Another take on the Steeda Tri-Ax shifter

I don't know because I personally will not use lead in any application except adding hidden, beyond-regulation weight to a pinewood derby car so I can smoke the competition (which I did as a kid in Boy Scouts... and may or may not have gotten caught).

I can say that I used a bunch of the Home Depot/Lowes floor underlayment stuff and when installed properly, it made what I thought was a quiet 2014 Silverado even quieter for a SQ stereo build. Used in doors and floor. Adds a lot of weight and is not as bendy as I'd like, so use sparingly and smartly.

Guys in car audio have used leaded MLV before with good success but I'd go and find some 3M thinsulate first, see if that helps. This is essentially the same stuff as the white sound material that looks like is already there at the shifter. That's something I haven't mentioned yet. Or even blue jean insulation shaped and contained in t-shirt material. There's lots of tricks, my friend.

I'm thinking that this weekend I'm going to go grab a sheet of 1/32" lead and shape it to fit that cavity. It might take me an hour or two, but at this point I'm as interested in proof-of-concept as I am in the noise-damping. Lead should be a great insulator as it is both quite heavy and limp.

Sub'd for the outcome of this.

I was down at my local metal supply house yesterday and I picked up a large remnant chunk of 1'x4'x1/16" sheet lead. Cost to me was free: I was buying a bunch of other materials for a work project and I have a good relationship with the guys down there, so they just told me not to worry about it (otherwise the cost would've been about $20).

This Sunday I hope to get a bit of time to work on the car, so I'll work up an installation procedure then. If anyone else is interested, let me know and I'll photo-document the procedure.

At this point it's half about sound-deadening and half about "Huh, I wonder if this will work!"

I installed some lead shielding today. Noise is substantially reduced, as should be expected. There's still a bit more of a mechanical whine from the shifter, but it's not bad; if I'm really, really picky there might be an additional 1-2dB from the exhaust between 2,500-3,500 rpm but I'd have to be side-by-side with a stock-shifter-equipped car to tell a difference (and even then I may be wrong).

Ultimately, I'm pretty pleased with this.

I started out by pulling the console again. This is pretty easy: Remove the knee plates (just snaps) and take out the two 7mm-head screws on each side. Then use a spudger and pull the console at the rear and work forward. Disconnect the lead at the rear cupholder, unscrew the shift knob, and (now) loosen the three Allen set screws with the Steeda kit.



Next I took some measurements and cut some lead. I sourced 1/16" lead sheet from my local metal supply store. They actually just gave me a remnant piece that was 1'x4'. I ended up using roughly 20 square inches, so I have quite a bit left over!

I went with just over .5"x5" for the left and right pieces and 1.5"x5" for the fore and aft pieces.

Lead is very easy to mark and cut, but always wear gloves. If you cut sheet lead with shears, make sure they're not kitchen shears -- if you do use kitchen shears, those can only be shop scissors now! No food prep!





Lead has a melting point of 625" F. Even so, I wanted to A) keep the lead away from exposure to atmosphere, and B) reject as much heat as possible. I covered the bottom of each lead sheet with heat-reflective tape.



Mocking up the first piece of lead; I put a bend in it by using a vise and mini-sledge (though lead is hand-malleable):



I covered the lead strip with leftover Dynamat and did the same for all the remaining gaps, sealing off all surfaces with Dynamat. This not only dampens vibration, but also ensures that there's no exposed lead surface.

All taped up:



While the console was out I figured I'd take a photo of another mod I did last time I had it out. Since the console does get quite warm, I used heat-reflective tape and lined the underside so as to reject as much as possible. It's not perfect, but it's a dramatic improvement over stock.



And because I had some extra material left over from another project, I also lined the driver's knee panel with suede.

I drove the Mustang to work today. The cabin noise level is dramatically diminished versus before without having installed the lead shielding. I don't have a professional dB meter but I will see if there's something reasonable available on Android that can approximate SPLs. Definitely, definitely pleased.

Lead can be a bit tricky to come by in small quantities. If you go to your local metal shop, you'll need to buy a fair amount of it: My local shop had a minimum size of 4 sq. ft. but, since I'm there all the time buying steel and aluminum for builds, they just gave me this sheet for free. Needless to say, I have a lot left over.

If you'd like a small sheet -- enough to do what I did and seal the cavity -- please let me know. I can cut off a coupon and mail it to you. All I'd ask is that you cover actual postage.

brandonsmash said:

I drove the Mustang to work today. The cabin noise level is dramatically diminished versus before without having installed the lead shielding. I don't have a professional dB meter but I will see if there's something reasonable available on Android that can approximate SPLs. Definitely, definitely pleased.

Lead can be a bit tricky to come by in small quantities. If you go to your local metal shop, you'll need to buy a fair amount of it: My local shop had a minimum size of 4 sq. ft. but, since I'm there all the time buying steel and aluminum for builds, they just gave me this sheet for free. Needless to say, I have a lot left over.

If you'd like a small sheet -- enough to do what I did and seal the cavity -- please let me know. I can cut off a coupon and mail it to you. All I'd ask is that you cover actual postage.

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Hey, Brandon. I just had my Tri-Ax and Barton reverse collar installed today. I totally agree with your first post in this thread. The shifter is great but the NVH is bugging me. Your DIY fix sounds like the bomb.

Is your offer to get a small piece of lead still open? If so, I'm gonna use your fix to reduce the increased NVH in Ruby. :cheers:

Thanks.

Ralph

brandonsmash said:

I drove the Mustang to work today. The cabin noise level is dramatically diminished versus before without having installed the lead shielding. I don't have a professional dB meter but I will see if there's something reasonable available on Android that can approximate SPLs. Definitely, definitely pleased.

Lead can be a bit tricky to come by in small quantities. If you go to your local metal shop, you'll need to buy a fair amount of it: My local shop had a minimum size of 4 sq. ft. but, since I'm there all the time buying steel and aluminum for builds, they just gave me this sheet for free. Needless to say, I have a lot left over.

If you'd like a small sheet -- enough to do what I did and seal the cavity -- please let me know. I can cut off a coupon and mail it to you. All I'd ask is that you cover actual postage.

Click to expand...

I've been following your work here and might be willing to try this as well. PM me if you think there's enough remaining you could part with.

Sending PMs now. I have more than enough.

brandonsmash said:

Sending PMs now. I have more than enough.

Click to expand...

You, Sir, are a good man. Checking the PM now. :cheers:

brandonsmash said:

Sending PMs now. I have more than enough.

Click to expand...

What a guy!

David@Steeda said:

What a guy!

Click to expand...

Yes indeed. A good man for sure.

It's odd, but on the way in this morning, the NVH seemed to be less than it was yesterday after the install. Maybe it's my imagination. :shrug:

But I can still hear it and I'm gonna do Brandon's DIY fix.

So if you could let me know about getting some Dynamat from you guys, I would really appreciate it David. And I will certainly pay for it.

Thanks to Steeda and everyone who has posted info/impressions about the Tri-Ax. I'm digging the shifts with this thing. :cheers:

Love your NVH diy solution Brandon. And great write up. I'm about to snag the tri-ax and I'd love some of that there lead if you've still got extra. I'd be happy to pay shipping. Let me know.

Thanks!

This is the most informative thread I've ever read. Thanks for the lessons fellas!