floor shift pain
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Senior User
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 340
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From: Longwood, fl
floor shift pain
Yes, I did it. I installed a Lokar adjustable floor shifter on an FMX tranny in my 55 F100 and did not install the shift lever provided by Lokar. When I pulled the tranny pan and saw the small petro-chem plant I would have to remove to get to the bolt holding the shift lever in place I thought what the hell I will just fab a bracket and leave that alone. Put in a new filter buttoned her up, fuild, bla,bla. Bottom line is I cannot get the shifter and tranny to sync up. My bracket had a series of adjustment holes so I could change the relationship to the pivot point on the tranny but no worky. @#%!!! Maybe this thread should be in one of the dumbest things you have done(on your truck), figure I better qualify that one. Plan to add the shift lever provided at this point unless someone out there has a better idea, I hope. No, having some else do it doesn't count. Thanks...
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 27,299
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From: NM
While I've never done this particular swap, I have done similar. I'd bet your problem is that the detents in the Lokar shifter assembly are based on a certain ratio of the lever on the Lokar to the lever (they provide) on the trans. If you don't use their trans lever, moving the shift lever 15 degrees from N to D may move the trans lever 20 degrees when it was designed to move 25 degrees. By the time you get to L, you could be off by 15 degrees, and it won't go into Park at all. Another aspect of this is that the angle of the trans lever in (say) Park relative to vertical makes a difference, as the arc it moves in is built into the shifter lever geometry.
I think you need to bite the bullet and install their trans lever, or make your trans lever the same length as theirs. I assume you meant you need to pull the valve body to install their lever? That's really not that big a job. The worst of any A/T work is getting all that red stuff off you and the floor and waiting for it to stop dripping!
I think you need to bite the bullet and install their trans lever, or make your trans lever the same length as theirs. I assume you meant you need to pull the valve body to install their lever? That's really not that big a job. The worst of any A/T work is getting all that red stuff off you and the floor and waiting for it to stop dripping!
Last edited by ALBUQ F-1; Sep 15, 2006 at 04:32 PM.
Posting Guru
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 1,495
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From: Northwest Fl
I had a similar problem installing a Nostalgic Lokar shifter onto my f100 AOD tranny. When I installed the linkage from the supplied kit, I found I had to rotate the lever on the tranny 180 degrees (upward) to make it work. When I rotated the lever (loosening a nut inside the tranny) I found that it placed it in a position to cause binding with the throttle cable from the throttle body.
To make it work I had to put the tranny shift lever back to it's original position and attach a new lever onto the old tranny shift lever and let it extend upward so that I could attach the adjustable linkage from the shifter. I had to find that magical spot between the orientation (degrees of rotation) of the new shift lever, the position up or down on this new lever and the length of the adjustable linkage between the shifter's lever and the tranny shift lever.
Patience was the key word in all of this. I started in the neutral position on the tranny and the shifter, tentatively set everything in place and then started the lengthy process of give and take, I took a couple of hours to tweak everything but it worked. It shifts and works perfectly now. I tightened everything up and tack welded the new shift lever to the old lever on the tranny for extra insurance.
Sorry for the lengthy post, hope it helps.
To make it work I had to put the tranny shift lever back to it's original position and attach a new lever onto the old tranny shift lever and let it extend upward so that I could attach the adjustable linkage from the shifter. I had to find that magical spot between the orientation (degrees of rotation) of the new shift lever, the position up or down on this new lever and the length of the adjustable linkage between the shifter's lever and the tranny shift lever.
Patience was the key word in all of this. I started in the neutral position on the tranny and the shifter, tentatively set everything in place and then started the lengthy process of give and take, I took a couple of hours to tweak everything but it worked. It shifts and works perfectly now. I tightened everything up and tack welded the new shift lever to the old lever on the tranny for extra insurance.
Sorry for the lengthy post, hope it helps.
Last edited by Huntsman; Sep 15, 2006 at 05:44 PM.
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Senior User
Joined: Dec 2005
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From: Longwood, fl
well I am happy to report another job done and working great. The shift lever provided did the trick but it was a real pain. Thanks to my bud who helped me thru the job. Really like the way it works. It was worth it, will update my gallery tomorrow. Thanks to all who responded, you were right on. I just didn't want to tear apart the tranny without supervision. On to the next task...
