I promised I'd let everyone know the results when I finally got around to
tackling this project. I had all the parts together and a day off, so its
done. (Well, mostly done; it still needs some minor tweaks...) If anyone
is interested, this mod is documented in the upgrades section of the DML
Home Page. Or here's a direct URL:
http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/www/dakota/upgrades/shifter
As far as the results go, the jury is still out on that. I really need
to get some sleep before going in to work tomorrow, so I'll just copy a
part of the above page here, since I don't feel like typing the info in
again. :-)
---------------------------------------------
Driving impressions:
The throw is about 3 1/2 inches. I don't recall what stock was, but this is
a lot less. Yes, you do have to lean forward a little bit to shift,
especially for a 2-3 or 4-5 shift, since you have to "get down" on it and
push forward. For a 1-2 or 3-4 shift though, I can simply grab the handle
with my fingertips and flick it down.
Did it help the shifts? I'm not sure... The NV3500 tranny has a lot of
resistance inside. When you get rid of that huge lever, you've got to use
more force to get the shifter into gear. (Try shifting your truck by
grabbing the stick way down at the base sometime...) So anyway, that
resistance in the tranny is multiplied by the reduced lever. Yes, the
travel is much less, but it takes more force to push it into place. As it
stands, I don't know how much the shifts have improved (if at all). The 3-4
and 4-5 shifts are definitely quicker, especially the 3-4 shift where you
can easily flick the lever down. The 1-2 and 2-3 shifts have a lot more
resistance than the upper gear shifts though. The jury is still out on
those. I think what I am going to do is to make another rod about an inch
to an inch and a half longer. There should be some happy medium here
between force and speed... I'll post the results of my experimenting here.
One thing that I noticed immediately with the new shifter was that I could
now operate the radio in 1st, 3rd, and 5th without the stupid lever getting
in the way. :-) I'm still getting used to the shorter lever; I'll often get
inside the truck and reach for the lever to put it in neutral, only to find
air since I'm grabbing where it used to be... :-) The interior of the truck
looks a lot better, and when I'm driving I feel like I'm cruising in an old
'vette or something. :-) Hopefully a slightly longer rod will result in the
performance to match the looks.
---------------------------------------------
Check out the page for the full story.
TTYL!
-Jon-
.--- stei0302@cs.fredonia.edu ------------------------------------.
| Affiliations: DoD, EAA, MP Race Team, NMA, SPA, USUA. RP-SEL |
| '96 Dodge Dakota v8 SLT CC (14.58@93.55), '96 Kolb FireFly 447 |
`----------------------- http://www.cs.fredonia.edu/~stei0302/ ---'
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