Hello Roger,
My son ordered and I installed a 2-inch body
lift kit on his 1998 4WD Toyota Tacoma
with a 5-speed manual transmission. He
encountered a binding or clearance problem
with the shifter boot preventing him from
getting the truck into 2nd gear or reverse.
As a temporary fix we removed the shifter
boot. The boot may also interfere with the
transfer case shifting. We didn't test it before
removing the boot.
In any event, I am wondering what you
recommend. We were thinking of trying
short throw kits for both the transmission
and transfer case.
I appreciate any advice.
Thanks,
Howard
Another similar question
Good morning Roger,
I have a 1993 Toyota pickup SR5 4x4 with
manual transmission. The truck has a 3-inch
body lift and I can't run the factory double
shift boot because it restricts the shifter
from fully seating into gears 2 & 4 or it will
shift the 4x4 gear selector. I took a generic
rubber boot and cut a slit in the side for
the 4x4 selector, but it looks terrible. Will a
short throw kit solve my problems?
PLEASE HELP!
I appreciate your time.
Thank you!
AJ
Hello Roger,
My 1987 SR5 4Runner was stolen and
recovered a few months back and I am working
on restoring it. I am having a very difficult time
repairing some electrical components. Namely
the power windows and locks.
I've got a multi-meter, and have a few wiring
diagrams, but can't seem to figure it out. I could
use a hand from someone that knows what they
are doing.
Any help you could send my way would be
greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
David
Shifter problems
after body lift
Power window
troubleshooting
Hi David,
The power windows on my '85 4Runner are
different than on yours. You have additional
relays for the windows and the locks. Best thing
is to check for the window and lock relays
getting power to the coils when they should.
Another option is to remove the center
section of the sheet metal backing plate.
Essentially you are converting it from an
"8" to an "O" shape. When I did this on my
truck some 20 years ago with a 1" body lift,
I started out just trimming out small bits of
that center web, but that took a lot of time
what with refitting all the boots and center
console, test driving, then repeating. Later,
it dawned on me that just eliminating that
center web would do it all on one step.
If neither of those options works, you can
invert the heavy rubber boot by pushing the
peak of the boot down closer to the pivot
point of the shifter. This will be hidden by the
decorative shift boot that covers the heavy
rubber boot.
Hi Howard and AJ;
There are several options discussed on the
web page below:
https://www.4crawler.com/4x4/ForSale/Docs/
BodyLift_HowTo.shtml#ManualTranny
Since your issue seems to be related to
the back of the gear shift pattern, the best
option is to move the boot back a little. This
is easily done by removing it and drilling
new screw holes offset towards the front
of the boot enough to properly center the
shifter(s) in the boots. You can get an idea
of how far to move the boot by removing the
heavy rubber boot and just install the sheet
metal backing plate over the shifters. Then
shift into the various gears and check the
clearance between the shift lever and the
backing plate and see if there is a location
that evens out the clearance in the various
gears. You can see an example in the
following image:
Relocated Shifter Boot
A final option is to install some sort of short
throw kit on one or both shifters. A short throw
kit does two things, one it is raising the pivot
point of the shifter up and it also lessens the
fore and aft angle that the shifter moves.
Since these kits are rather expensive, it makes
sense to try and get at least one of the shifters
working by some of the above modifications.
If that's possible, then you only need to add a
short throw kit to say the transfer case shifter.
And there is one other option, which is
bending the shifter(s) down at the base to
better fit inside the shifter boot. For example,
if the shifter is binding in 2 and 4, you may be
able to bend it forward a bit to eliminate that
binding. Of course, you'll need to factor in
clearance to the dash if going this route.
Hope that helps.
Roger
TRUCK TECH
With Roger Brown
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