3 speed on the column with 1" body lift question

[stout22]

As the title says I have a 3 speed with the shifter on the column and I installed a 1 inch body lift. My shift rods are now too short. What do yall do to fix this other than moving the shifter to the floor? Is there an aftermarket fix?

 

[JAFO]

Really? I used my stock shift rods with my 1" body lift. There is a lot of adjustment down at the transmission. If you have not, try loosening the bolts were the rods attach the the trans levers. Then slide the drill bit into the column levers so they are centered and tighten the nuts down at the trans. Should be enough movement in the slot on the rod end to get things adjusted. Don't go floor shifter. It's a hack. Remember to remove the drill bit.

Worse case you just splice in a piece into each rod to lengthen them. Weld in a 1" piece of rod. As I had to do with the clutch rod, I did add a 1" piece spliced in to that rod so it was long enough to make up for the lift. But the shifter rods worked fine stock length.

 

[stout22]

Its a 71 Bronco. Mine has the old style shift rods that are threaded on the transmission end. The clutch rod looks like it will work without modifing it.
I have screwed the shift rods all the way to the end and attached the tranny linkage and come up way short of reaching the column.
I'm hoping there is another solution besides cutting and welding - I can do that but want a "cleaner" solution.

 

[Joe473]

Mine is a 71 with column shift and did the 1" body lift with no issues. Disconnect rods at trans. Check that trans is in Nuetral. Place I think 3/16 bit in hole to align rods and the adjust so that you can reconnect without moving rods.
There is a more detailed procedure in ford service manual but that's the basic idea.

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk

 

[Viperwolf1]

You can lower the column an inch to make up for it. Just slot the bolt holes in the column support on the firewall.

 

[doghows72]

I think Wild Horses sells the extended rods?
My body lift came with one inch extension pieces that I welded in.

 

[BR549]

I have 2" of body lift and had my shift rods extended, but they would not adjust as the threads were locked tight. Never liked the thought of welded threads, so I bought some off the classified and they adjusted out without modification. In other words I "think" they must have come in different lengths

 

[stout22]

I think Wild Horses sells the extended rods?
My body lift came with one inch extension pieces that I welded in.

Thanks,
I'll see if I can find them on their site. I looked yesterday but all I found was the extended clutch rod.

 

[JAFO]

Also, you can can extend a rod by welding in a spacer and if you do clean welding and grind off the weld and paint you would never know the rod had been extended.
Take your time and you can do most anything with metal...

I fabricated a new stud onto a rusted window regulator for my Bronco...

http://s1363.photobucket.com/user/gary__seven/slideshow/Window Regulator

 

[Smedley]

I'm still having a tough time adjusting my shift linkage after a 1" BL. I have 2nd and 3rd, but 1st and R do not want to go. I can manually put it in 1st or R under the truck. I have put it in neutral, disconnected at trans and aligned the shift levers on the steering column with a drill bit through the slot and the holes on the levers, then adjusted and reattached at the trans.
During the rebuild I rebuilt the steering column to include all of the bushings that impact the shift levers. The shift tube looked good. Is it possible that I mixed up the shift rods? Any other thoughts?

Will

 

[DirtDonk]

Anything is possible, but have you verified where the binding is occuring?
For example, can you move the shift lever on the column into first or reverse when the rods are disconnected? Or when it's in neutral and you know you can manipulate it at the trans, can you go up to the actual levers on the column and move the 1st/rev lever by hand? If not, the binding is in the column and it's nothing to do with the length of the rod. Other than perhaps being at an odd angle.
In fact, if you're able to adjust the rod enough to get the tip to go in the hole in the first place, it sounds like length is not the issue unless the new angle is causing some interference.
But you'd see that...

If that all seems like the right track, disconnect the 1st/rev rod at the arm on the trans and see if you can move the shift lever on the column. If it moves hard or not at all, then you have to dig back into the column itself.
If it does though, then I'm not sure what would have caused it.

Obviously you've been reading around on the subject, and it seems you've been doing everything right, so maybe it's more up at the column end of things after all.

Good luck in the hunt.

Paul

 

[sprdv1]

Thanks,
I'll see if I can find them on their site. I looked yesterday but all I found was the extended clutch rod.

Probably be the easiest fix...

 

[DirtDonk]

I think Wild Horses sells the extended rods?

Thanks, I'll see if I can find them on their site. I looked yesterday but all I found was the extended clutch rod.

Unless I'm mistaken, the only one we offer is the longer (but universal) shift rod for the C4 and other automatics.
Other accessories are like you already found. The clutch pedal rod, and extendable/collapsible steering shafts should that become necessary (which it usually isn't).

But if it's actually needed to get your shifter to work, it's not that difficult to add an extension piece to the shift rods.
Either cutting somewhere in the middle and welding in extensions (no need to mess with the threads), or cutting, threading the rods and adding a bit of female threaded hex rod with lock nuts.
Not everyone has taps and dies in their tool kits anymore unfortunately, but it used to be the go-to method of lengthening things when you did not have a welder handy.

Paul

 

[Smedley]

Paul, I did as you recommended and detached at the transmission. The column as full range of motion and can complete the full "H" pattern. I don't think lengthening the rod will help. When i align the shift levers after the transmission is already in neutral, I have plenty of adjustment left to reattach rods to the transmission. More fine tuning.

Thanks,
Will

 

[DirtDonk]

Well that's off the table then. Bummer almost, because at least then it would have been a known issue.
But this is at least consistent with what most of us have experienced, with being able to use the stock rods without modification.

No chance they're on the wrong levers at the trans? I don't think this is possible, since if you swapped them they'd likely interfere with each other long before reaching the trans. They're tricky little bent buggers.

You asked about getting things backwards though. Have you found any images of how the arms are on the column? I don't have mine handy or I'd snap a pic for you. Maybe the shop manual shows which one goes where on the adjusting page.
Hopefully someone else has a shot of theirs.

Have you looked into Vipers suggestion of lowering the column slightly at the firewall end? You're not really having trouble with length, as you said. But maybe the angle is messing things up.

Paul

 

[DirtDonk]

And stout22, did you get yours dealt with?
Sorry, I forgot we were dealing with two different rigs in this thread! No worries about that though Smedley. It's a "hijack" but it's the same subject, so good to get all the angles we can on it.

Paul

 

[Smedley]

I am pretty sure I have the levers in the correct position and orientation. See pic.

I'll look at location of column and the angle. We did a ton of body work. So when I reinstalled dash and installed the column, the plastic bezel that wraps around the column on the dash did not fit right. So I added a few washers in between the column mounting bracket and the dash mounting bracket to allow the plastic bezel to sit right.

Back at it tonight.

Will

Well that's off the table then. Bummer almost, because at least then it would have been a known issue.
But this is at least consistent with what most of us have experienced, with being able to use the stock rods without modification.

No chance they're on the wrong levers at the trans? I don't think this is possible, since if you swapped them they'd likely interfere with each other long before reaching the trans. They're tricky little bent buggers.

You asked about getting things backwards though. Have you found any images of how the arms are on the column? I don't have mine handy or I'd snap a pic for you. Maybe the shop manual shows which one goes where on the adjusting page.
Hopefully someone else has a shot of theirs.

Have you looked into Vipers suggestion of lowering the column slightly at the firewall end? You're not really having trouble with length, as you said. But maybe the angle is messing things up.

Paul

 

[Smedley]

I figured out the issue. The Steering Column Support Bracket, the heart shaped bracket on the firewall, was not tight. I must of only hand tightened them. That caused a lot of slop and play in the shifts. I can get all gears now. Still need a little more fine tuning but issues seems to be resolved. Thanks for the help.

Will