Solid Shifter Cradle Bushings

Post by **jonnymopar** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:26 am

** UPDATE 03-07-11 **

Frank (racer12306) will now be making these bushings. I can no longer make these in a timely manner and quite a few recent sets have been delayed. That's not how I like to do business. Please contact him for ordering instructions.

104 sets have gone out so far, all to 2GN members! Thank you all for your support and thank you for making this 2GN exclusive such a big hit!

** UPDATE 09-24-08 **

Now taking orders again. My schedule has thankfully slowed down a bit and I'll be making these once again. Thanks for the support everyone!

** UPDATE 3-10-08 **

Ok people! MANY sets of these have gone out the door and have worked great. I figured I'd add some info as far as which shifters these have been used with successfully:

*stock Neon
*stock SRT-4
*Mopar Performance
*Mopure
*Maddog series (all)
*B&M
*Fidanza
*various rod-only eBay shifters

The only shifter that I've found so far that these will NOT work with is the Hurst short throw setup. The shifter rod extends down further than other shifters. Because of this, there are extra-thick cradle bushings supplied with the Hurst kit. I did make a custom 1/2" thick set for one person using this particular shifter to get around that. If you have a Hurst short throw and you'd like to purchase a custom set of these bushings, please let me know. There may be a bit of a lead time for them, but I can make them.

Thank you to everyone that has supported a fellow 2GN-er and an exclusive 2GN product. There is tons of feedback in this thread. Please, read on!

** UPDATE 2-6-07 **

Well I got my first set out to Canada. Turns out shipping is literally only pennies more than what I pay for US shipping, so just to make the announcement, these bushings are $14 shipped anywhere in the continental United States AND Canada!

** UPDATE 10-03-06 **

If anyone has any questions how these install, here's a quick how-to in Word format. I omitted removing/reinstalling the console because alot of people have done that already.

http://home.comcast.net/~jonnymopar/bushinginstall.doc

Thanks for the interest. I'd be happy to answer any other questions via PM.

** UPDATE 8-29-06 **
I apologize for any inconvenience, but I can not accept credit card payments due to only having a "personal" PayPal account. Bank transfers are accepted. I won't be upgrading my account to a "business" account because honestly, I do not use PayPal that much and they force you to pay fees on ALL incoming transactions once you've upgraded your account (this includes bank transfers that are free to accept with a personal account). Again, I apologize for any inconvenience this may cause anyone.

If you're not sure what these are, on a 2000-2005 5-speed Neon, the whole shifter assembly is bolted to the floor with 4 rubber grommets, so it's got a little bit of play. Even when you do a short throw shifter or Boogers, or both, that overall give is still there. The bushings that I've made will eliminate that last bit of play and all you'll have left is the small bit that is in the cables (which is unavoidable).

You don't even have to take the shifter out of the car to replace these bushings. All you'll need to do is unbolt it. They're made of alloy 2024 aircraft-grade aluminum for strength and low weight. Bushings similar this, made from cheaper alloy 6061 aluminum, sell on eBay for $27. My set will be $14 shipped anywhere in the continental USA and Canada.

I made an experimental set out of brass. Here are pictures of the bushings themselves, and also installed on the shifter (the stepped lip faces down when installed).

I've had them in my car for over 8 months now with great results on just a chopped stock shifter. FTWNeon has good things to say about them installed with a Maddog 72% redux:

FTWNeon wrote:These things work great! They removed so much slop in the shifter. I still have some as I still havn't gotten any boogers yet but it still feels so much better. It's alot more enjoyable doing a hard 1-2 shift. I love them!

Let me know if anyone's interested.

Riddler · Post by **Riddler** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:44 am

I'm interested in them.....

Riddler

03neonRT · Post by **03neonRT** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 11:22 am

I'm interested as well...

FTWNeon · Post by **FTWNeon** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:27 pm

These are a great cheap mod and Jon does a great job making them. They are a really nice quality. Even includess directions on how to install them ( Not that you really need that but was cool to have )

Once I get home I might pull the boot off and take a few pics.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 12:39 pm

FTWNeon wrote:Once I get home I might pull the boot off and take a few pics.

That would be great if you could do that. I'll do the same to mine. I've currently got a brand new set that is going out to 03sxt soon, so I'll take pics of just the bushings too.

EDIT: This just dawned on me... if you would like to see a picture of them installed, go to the list of mods in my Garage page. There's a picture of my shifter with the bushings installed! Note: The bushings in the picture are one of my experimental sets and they are made of brass because I had it available to me for nothing. As stated in my first post, the bushing sets I'll be making will be 2024 aluminum.

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:15 pm

Im down for a set

J-Villa · Post by **J-Villa** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 3:50 pm

i thought i was gettin a set

Post by **Diablo0** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 5:45 pm

I have a set from Jon (jonnymopar) and they are very nice quality. I have yet to install them yet as I haven't had time to pull my center console out but I do have a set very similar to these made by another company and have had them in my black car for 1-2 years now. Before intalling these and having the stock rubber bushings in there, when you rock the shifter back and forth in the neutral gate and look at the shifter you can see some play in it from the stock rubber bushings. Afterwards the play is completely gone as the shifter is now bolted down to the floor of the car making it completely solid. It doesn't make as much of a change in feel as booger bushings but after install the shifts do feel a little chriper without the play in the assembly from the stock rubber mounts. For the price, you can't beat it!

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 8:17 pm

jonnymopar wrote:That would be great if you could do that. I'll do the same to mine. I've currently got a brand new set that is going out to 03sxt soon, so I'll take pics of just the bushings too.

I can't wait to get my setup!

On a side note - I'm going to go ahead and move this to the Vendors/Group Buys forum, Jon.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 9:12 pm

03sxt wrote:On a side note - I'm going to go ahead and move this to the Vendors/Group Buys forum, Jon.

Ooooh I'm a vendor

. Ok, I guess I'll be ordering stock to make these this week. I'll spin a half dozen sets and see what kind of feedback I get from people. So far they've been tried with:

** Stock shifter with Boogers
** My own 1.5" chopped stock shifter with Boogers
** Maddog 72% with no other modifications
** Mopar Performance STS with Boogers

Before you order, I will tell you, if you have a completely stock shifter, these will not make much difference. I'm saying this because I don't want to sell anyone something that won't work for them. If you have Boogers on a stock shifter, these will make a difference. Putting these on a short-throw setup will also make a difference. From what I've gotten for feedback already, very short throw shifters will stiffen up considerably.

I will be in touch with the people that have already chimed in. If anybody has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them.

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Mon Aug 14, 2006 10:42 pm

Sounds good. I got a MP and Boogers. Cant wait to try them

Ifixyawata · Post by **Ifixyawata** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:48 am

Excellent! I'll grab a set of these too, as I already have boogers and a B&M waiting to go in. Might as well do it all at once, right?

OB · Post by OB » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:52 am

very nice, count me in. Dont know when ill be able to afford them, but those look sick. def interested! great idea man.

btw, do u do paypal? I didnt notice if u wrote anything about that.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 12:40 pm

orangeblastsxt wrote:btw, do u do paypal? I didnt notice if u wrote anything about that.

Oh, now you want me to do friggin PayPal too?! At $14/set, those bastards would charge me 42 cents per set!

I am joking. Yes I am PayPal verified.

I ordered stock to make some today. I'm figuring I'll have 5 or 6 sets done by next week. I'll let everyone know when they're ready to ship.

Thanks for the interest everyone!

OB · Post by OB » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:20 am

put 2 sets aside for me bro, i got the $$$ whenever youre ready. thanks

03neonRT · Post by **03neonRT** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 12:52 am

I will also buy a set when they are ready, just let me know and tht $14 is yours!

Riddler · Post by **Riddler** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:16 am

Paypal ready also.

Riddler

marakka · Post by **marakka** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:31 am

I'm game for a set. Where do I sign up and send money?

Post by **jonnymopar** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 2:36 pm

Ok, I just got stock in today. I might be able to squeeze 7 sets out for the following people who have shown interest:

Riddler
marakka
03neonRT
orangeblast (2 sets)
ifixyawata
SlvrACR

I will more than likely be able to make these late this week and, depending upon payment, ship next week. I will PM everybody when they're ready with payment info.

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:05 pm

Sounds good. I wanna pay with paypal so just let me know when they are ready

marakka · Post by **marakka** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:15 pm

Same here. paypal is waiting.

03neonRT · Post by **03neonRT** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 3:37 pm

Yep paypal is ready.

OB · Post by OB » Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:22 pm

take your time. paypal also ready

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 4:30 pm

I hope that this takes care of that play I have. Its so little but pisses me off. If not then o well another mod LOL

Post by **jonnymopar** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 9:36 pm

SlvrACR wrote:I hope that this takes care of that play I have. Its so little but pisses me off. If not then o well another mod LOL

With these bushings and Boogers, the only play left might be a little in the cables, but you can't really get around that.

I did do a little something when I had my shifter apart that got rid of some extra side-to-side play. Look in the picture below. The E-clip that the yellow arrow is pointing to holds in the piece that controls your crossover cable. That piece fits into the shifter with a plastic sleeve around it. When I took mine apart, there was play in that piece. I took that e-clip off and slid it out, along with the plastic sleeve around it, and I shimmed all around it with aluminum foil (seriously, you'll need something that thin). It was trial and error because if you shim it too much, it will start to bind up on you and your shifter won't automatically center itself in the neutral gate. I got it just right where it still returned to neutral, but there was no more play in it. On a new Mopar, I doubt this would be a problem (I could be wrong). But if you've got a stock shifter with some miles on it like me, or a rod-only type short-throw, might be worth a shot.

SlvrACR · Post by **SlvrACR** » Wed Aug 16, 2006 10:35 pm

Ya I have the SRT Mopar Performance STS with Boogers. I cant feel alittle play when shifting into 2nd. I thought Id try this and if I helps then great if not it still is a good mod

OB · Post by OB » Thu Aug 17, 2006 12:05 am

Im runnin a mopure sts, custom shortened rod (3/4"), and boogers all around. stiff as a brick, but anything to get it stiffer is worth a shot to me. its a cool idea for sure.

Post by **jonnymopar** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 2:26 pm

orangeblastsxt wrote:Im runnin a mopure sts, custom shortened rod (3/4"), and boogers all around. stiff as a brick, but anything to get it stiffer is worth a shot to me. its a cool idea for sure.

I will be especially interested on the difference it makes on setups like that. From the feedback that I've gotten so far, it sounds like the shorter the throw, the bigger the difference these make. I'll be able to judge this better after some sets are out there on a wider variety of shifters. It makes sense though because the cushioning that the rubber bushings provide is more apparent when the throw is short.

grambo · Post by **grambo** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:28 pm

I'm IN! Sign me up for a set, PM me, whatever.

I run a Maddog 72% redux w/ new boogers, stock height with rod brakes......its FOR SALE and I'm still dumpin' money in it!

Its an addiction I tell you, an addiction...

FTWNeon · Post by **FTWNeon** » Thu Aug 17, 2006 6:32 pm

grambo wrote:I'm IN! Sign me up for a set, PM me, whatever.

I run a Maddog 72% redux w/ new boogers, stock height with rod brakes......its FOR SALE and I'm still dumpin' money in it!

Its an addiction I tell you, an addiction...

I'm running the same shifter with stock bushings and this really helped to firm up the 1-2 shifter, feels so much better, took out a good amount slop. I think you'll be pretty happy with these.