Short-Throw Shifter Kits
These kits have been around for the last 30 years. Very few folks install them on the 4+3, but most companies still offer them. The idea is that by moving the holes in the shifter arms, or levers, you won't need to move the lever quite so far during each shift. In other words, the distance the shifter knob moves from second to third will be shorter. The idea is that you'll be able to shift faster. There are two problems with this theory.
The first problem requires that we once again have to remember our basic high school physics. All these shift kits do is bring the holes for the shift linkage closer together. That means you have to move the lever a shorter distance. Now go back to what you learned in high school. A shorter lever means that you'll have to use more force. When you use one of these kits you may not have to move the lever as far but you'll have to push the lever harder to engage the next gear.
There's one more reason to keep the stock shifter arms. While you're driving on the track, it's very easy to tell which gear is engaged by simply touching the shift lever. A simple touch on the lever will remind you that you're in third gear, and not fourth. When you shorten the lever arms all the gears seem to be too close. If you're going fast enough then you often need this quick sense of touch. If you're going slow, then it's not a problem. It's a lot like reading a tachometer. This is why the switch goes bad. This little ball is moved every time you move the shift linkage. After a hundred thousand miles, the ball and the seat, wears just enough to let some of the transmission oil leak into the electrical part of the switch, shorting it out. If you have time to look at the tachometer, you're going too slow. If you always know what gear you're in, you're going too slow.
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The only thing they could not get right was the linkage problem into 2nd. So if anyone has any suggestions I'm all ears. I think maybe I should invest in a new shifter. Has anyone done this. I've seen in some after market places short throw stuff!!!
