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DIY: Short Throw Shifter (dial-up alert)

29K views 13 replies 10 participants last post by  Banjutsu 
#1 ·
Today, I removed the OEM shifter and put in a new one. I got it off ebay for cheap.
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260191248252

It took about 3 hours, because I had to figure things out, and fiddle. It only should take you an hour an a half.

You will need a set of screwdrivers and metric sockets, as well as needle or duck nosed pliers, a hammer, an auld or pick, and a large vice grip or channel locks. In addition, I needed a drill press, table grinder and angle grinder. You might not need these (depending on the kit you buy).

First step is to remove the shift knob and boot. The know screws off and the boot should come off with a little force. It's held on by clips. When you're done, you will be looking at your cage. Also, remove the little white biscuit that holds the boot up.





Next, remove the centre console. It's held in by 5 screws. I only show one side of the console, same on both.
One in the cupholder:

One by the seat cushions:

One in the foot well:


This exposes your SRS module, and the entire cage. First step is to remove the small pin with an auld and hammer. Make your you remove the rubber sheath and hold that.




You will probably have to hammer on the left side of the pin to move it a bit, then remove the lock washer that holds it on. Push the pin through from right to left.



Wedge off the locking washer on the left side of the front pin. It can be a real hog to get off. You can now remove the triangular shift plastic thing and spring.


Using pliers, remove the locking pin on this peice. Don't lose it.


It should now look like this:


Next, to disconnect the bottom shift peice. You can remove the pin holding with your hands.



The shifter is now completely disconnected from the transmission.

Remove the 4 bolts (12 mm I think) from the base.
Using vise grips (or other plierish tool), pry up on the metal plate that holds in the cable. (There's two)




Next, remove the wiring from the cage with pliers, the clip is underneath.


Hurray, cage is out!.


Now, at this point, I COULD NOT get the right side locking washer off the pin, I had to cut it off with a dremel.



A whack with the hammer and auld and the pin was dislodges. Note the pin is collared, so it can only go out one way.


You can now remove the shift ball housing.


You need to remove that little white plastic thing from the end of the old shifter and put it on the new one.


A vise works good. Don't squeeze too tight.


New shifter (left) vs old (right)


The important part here is the bottom half, notice the length difference.


Because I had to cut off the locking washer, I drilled a hole though that end of the pin, shimmed it with washers and cotter pinned it.


In this particular kit, the risers don't fit with the rubber feet of the stock cage, so use pliers to remove them.



Next. The peice of metal that sits behind the cage needs to be removed (just pull on it). Problem being is that the risers don't line up with the oem holes because the hit the side of this bracket. I used an angle grinder to take down the edges.
Before:

After:




Also, because the cage sits higher, the right shift cable in the car would rub against the cage, so you need to cut out a small peice of the cage. A jigsaw worked well.


Now, time to reinstall the cage. I recommend attaching the bottom cable first, then bolt the cage down, and replace the side cable. Also, make sure you replace those steel plates in the back. Voila!


At this point, I'd quickly screw on your shift knob and go for a spin, make sure it works!

Replace the centre console and your done!


This is optional, but I also replaced the knob to a TRD one and used a new shift boot. This one came from pancake.



Unfornately, this boot is a velcro thing, so It needs to be fixed the the shifter. Turn it inside out and put if over the shifter.



Zap-strap it in place.I also used some red electrical tape to hold it up.



Pull it over, attach it to the old base plate and replace the knob, done!


Conclusion:
Immediately after installation, I noticed shifts were MUCH quicker. They were a bit more rough then before, and needed more effort, but the speed is remarkable. I'd definitely recommend this one. If you have any questions, just pm or email me!

Good luck.
 
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#2 ·
It's totally different from my US 96. Everything is matel except the shift ball housing. There is an extra "C" shape thing on the shifter itself held by 2 pins go across the shifter. There is a ball w/ spring behind on the shift ball housing. The ball and the C shape thing make a click and hold. No snap ring holding the shift ball.

I had to go to work and just put everything back together.

Gonna look into it more this weekend.
 
#12 · (Edited)
This is correct. Much to my surprise, a lot of things looked different when the center console came off.

On eBay, I ordered this $18 shifter -- Nice 93 97 Toyota Corolla Short Throw Shifter CE Le DX 94 96 | eBay -- which looks identical to the one that Corrupt_File used. Short shifter, four risers, and four longer bolts.

I didn't take photos but almost everything is metal including the cage. The shift ball housing is plastic and so is this unknown "C" looking thing as DNA states.

Fortunately, removal was easier than Corrupt_File's version. The cage never left the vehicle and I didn't have to R&I the electrical wires nor the shifter cables from the cage. The main two pins easily slide out the left after removing the two nuts on the right side. In addition to the ratchet or wrench for the nuts on the right, I used a hex key on the left for the front pin and pliers on the back pin to prevent both sides from concurrently spinning. The cotter pin on the left bottom didn't put up any fight.

After removing the shifter assembly is where the difficulty began. Taking the C clamp thing off was easy. Used a punch with hammer. I don't know what it's for but I didn't use it on the new shifter because it didn't the guide holes for the clamp.

For me, the hardest part was next: removing the shift ball housing from the ball and removing the two white bushings. For the former, I tried many ways to remove it but for some weird reason it wouldn't slide off. I ended up using two long screwdrivers between the two pin sleeves (right word?) and and hitting the shifter upside down into the ground. As for the white bushings, those came off fairly easy with a vise. In previous short shifter installs on other vehicles, I've always replaced those bushings...not this time through.

There was about a 1 inch spring that pointed forward/downward in the shifter ball housing which use I haven't the vaguest. That never went back in either. Maybe it worked in conjunction with the "C" thing that wasn't used.

There was a lot of grease everywhere that I cleaned off. Used lithium white grease in its place.

Upon installation of the new shifter into the cage, make sure you squeeze that spring thing so it's putting negative (?) force on the shifter "side arm" or else the shifter won't return to the middle position when in neutral. It'll kind of "stick" between 1-2 or 5-R.

I didn't have to remove the four rubber feet nor did I "modify" the metal bracket under the back of the cage. Instead, I removed the bracket altogether. I believe its use was for two (of five) of the center console screws. I didn't think it was that necessary.


Observations: the shifting is noticeably shorter. In fact, it's pretty significant. I didn't do any measures so can't say if it's 45-55% shorter. Gears 1-5 are still pretty easy. Reverse is a bit harder but it was already tricky sometimes. Everything takes about 50% more force, which is fine, because stock shifters on cars that I've driven have always been a lot easier than the trucks.

Assuming no problems arise, this was a great modification and definitely worth the $18 plus shipping ($5)...I would definitely do it, again.

If anybody needs photos of the finished product, let me know. I can easily snap some. I had things to do so I didn't take photos immediately after installing.
 
#4 ·
so i wanted to bring back this thread from the dead and ask if it could be stickied and also thank the creator.

I just used all the instructions and pictures and was able to do the swap myself after looking for the oem trd short shifter everywhere and having no luck in finding one i just order a kit for a corolla and did the above.

One thing its a pain in the ass to remove those pins never had something so simple looking give so much trouble but otherwise flawless swap awesome instructions and hey it really really works!

shift distances are smaller and when i regreased everything it all overall felt way smoother than stock

Thanks again Please sticky this [Moderator Comment: Stickied 11/21/2010]
 
#5 ·
another adition to this mod would be i used longer screws for the back part of the cage because i wanted to maintain the rubber feet( they fit but very tightly with the spacers) and because the metal thing that needs to be cut is an attachment point to the center console the stock screws could not reach all the way down. Oh if you need to find the shifter look for corolla short shifter on ebay and try to find one for the years your vehicle is in it worked perfect for my 99 i cant say for others.
 
#7 ·
What part did you get from ebay? the link for the auction is no longer any good.
 
#8 ·
you need a short shifter for a corolla of a similar year to yours also you will need to make sure that you can dissasemble your shifter mechanism as i understand it some years have a sealed mechanism that you wont be able to modify

just go on ebay buy the cheapest corolla short shifter for you equal year and follow this tutorial i did it and worked wonders also you WILL need to replace the oem shifter boot because it does not allow the stick to travel easily, i discovered that with mine
 
#9 · (Edited)
A lesson hard learned

you need a short shifter for a corolla of a similar year to yours also you will need to make sure that you can dissasemble your shifter mechanism as i understand it some years have a sealed mechanism that you wont be able to modify
Hi All!
I am new here as a registered member, but have been following this site and this excellent Posting and thread in particular for a couple of months (THANK YOU who ever put this together!). I just purchased a short shifter for my 1998 Rav4L following this advice above, which is sound and proven for most years. However I discovered that this is not true for '98 thru 2000s. The post '97 RAV4s still use the common (cheaper) '93 to '97 Corolla shifters. If you buy a '98 Corolla shifter, it won't have the necessary groove on the short horizontal post to keep the centering spring in place. The shift rod is also straight without any bend or curve, which would put the shift knob too far forward for comfortable gear changes.

Fortunately, I figured all this out before trying to install it! I bought it from TWM Performance because I couldn't find anything cheaper on ebay for a 1998 Corolla -They take a huge price jump after 1997 and are harder to find.

So if anybody with a later model RAV4.1 want's a short shifter, you need to get the earlier '93~'97 shifter. And that's great news because they are WAY cheaper!!

Cheers!
Craig
 
#13 ·
OK, Corrupt_File I'm having trouble with my quick shifter. I think the lower bushing, the one you refer to as "that little white plastic thing" in your above pictures. In the early Dodge Colts, they were nosotriusly always mis-shifting because of this little bushing. So much, my broth had one made of copper in a machine shop for a permanent fix.

Question; Is it dificult to remove and fix? I see you had trouble fixing this one.
What do I have to watch for?
 
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