Shifter coupling, stock, aftermarket?

[airschooled]

[khalimadeath]

[Amskeptic]

[SGKent]

Does anyone have current recommendations? I thought maybe while the trans is out I would look at this again. Out of the four or five that have been purchased I've been able to assemble one unit that I am using but it really isn't what I would call quality. Had to bend the cage to tighten it up. Before I pay someone to weld the end I'd like to have one that is reliable. The original was nice but the rubber had rotted.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[DougB]

I'm still using the solid machined one that another Samba member makes and sells in the classifieds. Really nice work, hasn't caused me a lick of trouble in 30K miles...only negative I can think of is that there's no rubber buffer between the tranny and stick to eliminate all vibration.

My experiences wfinding stock ones were the same as yours, Steve. :-/

- Doug
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'75 Campmobile (tin-top to SpaceRoof)
'73 Fastback
'52 BMW R67/2
'41 Zundapp KS600
'55 Puch SGS250
A very, very understanding wife

[airschooled]

I've installed two of the off brand "red plastic" kind that other vendors sell, and then I removed them and installed two of the genuine VW ones that Wolfsburg West sells. Of the two, the VW one is far better, albeit not perfect. I squeeze the cage down a tiny bit so the rubber bushings fit tighter. Given the option, I would also weld the cage where it is crimped, and tack the round receptor where it is staked in.

Can you believe that the cheapo style red bushing couplers come with a set screw that isn't pointed? It's a damn hex bolt, and a damn shame. Brian has the billet aluminum kind, which has absolutely zero play, but his exhaust is too loud for me to tell if there is any shifter noise. I'm happy with the WW/VW unit.

This is what you don't want:


Link

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[vwwestyman]

[SGKent]

2 from Wolfsburg West. Late genuine VW. Better quality than many although not as good as those old stock ones that are almost impossible to find. Screws lack safety wire holes, and grub holes are drilled at a slight angle - done by morons instead of skilled craftspeople to make Wall Street happy. Whatever is most cost effective I guess. Nickel Chrome color but painted bronze by VW. Inserts are genuine VW and made in Germany.

Took it by my local welder to have the cage welded so it can never spin. This should take care of it although I'll probably repaint to stop the rust on the weld.

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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[1967250s]

Just recently had to weld my old shifter cage, because the new cast cage would not line up. The old one did exact same thing as the video, very hard to get 1st,2nd, and reverse. I put in the urethane bushings, but it is very noisy and causes the shifter to vibrate quite a bit. I'm going to switch back to the rubber bushings. I also had to weld the ring on the bottom of the shift rod, just above the shifter ball, where it developed a flat spot on the right side where it rubs agaisnt the shift plate. The adjustment plate also needed a bit of welding on the right side where it curves upwards. The shift rod pin at the bottom also had a flat spot, so it got a bit of weld too( the slot in the front lower shift rod probably needs looking at, too). Now I only have a couple inches side to side play in the shift rod, much smaller throws. I highly recommend everyone check all these wear spots and repair them.
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'72 Elm Green Deluxe

[Klaussinator]

Shift bushings?!? Oh, don't even get me started!

Anyone remember my thread from 2010? http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=429742
Believe it or not, these are still going strong!


-Klauss
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the Klaussinator - `73 hardtop Bay custom-built camper

[surfbus23]

I don't want to start a new thread so I'll pick this one. Can anyone tell me how tightly the coupling is supposed to sit on the shift rod. The Bentley doesn't list a torque for the bolt and not sure if it's supposed to have the ability to rotate up and down or not.

[yellowCOwesty]

Reviving this thread instead of starting a new one..

My stock ‘78 shifts fine but have noticed a noise getting worse when shifting. I crawled under there today and the shift rod is actually rubbing on the bottom of a cut out piece of the body right before the rear cage being discussed earlier in this thread.

I was able to get it to stop making noise, but was wondering if anyone had seen this before? The front bushing looks good still.
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'78 Westy
Currently yellow and white "Sunny"
A few other air cooled VW and Porsches over the years

[chrisrad]

My long gear shift rod was all rusted so I made a new one as exact to the original as possible, however I ended up with a the shift rod just vibrating against the chassis cross member cut out slot just as you describe.

I tried two different couplings and found that there was a slight variation in the geometry of them, I had also replaced the engine and box mounts and found that any small changes could cause the shift rod to catch the chassis.

In the end i applied a true "engineering fix" and put a zip tie around the top of the chassis rail and under the rod just to cradle the weight/sag of the rod and it worked a treat!