Cheap Ebay shifters...
- Thread starter raserx
- Start date
I think you know that nobody would use a KB shifter BEFORE they use an ebay one, maybe the other way around though.
I've never said that it is the same exact thing. I ASSUME that the KB will have tighter tolerances, OEM fit and finish and a perfect plug and play install and feel. That's what I would guess.
I wasn't sure I'd even like a shorter throw and lever (even kept the OEM knob to help raise the height) so I opted to try an ebay option. It needed some adjustment to get it to fit, as stated above, and I've gotten used to the feel of the shifter now.
Will I toss it and go buy a TWM? No, not unless it has a failure of some sort
Does it feel "amazing"? No, not amazing but it has no real negatives or downsides.
Will it last? Probably will. It's a bent bar of steel with a pivot ball. It is not under lots of stress and has no mechanical moving parts. I see no need for space shuttle technology on my shifter.
Did I get what I paid for? Yes. Don't you always (unless someone scams you)? I paid $ for a shifter lever, it works and I'll use it.
Do you get what you pay for with a TWM or KB? Yes. You pay $$$$$ for a shift lever, it works and you use it.
Would i do anything different? I'll probably mod my stock lever to extend the bottom to make it a short shifter with OEM fit and finish. That's what real mods were about back in the day, not fancy made up brand names to corner a market.
I've never said that it is the same exact thing. I ASSUME that the KB will have tighter tolerances, OEM fit and finish and a perfect plug and play install and feel. That's what I would guess.
I wasn't sure I'd even like a shorter throw and lever (even kept the OEM knob to help raise the height) so I opted to try an ebay option. It needed some adjustment to get it to fit, as stated above, and I've gotten used to the feel of the shifter now.
Will I toss it and go buy a TWM? No, not unless it has a failure of some sort
Does it feel "amazing"? No, not amazing but it has no real negatives or downsides.
Will it last? Probably will. It's a bent bar of steel with a pivot ball. It is not under lots of stress and has no mechanical moving parts. I see no need for space shuttle technology on my shifter.
Did I get what I paid for? Yes. Don't you always (unless someone scams you)? I paid $ for a shifter lever, it works and I'll use it.
Do you get what you pay for with a TWM or KB? Yes. You pay $$$$$ for a shift lever, it works and you use it.
Would i do anything different? I'll probably mod my stock lever to extend the bottom to make it a short shifter with OEM fit and finish. That's what real mods were about back in the day, not fancy made up brand names to corner a market.
Yeah I saw the adjustable OBX ones out there. Seems a neat feature, being able to change the degree of leverage. Anyone else running one of those?
MazdaSpeeder
Member
- :
- Protege5 (5-spd)
Seems like I read of someone having issues with an adjustable ss holding the adjusted height (i.e., it "wore out" and became useless). I don't know if it's a common problem, but there is a wide enough range of SS and knobs out there that I would think you would be able to set your desired height through shifter and knob choice alone. I would trust a single piece of metal with no moving parts over an adjustable assembly any day...it just seems more reliable to me.
Good point. But I do wish sellers would reveal the basic dimensions of their shifters. Just need the distance from the top to the ball center and the ball center to the rod hole center. Two numbers, but about no one on eBay lists these. I realize they should be kinda standard, but I'm not even sure on that.
MazdaSpeeder
Member
- :
- Protege5 (5-spd)
There's a pic floating around here somewhere (maybe in the SS install how to) of a TWM, Kartboy (Corksport) and one other SS all laying next to the stock shifter for some comparison. That might give you a good place to start as far as height considerations...
If I can find the pic I'll post it...
If I can find the pic I'll post it...
I ended up getting this one.
As stated in previous posts, it does not fit at all without modification. You must remove the lip on the aluminum housing. I even had to take the bottom o-ring off. The fit was so tight, it would bind up and unseat out of the groove making it impossible to fully insert the shifter. And yes I greased it up good. That said, once it is in it feels fine. A big improvement over the floppy stock shifter. Just have your grinder/Dremel ready if you go this route. Next time, I spring for the name brand. They really shouldn't advertise these as fitting our cars. They don't fit.
As stated in previous posts, it does not fit at all without modification. You must remove the lip on the aluminum housing. I even had to take the bottom o-ring off. The fit was so tight, it would bind up and unseat out of the groove making it impossible to fully insert the shifter. And yes I greased it up good. That said, once it is in it feels fine. A big improvement over the floppy stock shifter. Just have your grinder/Dremel ready if you go this route. Next time, I spring for the name brand. They really shouldn't advertise these as fitting our cars. They don't fit.
nthomps2@ycp.ed
Spec-M7
- :
- 2002 Mazda Protege 5
I just purchased the fidanza short shifter off ebay, its slid right in. It fits tight, but clean, and the stock shift knob fits right on top. I love it. And the price was great. I bout it from a fellow up in Brooklyn, NY he shipped it in one day.
nthomps2@ycp.ed
Spec-M7
- :
- 2002 Mazda Protege 5
Actually, my shifter looks identical to the one in the post above my first post. I have a 2002 P5 and it definitely fits tight, but once I got it lined up right, I had someone under the car stick the bolt in and pull straight down on the linkage and she popped into place, probably should have lubed the o-rings though, I also transferred the rubber boot that was on the bottom of the old shifter, over to the new shifter.
I switched to a B&M shifter after the small retaining clip that holds the ball kept popping off the EBAY one. The B&M fit perfectly. It's probably just bad Q.C. on the cheap shifter because the lip diameter on that one was bigger than the hole diameter. I even measured it w/ calipers!
