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20 Posts
Hello XD Manual Owners,
Just wanted to share this incase anyone in the future is looking at this product. Short shifter options for our cars are pretty limited since most of the good ones aren't made anymore. There is a seller on ebay which is selling a short shifter that appears to be a replica of the Ralco shifter: Ebay Listing Link
Unfortunately, the shifter does not work with our cars. The design of the locking mechanism is the issue. The shifter threads up and down to adjust the throw, but the nut used to lock it in place sits right on top of the shifter ball. This makes it so the shifter cannot go in 1st, 2nd, 5th or reverse, esstentially rendering the prodct useless. The locking mechanism is also poorly engineered because even if there wasn't interference it can't lock it in place. It's simply a nut on a threaded rod, makes no difference if it is moved to the bottom, still blocks 4/6 gears. You can run it if you thread lock the threads into the ball, but even then it will break free and spin. The spinning is super annoying because its a bent design so it changes where the ball is. Super frusting and terrible to use. Also the ball is oversized, and the bushings for both shift wires were the wrong size. Overall just a terrible product and hope if anyone else is looking at it they read this first. The seller was extremely defiant that I was wrong and plenty of people have installed it, but it's simply not possible.
I found the best option for our cars is the generic china one such as this:Chinese Short Shifter , however you have to make a modification. The main ball and shifting shaft used to make this aren't actually connected, they are like glued together and press fit. Issue is within about 1000 miles of driving the shaft will separate from the ball, making the shifter feel like actual garbage. The fix for this is to drill out the set screw hole they for some reason cap off. You have to drill this hole through the shaft once the bit is through the ball. You then need a metal self tapping screw to thread into this hole you drilled. This makes it so the ball and shaft is one piece, held together with a self tapper. The self tapper can't come loose because the hole is blocked by the shifter carrier when installed. This is the best solution I've found; when combined with the Evo 8 bushings for the linkage it feels stiff and precise.
Hope this helped one person out there! Cheers!
Just wanted to share this incase anyone in the future is looking at this product. Short shifter options for our cars are pretty limited since most of the good ones aren't made anymore. There is a seller on ebay which is selling a short shifter that appears to be a replica of the Ralco shifter: Ebay Listing Link
Unfortunately, the shifter does not work with our cars. The design of the locking mechanism is the issue. The shifter threads up and down to adjust the throw, but the nut used to lock it in place sits right on top of the shifter ball. This makes it so the shifter cannot go in 1st, 2nd, 5th or reverse, esstentially rendering the prodct useless. The locking mechanism is also poorly engineered because even if there wasn't interference it can't lock it in place. It's simply a nut on a threaded rod, makes no difference if it is moved to the bottom, still blocks 4/6 gears. You can run it if you thread lock the threads into the ball, but even then it will break free and spin. The spinning is super annoying because its a bent design so it changes where the ball is. Super frusting and terrible to use. Also the ball is oversized, and the bushings for both shift wires were the wrong size. Overall just a terrible product and hope if anyone else is looking at it they read this first. The seller was extremely defiant that I was wrong and plenty of people have installed it, but it's simply not possible.
I found the best option for our cars is the generic china one such as this:Chinese Short Shifter , however you have to make a modification. The main ball and shifting shaft used to make this aren't actually connected, they are like glued together and press fit. Issue is within about 1000 miles of driving the shaft will separate from the ball, making the shifter feel like actual garbage. The fix for this is to drill out the set screw hole they for some reason cap off. You have to drill this hole through the shaft once the bit is through the ball. You then need a metal self tapping screw to thread into this hole you drilled. This makes it so the ball and shaft is one piece, held together with a self tapper. The self tapper can't come loose because the hole is blocked by the shifter carrier when installed. This is the best solution I've found; when combined with the Evo 8 bushings for the linkage it feels stiff and precise.
Hope this helped one person out there! Cheers!
