Thread: True ratcheting shifter

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Does anyone have experience with ratchet shifters? I assume when you push shifter forward or back they only travel so much. I wanting a shifter that I can mount under my seat on edge with a real short lever/knob so it's fairly hidden and would need to have a very short throw. I'd push shifter down say a 1" one time and let up it would be in reverse. Push down again it would be in neutral. Pull up once it would be back in reverse. Etc etc. I might even mount it under dash.

Wish I could've made a column shift work. Just no room. And I really don't want it n the floor. THIS managed to keep the floor relatively flat with a very small hump for the transmission. Had to leave room for my little girl to ride in the middle.

David

The ones I know of require two hands for reverse because of the reverse lock-out.Probably there are ones that don't that I haven't seen.Maybe some will chime in with suggestions.

Thanks Gary. I found one from Kilduff Machine but it is way to bulky to hide anywhere.

Yes, I'd like the ratchet action without the reverse lockout.


David

David,
It still looks pretty bulky, but I recalled seeing one from B&M that at least "says" it is a one-hand operation while still incorporating the reverse lockout that NHRA requires. This is a JEGS ad, just to grab the quickest picture - http://www.jegs.com/p/B-M/B-M-Pro-Ra...45771/10002/-1

“.........Wish I could've made a column shift work. Just no room. And I really don't want it n the floor. THIS managed to keep the floor relatively flat with a very small hump for the transmission. Had to leave room for my little girl to ride in the middle......”

Dave I ran into the same thing when I did the initial mockup on my 37 and wanted to use a column shifter, problem was room and figuring out linkage.

The solution I came up with was using some left over parts from ratchet shifter installs I had done over the years. I welded a bracket to the column housing and drilled a hole in the shift arm, then used the a set of left over brackets on the transmission. One small hole in the firewall to run the shift cable and it was done.

It worked great, but with the change in direction of the project, I ended up with a floor shifter after all (figures don’t it LOL).

Anyway I don’t know if you saw it or not, but there is a picture of the column in my build tread.

Build thread 37 Dodge PU

Just some food for thought, some of the other ideas I had kicked around for shifters included using a dash mounted shifter like some of the RVs used (or possibly dash mounting a Promatic 2 shifter behind the dash with the handle thru the dash http://www.ebay.com/itm/HURST-PROMAT...item4600af679b )

Another thought was to us a Chrysler pushbutton pod and cable from a 50s MOPAR.....I discarded that idea due to no park provision however.

A real slick idea was to use a Teletouch steering column setup from an Edsel (with the push puttons in the steering wheel.......but even Edsel couldn't get those to work right for very long.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teletouch

most all of them have some kind of lock out. pull up or push down. also the throw is too much i think. personally i dont like ratchet shifters unless in a race car. i used a detent shifter in my shop truck. you lift up to come out of park or go into reverse. you can mount anywhere the cable will reach. the arm is aluminum so it can be cut and polished.

I have a quick silver ,,,,,one hand operation , but at least 6" tall ......

I had a Quick Silver in my last car and really liked it. I wish I could have made it work in my present car.

Every time one of these threads come up, I remember how nice my Lokar looks but how much I really don't like it as compared to even the bottom end B&M 'Z Gate' cable operated shifter that I had in the long gone bucket. Then I go on a search - and end up with it back on the bottom of my list of maybe next year future mods. Sigh!!!

A lot of good ideas. I really don't want the push buttons but have thought about them. I looked at the retrotek stuff but just can bear spending that much. I'm skeptical about a full ratchet style shifter cause no one will want to drive it.....then again that could be a good thing. Lols.

David

With the Quick Silver, it ratchets in the forward gears. Once you push it into neutral you simply pull up on the shifter handle to go into reverse or all the way to park. And when you take it out of park, you simply pull up on the shifter handle to go into reverse or farther to neutral and one additional backward pull to go into drive. Once you get used to it, it operates quite nicely.

Thanks Lynn,

I think that's what I'm looking for. I assume when you talk about lifting up on lever to go to park, it still has the same short throw as the ratchet action or do you have to move it quite a way?

I'm going to modify it, cutting it down in length to fit vertically inside of my 36 factory seat base (about 5"s tall) and pass the stick through the base so I only have a couple inches in both directions for movement.

David

If I remember correctly, the throw is between 3 and 4 inches from drive to park. You might want to go to B&M's website and check the unit's dimensions to make sure it is a good fit.

Had a Hurst with that pull up routine, a disaster if you ever try to make multiple forward and reverse moves, as in parallel parking, the hypo on the B&M is much more user friendly.

i had the b/m quick silver and the hammer shifter, put almost 60,000 miles on the quicksilver,including 1/4 mile blasts,never a problem.they make damn good shifters...............................