STEEDA TRI-AX RACE SHORT THROW VS BARTON SHORT THROW

[The Menace]

Alright so for the ones who have followed my build you know I have been running the Barton Short Throw for several months. I have had a little stickiness with the 1st to 2nd gear. As in when I am just cruising and just granny shifting sometimes I would have trouble getting it into second gear. It was almost as if I had to physically pull the shift lever towards me to make sure it would go into second. Let me qualify this with when spirited driving and running thru the gears I never had an issue and I never once missed a gear. But that second gear thing always bothered me a little.

So recently I had the opportunity to get my hands on the New Steeda MT82 Tri-Ax Race Short Throw Shifter for a great price. So I figured what better way to put their new shifter to the test than to swap out one of the top of the line shifters and experience the pluses or minuses of the.

When I first unboxed it I will have to admit I thought WTF did I just get myself into as there seemed to be a hundred parts to assemble. In reality I think there is like 25-30 items all together including the bolts and rubber O-Rings. But once I looked at it all laid out it was simple. Basically the same amount of items as the Barton except they had the lever already built as a drop in cartridge.

So once the Barton was removed immediate “Out of the Box” items that popped out when I compared side by side. Both Shifters are made exceptionally well from a machining standpoint.

Steeda Likes/Benefits

1. The Steeda Tri-Ax is much smaller in width and height than the Barton.
2. The Steeda Tr-Ax weighed in at 4.8 pounds by my scale where the Barton was 3 pounds heavier weighing in at 7.8 pounds according to my scale and 19 pounds with trans bracket/driveshaft loop.
3. The Steeda Tri-Ax Shift lever was very solid and did not physically rock around when shaking it. The Barton shift lever would rock back and forth the full motion of a gearshift when I shook it. (https://www.instagram.com/p/BA8oiU3q8Ei/?taken-by=projectmenace)
4. The Steeda Tri-Ax had 1 single style of hardware requiring 2 sizes of Hex Keys to assemble. The Barton had 3 different types of hardware and required multiple wrenches and a Hex Key to assemble.
5. The Steeda Tri-Ax hardware again wins me over with everything being flush/slightly recessed with the exception of the upper four screws that hold the Top Plate to the Mid Plate of the Shift Level Assembly.
6. The Steeda Tri-Ax has a 3 Set Screw System that retains the Factory reverse lock out pull up lever in place, making this IMO ideal for future modifications. The Barton is held in with a very tight fitting Rubber O Ring system that makes it very non user friendly to remove to maybe change the leather shift boot out in the future.
7. The Steeda Tri-Ax comes with a 12”x12” sheet of Dynamat Extreme. The Barton sound pad is literally a piece of 1.25” thick foam that has top written on it with a sharpie. See below for more…
8. The Steeda Tri-Ax comes with a grease packet where the Barton you will need to purchase a tube from your local auto parts store. Maybe…. I had to go to 3 places to find it…
9. If you had previously purchased the Steeda Shifter Bushing Bracket Kit, I believe you can get the Shifter for little less than advertised, as this is part is how they mount their Tri-Ax to the chassis.




Barton Likes/Benefits
1. Barton had a rubber gasket that sealed the two halves of the clam shell similar to a very think little gasket the Factory Shifter. The Steeda Tri-Ax was metal to metal. I honesty do not see an issue with this and it would not deter me from leaving it on my car forever.
2. The Barton had a little lip on the backside of it that the Factory rubber boot from the linkage would fit snugly around again similar to the factory shifter. The Steeda did not, but the Tri-Ax tolerance seemed a little tighter than the Barton one (no did not pull out a micrometer) so again nothing that would deter me from leaving it on my car forever. SO FOR THE RECORD I had a chance to inspect the MGW and drive it as well. The MGW yes has their own linkage but they do not use a rubber boot around their linkage.
3. Only someone like me would know this being I have used both shifters but the Barton had an extremely heavy spring on their factory reverse lock out so it was a bit of a workout to pull it up, but it felt well made and expensive. The Steeda Tri-Ax does reuse the factory spring but with that said the reverse lockout assembly is still very well made. And I believe they are going to release a billet version of the reverse pull up here soon???
4. The Barton used less of the Factory Shifter. Actually my Model/Version of the Barton had the Pivot cup, so I do not recall it using any of the factory parts. The Steeda Tri-Ax did reuse the Factory Lock out Spring, Lower Pivot Cup, Upper Pivot Cup and the Set Screw for the Reverse pull up.
5. The Barton had a nice molded rubber piece that fit perfectly over their shifter lever and sandwiched the driveline tunnel between it creating a nice little dust and noise barrier. Steeda utilized the Dynamat to accomplish this.
6. The Barton shift lever cartridge had a machined in lip where a zip tie would fit snugly and not slip off to hold the rubber boot in place. The Steeda Tri-Ax Square shape provided a snug fit and just enough room to get a zip tie on but no little added lip.



So now onto the Installation part of it.

Anyone reading this has probably watched both the Barton and MGW Videos and knows what they are up against. If you can turn a wrench and are even partially mechanically inclined you can do this install in about 4-6 hours depending on your interruptions one of my kids likes to help, ask questions or just see what I am up to.

Taking into consideration I have installed and removed the Barton at this point I had a pretty good idea what to do. So with that said after I read through the provided Steeda Tri-Ax Instructions I thought there is NO WAY IN HELL I am going to disconnect the exhaust (Step 3 in their instructions under section “Disassembly: Underbody”), Disconnect my Drive Shaft (Step 4 in their instructions under section “Disassembly: Underbody”) or Remove my Shifter Linkage (Step 10 in their instructions under section “Disassembly: Underbody”).

So if you do the same you can skip ahead to (Step 5 in their instructions under section “Assembly: Steeda Shifter”).

So yes I built my sifter on my back under my car like the Barton video shows. What really helped me was the fact I own a nice set of Round Head Hex Key Sockets that are about 6” long, that I purchased when I installed my Steeda Front Sway Bar. So utilizing these with a 10” Extension worked well for me to install it under my car. So I followed the rest of Steeda instructions for grease, thread seal application and torque specs.

So I have put 600+ miles on the shifter, 200 of which was a cruise to San Diego this weekend. But I was sold after I drove down the street. So much so I sold my Barton a few days after the installation.

Steeda Likes/Benefits
1. Only way I can describe it but the Steeda Tri-Ax shifts are much more fluid, where the Barton had a chunky, mechanical feel to it.
2. The Steeda Tri-Ax has a noticeably shorter throw thru all gears.
3. The Steeda Tri-Ax does not seem as stiff as the Barton under both normal and spirited driving.
4. The Steeda Tri-Ax has a little more vibration in the lever over the stock one but it is less than the Barton and definitely less than the MGW when I drove my friend’s for a little test drive.
5. The Steeda Tri-Ax shift knob seems to sit a little lower than the Barton. Definitely way lower than the stock shifter.


Barton Likes/Benefits.
1. It is out of my car
2. I sold it.
3. It was a good shifter while I had it in the car no way around it. But the Tri-Ax is my new Favorite.
4. Heavier reverse lock out.

Couple little clips I posted on my IG of just some quick pulls I did. Not the best and yeah the next Mod I could use is a Driver Mod.


https://www.instagram.com/p/BB0JyYfK8F_/?taken-by=projectmenace


https://www.instagram.com/p/BB6mvlMK8O5/?taken-by=projectmenace





At the moment I cannot find the under car pics I took with the way I had to position the hex key so here are a few installed pics.

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[15RRGT]

Great info! Wrong forum but great info none the less.

 

[Infamous]

Great job, I get mine tomorrow. You're only making me want to get it on the cat even more.

 

[15RRGT]

Go drive your friend's car with the MGW again and give us some direct pros and cons between it and the steeda if possible. :cheers:

 

[The Menace]

Great info! Wrong forum but great info none the less.

Whoops I assume someone will move this or should be deleting it and starting over... ?

Great job, I get mine tomorrow. You're only making me want to get it on the cat even more.

Nice you will not regret it. IMO it is a wonderful work of art, with flawless performance.

Go drive your friend's car with the MGW again and give us some direct pros and cons between it and the steeda if possible. :cheers:

Already done but I did not think it was a fair comparison being the MGW was 100% Transmounted So since you said something IMO the MGW shifts smoother than the Barton, but still has a mechanical feeling to it. Throw is definitely longer than the Steeda Tri-Ax. I did not weight it but i did feel the two side by side and the Steeda felt lighter.

 

[5ABI VT]

After going through short throws in various cars over the last 15 years or so (was always a part of firs mods) I sort of like the stock shifter. Havent missed a gear yet and shifts fine :shrug: and is pretty short for a factory shifter vs cars of the past. But I am leaning towards the Tri-ax once they go on sale. Waiting for warm weather as Ill be on my back installing it.

 

[Todd15Fastback]

Great write-up, @The Menace

I went the Steeda Tri-Ax route, too. Love, love this shifter. It is my favorite aftermarket shifter, ever.

They just got everything right with it, in every aspect (IMHO). I even met the engineer (Jason) that designed this from start to finish. He even installed it in my car. Nice guy, too

 

[David@Steeda]

Well that sure is a detailed write-up! Nice work Danny, glad you're liking the Tri-Ax!

 

[The Menace]

After going through short throws in various cars over the last 15 years or so (was always a part of firs mods) I sort of like the stock shifter. Havent missed a gear yet and shifts fine :shrug: and is pretty short for a factory shifter vs cars of the past. But I am leaning towards the Tri-ax once they go on sale. Waiting for warm weather as Ill be on my back installing it.

I thought I replied to this last night. Sorry.

Yeah it is not bad. but it is not that good either. I must have been doing something wrong because I had missed 3rd probably 5 times. and 3 of them were very bad.

I will say that the stock GT shifter is much better than my Stock 2013 WRX Shifter. the GT has a little shorter throw and not as much slop.

Honestly I really do love this shifter. One of the reasons I took so many pictures of it installed because I will never see it again. I am sure you know but just hit up [email protected] and see what he can do for you. mention this Write Up and I guarantee you will not pay over MSRP.

Great write-up, @The Menace

I went the Steeda Tri-Ax route, too. Love, love this shifter. It is my favorite aftermarket shifter, ever.

They just got everything right with it, in every aspect (IMHO). I even met the engineer (Jason) that designed this from start to finish. He even installed it in my car. Nice guy, too

Yes it is a great product that is for sure. and pretty cool to be close enough to have them do the install for you. I wish I was closer or they were closer to me.

Well that sure is a detailed write-up! Nice work Danny, glad you're liking the Tri-Ax!

Thanks David, I just had so much to say about it, and wanted to also share the alternate way of installing it as well. so Yeah it got a little long.

 

[VTECSAUCE]

Hmmm interesting so you prefer the Steeda over the MGW. I was pretty much sold on the MGW but perhaps Ill wait to see more comparisons between the two. I'd like to do a short shifter once and not regret it or wish I had gone a different route as they are kinda expensive.

 

[Epiphany]

...perhaps Ill wait to see more comparisons...

This picture is gold - study it well.

Of note:

- Some have chosen to eliminate the front arm bushing altogether and go with a hole drilled in a machined arm. Note who hasn't.

- The two shifters in the center of the photo each use a trunion as opposed to a machined sphere captured in a pocket. A trunion is a more complex pivot design which can allow smoother operation.

- Note which shifters go the extra step to hardcoat anodize, typically only available in black. Some have nitrided wear points too(note the reverse lockout bumps on each that make contact with either a pin or collar, depending on which one). Some have raw aluminum that have no treatment.

In essence, pay close attention to each area and compare what you see that looks different and research each. This is just a look at the outside. A breakdown of each will yield an even greater understanding of who goes the extra mile and who does not.

 

[David@Steeda]

Hmmm interesting so you prefer the Steeda over the MGW. I was pretty much sold on the MGW but perhaps Ill wait to see more comparisons between the two. I'd like to do a short shifter once and not regret it or wish I had gone a different route as they are kinda expensive.

I'm sure you'll be happy with either option. Once someone tries our Tri-Ax, even if they already have an aftermarket shifter, they usually end up buying ours.

 

[Todd15Fastback]

This picture is gold - study it well.

Of note:

- Some have chosen to eliminate the front arm bushing altogether and go with a hole drilled in a machined arm. Note who hasn't.

- The two shifters in the center of the photo each use a trunion as opposed to a machined sphere captured in a pocket. A trunion is a more complex pivot design which can allow smoother operation.

- Note which shifters go the extra step to hardcoat anodize, typically only available in black. Some have nitrided wear points too(note the reverse lockout bumps on each that make contact with either a pin or collar, depending on which one). Some have raw aluminum that have no treatment.

In essence, pay close attention to each area and compare what you see that looks different and research each. This is just a look at the outside. A breakdown of each will yield an even greater understanding of who goes the extra mile and who does not.

Ahhhhhhh yes. You again.

Since you like to sell yourself as the shifter master, why don't you build your own and sell it? You proclaim yourself an "educated" person on the topic in other discussions all while calling Steeda a lower end choice. Laughable.

 

[The Menace]

Hmmm interesting so you prefer the Steeda over the MGW. I was pretty much sold on the MGW but perhaps Ill wait to see more comparisons between the two. I'd like to do a short shifter once and not regret it or wish I had gone a different route as they are kinda expensive.

I have not put the miles one the MGW like i have the Barton and Steeda so to go off of me alone would not be fair. Like i was told by Someone Its like Nike vs Reebok both great shoes and both better than going barefoot. so either way you cannot go wrong. However with that said the MGW car I drove he drove my Tri-Ax car and he is ready to sell his MGW and buy the Tri-Ax.

 

[The Menace]

This picture is gold - study it well.

Of note:

- Some have chosen to eliminate the front arm bushing altogether and go with a hole drilled in a machined arm. Note who hasn't.

- The two shifters in the center of the photo each use a trunion as opposed to a machined sphere captured in a pocket. A trunion is a more complex pivot design which can allow smoother operation.

- Note which shifters go the extra step to hardcoat anodize, typically only available in black. Some have nitrided wear points too(note the reverse lockout bumps on each that make contact with either a pin or collar, depending on which one). Some have raw aluminum that have no treatment.

In essence, pay close attention to each area and compare what you see that looks different and research each. This is just a look at the outside. A breakdown of each will yield an even greater understanding of who goes the extra mile and who does not.

Yeah it’s not the best picture I've taken But thanks for the compliment.

- So the MGW is clearly your choice? As I mentioned before I tried not to talk too much about the MGW in my OP because it is a different shifter altogether and is not really a 100% apples to apples comparison. But you bring up a good point. Anyone looking for a shifter should decide if they want a 100% Transmounted shifter or a 50/50 Trans/Chassis shifter. Do they want to retain the factor Reverse pull up or have a push down rev lock out.

- I have not taken apart an MGW so I have no idea what’s inside But. Barton uses the Pivot block with their pins and Viton O-Rings and delrin pieces. "Nothing is metal to metal" I've seen Viton O-Rings wear down and even break before. Me personally no doubt my Tri-Ax has a smoother shift than my Barton. But I guess as you said the Trunnion “can allow smoother operation” Not DOES allow for a smoother operation. Again just my opinion but for the little bit I drove the MGW the shifts felt mechanical and not fluid and smooth.

- Does hardcoat anodizing make the shifter function better? Or just look prettier?

- What reverse lock out bumps are you talking about? The ones that are part of the plastic body/collar or the plate on the aluminum the collar slides over? The Barton one has a similar set up to the factor one with the little bump that sticks off. If you have held the Tri-Ax in your hand you would know that the collar has a notch in it where it rides along the top of the revers lockout plate. Obviously the MGW is completely different with a push down and should not be mentioned.

- And again is the Raw Aluminum going to be an issue? It is not like it Is 1/16” sheet metal… I am pretty sure people run around with Non treated Aluminum wheels on their car? or light mounts, roof racks, hi-lift jack mounts on Jeeps, the list goes on and on. Hell I have an untreated aluminum flashlight I have had for 7+ years still looks great, been left outside for a while gone camping with me, dropped in the pool etc.

Just a few items I wanted to address before I forgot.

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