe it was a fake

This post has been edited by Tom_SS2: Jun 23, 2010 - 11:32 AM