Well, last week, i started having issues shifting the truck into gear. namely, it'd pop out of gear, or grind as it was difficult to get into gear. i have dealt with this issue before and know what i was experiencing was the shifter seat disintegrating in the socket.

this happens to all toyota manual transmissions over time. the shifter seat is a rubber/plastic piece that cups the shifter into place and is held under spring tension by the upper cup. LC Engineering and Marlin Crawler both carry these seats and ball socket bushings. after shipping, they will run you just under $30. If you have not ever done one on your truck, to avoid troubles down the road, order one so you can do it before you end up like i did...

ordered mine last saturday and came in today so here's my little 15 minute writeup.

you will need the following tools to change out yours replaced.

1 fillips screwdriver.
x towels
1 set of pliers.

first step, place the shifter into neutral so the process is easier. you will need to remove your shift knob and shifter boot assembly to gain access.




this is what the boot looks like under your carpet. find the 4 screws, and take them out.... pull the carpet around to allow the boot to come out.




once you have the boot out the way, you will see the top boot trans seal for the shifter... take caution as some may tear easy from age and pull the boot off the lip from the shifter housing to reveal the upper cup..




you will need to apply pressure down on this upper cup and then rotate counter-clockwise to pop free the shifter... some may be a little stuck so be patient and wiggle that bitch around till it spins free...




pull the shifter assembly up and away, make sure to have those towels handy in case it drips a little oil...




you will notice pieces of the worn and disintegrated seat all over the place... grab those towels and wipe/clean away any of those old pieces of seat off the shifter... there will also be a rubber seal near the bottom, remove that as well... you wont need it.




inside the shifter top.... chances are you'll find yours to be in similar shape...




cleaned away all the debris and old junk...




now, time for the new seat. very simple. note the two notches should face in towards the side pins on the housing... position it just like in this picture...




drop it down like so....




rotate....




and its in...




on the shifter itself... i removed the old lower ballcup bushing with pliers, and popped the new one on with some pressure against the bench......




line the shifter back up, drop in and align the upper cup as well.




push down on the cup, rotate clockwise untill the upper cup locks back into place on the socket pins. slide the upper boot seal into place over the lip and start tying up everything in the reverse process you took it apart.

aaaaand thats it. you'll end up with a nicer, tighter shifter than before. hope this helped you guys out!



-SD Yota

 

While you're in there put a Billy M shifter kit in. Replaces the part the arm ball goes into. Uses derlin instead of rubber between the metal cups. Good luck finding one though. Same concept can be copied by any good machine shop tho.

Nice write up. I should check out why I have to slam 2nd in. Its 77yoters old 79 celica W52 he beat the piss out of. He will probably be shocked its still alive lol

 

mine looked like that on the W58. granted the Sc300 it came from had some miles.

 

give it a test... when you go to shift it, pull up on the shifter and see if it travels farther into the shift gate... chances are if its worn, it'll go in easier. its what ive been having to do from saturday till today

yea.... some people will get that gear poppin out issue or troubles going into gear and not even think to replace the bushings... and will replace clutch, slave and master cylinders and still have the same issues....

 

I will inspect mine but probably order parts before I do. Did the travel get tighter? Less motion I mean. Hoping to it does that for me. Don't wanna cut my metal shift boot cover any bigger if I don't have to. That's why I haven't put it on yet lol.

 

yea... everything just feels way more precise. no slop. aint gonna make a short shifter out of it but, it'll make it a real nice feeling one.

 

It might make a proper short shifter out of my actual shortened shifter though. I have a cut down car arm. Not sure how far its cut down. 77yoter gave it to me on a trans he traded me a few years back. He had cut and welded the middle but boiled the rubber out doing so. Had duct tape in there. I did the same thing my first cut down stick I JB welded the upper and lower arm halves together. Set the angle by stabbing it into the yard upside down and using tie wire to hole the lower half where its should be. Adjusted the bend above the ball in the vice. I will measure the overall height without a knob if anybody cares.

 

It is a wrist flick to shift though, thats for sure. I can measure my throw gear to gear too if anybody cares. Might be nice to have a before spec too.

 

This!

haha I hate worn bushings on other vehicles, especially with euro and newer vehicles where reverse is left and up. Makes it impossible to find reverse and first.

3rd gear starts and going forward trying to reverse.


The Wxx's aren't too bad, just that bushing makes an unbelievably amazing difference. Super simple to replace, thank God Marlin Crawler makes it for a majority of the truck/ car manuals.

 

Somebody donate to the "I'm a broke ass minitrucker" fund so I can order a set sooner

 

Do you guys know how the insides of the W5x's work?

From 2nd to 3rd, it used to be easy to just clutch in and slam the shifter forward at a very slight angle and it'll go straight to 3rd. but recently, the shifter will feel like it gets caught between 1st and 3rd, but it'll go into 1st if I kept pushing. :/

 

another thing that it helps is if you got allot of slop while its in gear... it cuts all that out, also neutral is right dead center so when you go to shift from one gate to another, it self centers easier....

 

and neutral is neutral, not wobbling around with 45* of play for one position lol.

 

dude... thats every mini trucker.....

i was actually thinking of ordering a spare set just in case someone needed one down here... i know several people will soon... theres alot of em here that i know sure as hell dont.

mine had 316k miles on it so i guess it was due...

that may be the same issue... what happens when the seat wears down is the ball socket will sit lower and lower untill stuff stops lining up... then you start having problems... keep in mind, your shifter is a BIG lever that amplifies forces and throws to slide the shifting rods into the right places... and when it gets sloppy, so does the response to the areas those rods and forks are supposed to be at.

 

I gotta stop parking so close to my computer.

Just took mine apart. Its a bit different. I don't have a twist collar, it bolts in with 4 bolts. Has the 6 below that for the whole base stand. I have a rubber washer for a lower bushing. The pivot cup is in decent shape. I took pics.

 

I have a W52 from what I know. Replaced my W50 when I blew out all forward gears. That had the same style stick. Is yours a W56? I had a W55 in my 92 and it was like my 78. I remember never being able to use a phillips on the bolts and always using a 10mm socket.

 

wish i could park that close to my bed... (next to my computer)

sounds like yer gonna need the "red" bushing kit... (for the 4 bolt housings) if you look through marlins web site, it'll tell you how to ID your trans.

i have a R150 (v6) but uses the common white seat.

 

3 pics.

#1 is the top mount. No twist collar. Bolts in.

#2 is of the shorter arm I have. The trans to the top of the stick is 1.5 rockstar cans tall. Didn't have a tape measure lol.

#3 Shows my rubber bushing removed and the end socket bushing. I remember something about a "green bushing" for 4wds. Is there a better kind to get or just replace it with a new one?

Is there anything further down thats worth changing? I don't have the 3 piece socket the arm sits into. Its just a metal cup.

 

Ahh thats right. You have a 3.slow motor. How does the trans compare physically? Same placement of the clutch slave and fork? Same crossmember and length as a W**? I am debating which series to put behind a built 318 V8 this summer. W is easier but I will probably grenade a few.

Anyways, I will check marlins site out and see what I need and can find.

 

Now that I think about it, I should also check their site for dodge 4 speed truck trans bushings. We are putting a new trans in our 75 on sunday. The shifter stick is a twist collar like yours. I assume now that I see this it has some bushings inside. Its a rebuilt trans but when the stick is out for install, I will inspect them and probably have to change them down the line. Can't be any worse than the trans in it now. We have had the truck 10 years and never done a clutch. Been slipping off and on over the years. And its our tow truck. Sure says something about a manual vs an automatic. Our rebuilt autos don't even last 10 years of our abuse.