budget heavyweight shift knob

[Darth Vader]

You guys are gonna love this:

In the spirit of my homemade CAI trial and my Snazzy Short Throw Shift Plate, I looked around the house for some materials to weight up the shifter. What I found was 500 grams of Daisy BBs, a sandwich bag, a zip tie and some packing tape.

I put the BBs into the bag and using a proprietary combination of zip tie and packing tape (not as illustrated), I attached the unit to the shift lever.

Surprisingly, or maybe not, it works great. Shifts are more positive and less stretchy-cable feeling than ever. A worthy companion to my STSP.

(wink)

 

[cmw08.5cwp]

hope that bad doesnt rip

 

[Wagonbacker9]

Subing to monitor potential flaming.

 

[kudakev615]

your stupid idea makes jesus facepalm

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)(rei)





(sadbanana)

 

[Darth Vader]

Bwahaha, my stupid idea works...they usually do... the bag's taped up so much it couldn't rip if Jesus wielded the carpet knife....(whistle)

 

[Tender Vittles]

i see no way this can end well

 

[JC-MP5]

Sorry dude, but that makes ricers look like saints.

 

[Silver Ecstasy]

Sorry dude, but that makes ricers look like saints.

+1 (dance)

 

[mp3-79bronco]

is it hidden with the boot and stuff on? pics?

 

[justanothermp5]

if its hidden with the shift boot then its acceptable
if not then i suggest ban! lol

 

[88323GT]

Personally, his heads in the right place, dont know if it is the best materials, but if it works for you and your shifting is smoother and easier, then Good Job. Dont really see the rice in this. It isnt a worthless peice of plastic that "Looks Like a Race car", it is function and if its hidden, all the better. More like what I got myself into two years ago, and that is the "RedNeck BackYard Mechanic Style Upgrades Association".

 

[nynhex]

It's a zero-cost mod and it works. Just because it looks like redneck-rice doesn't mean it's not functional. Besides, it's in the boot.

However, I would make sure you have a bag that won't tear. All those BBs in your shift assembly screams problems.

A for effort.

 

[Darth Vader]

Yeah, obviously it's gotta stay hidden by the boot....

I built an entire 5.0 street/race car out of junkyard bits and Ebay used parts so, I have a bit of experience with "made in the backyard" solutions.

Seriously though, being a bit old school, I like to test premises before I blindly believe them. The premise here being, adding weight to the shifter end helps smooth shifting and make the car's shift action feel more quality.

So, like engineers did in the old days, I built a "test engine" to determine whether or not the premise is sound. It is, according to my test results so far.

Now, barring anything else coming up in a bit more testing in different situations I can happily go out and buy a heavyweight shift knob without any fear I'm not going to get my money's worth.

 

[JC-MP5]

The only problem is that its not at the end of the shifter where an actual weighted knob would go.

 

[zx2man]

Say what you want I think the "idea" is pretty good...yes the bag of bb's is "tacky"....Looks like Darth was alittle bored and wanted to try something new..nothing wrong with that at all..I would be willing to bet that some of the coolest products out there started out in the begining just like this....I see ALOT of things on the forums thats not my cup of tea, but rarely will I flame it..unless its like dangerous stupid-getting people hurt type of thing. These days you see alot of flaming on peoples idea's...and I think its rather childish..but thats my opinion...I do agree their needs to be more wieght on the shifter, I think twm is solid way to go-but over 100 dollars for a dam knob seems alittle on the expensive side.

 

[88323GT]

The only problem is that its not at the end of the shifter where an actual weighted knob would go.

Its still on the right side of the pivot point. May not be at the top, but 500g's of BB's is sure to add some weight to the entire assembly throw.

 

[azntaiji]

lololol omg

 

[not yellow]

the concept isn't bad, but the execution is lacking. the weight is lopsided, it is undoubtedly going to rattle and shift around, and if there is any amount of rubbing on the bag there are going to be BBs spilled sooner than later. perhaps you could try wrapping the shifter with lead tape or heavy gauge wire... something that is more compact, has better weight distribution, and isn't going to spill.

 

[Darth Vader]

I said it's not as illustrated. The bag is secured to the front side of the lever, over the pivot arm and it's taped so securely it won't ever bust.

That said, it only has to last as proof of concept for weighted shift knob efficacy, as I said. I'm thinking of firing up my lathe and cutting a shift knob, if I can find a suitable bit of scrap stock around my shop.

...and yeah, I knew this would ignite a flame war, it ain't my first day on the web. I'm happy everyone got a good laugh out of it, that's mostly why I posted in the first place.