Steeda Tri-Ax Shifter Fix

[tj@steeda]

2.5 weeks later and I still have no help figuring this out. Had a few emails that discussed nothing about my issue. Making me regret my purchase.

Hello Chuck, let me look into this again - I cc'd you with the sales team & they should have followed-up.

My apologies.

Best,

TJ

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[RiotfunK]

MGW FTW

 

[Arknsawchuck]

Hello Chuck, let me look into this again - I cc'd you with the sales team & they should have followed-up.

My apologies.

Best,

TJ

Yeah, they asked about what car I had and a couple other questions and that’s the last I’ve heard.


update… Steeda got ahold of me shortly after that last post. We discussed my issues and they sent me some parts that may be the problem. i havent had time to pull the shifter yet to try the new parts.

 

[HKusp]

Sad.

 

[Marin]

Thought I’d throw this in here too;
I didn’t see anything mentioned in the installation manual about the white washer that’s on the stock shifter, so I left it out on the initial install but now that I’ve been running it for a few months I noticed that the reverse collar (machined aluminium STEEDA item) was vibrating against the shifter which made it noisy

I took apart the the trim etc and could see metal filings where it had been rubbing against the steel shifter shaft

I realised the Steeda shifter steps down after the spring retaining screws where as the stock shifter maintains that diameter all the way up to the gearknob threads, so with that in mind, I realised that the white washer must be installed under the retaining screws for it to be effective like so:

This completely eliminated the metallic grinding/vibration sounds at higher rpm’s and generally makes the up down sliding movement of the reverse collar much nicer & feels more solid

 

[shogun32]

Now we just wait for Steeda t clarify their docs. @tj@steeda

 

[tj@steeda]

Thought I’d throw this in here too;
I didn’t see anything mentioned in the installation manual about the white washer that’s on the stock shifter, so I left it out on the initial install but now that I’ve been running it for a few months I noticed that the reverse collar (machined aluminium STEEDA item) was vibrating against the shifter which made it noisy

I took apart the the trim etc and could see metal filings where it had been rubbing against the steel shifter shaft

I realised the Steeda shifter steps down after the spring retaining screws where as the stock shifter maintains that diameter all the way up to the gearknob threads, so with that in mind, I realised that the white washer must be installed under the retaining screws for it to be effective like so:

This completely eliminated the metallic grinding/vibration sounds at higher rpm’s and generally makes the up down sliding movement of the reverse collar much nicer & feels more solid

Looking into this with our installation and technical team to advise on your question.

Thank you,

TJ

 

[tj@steeda]

I spoke to our install team:

10. Slide the spring over the shaft of the shift lever and install the two supplied 4mm x 0.8 set screws into
the shift lever. Make sure both are spaced equally in the threaded holes and tighten them down firmly.
Then install the white factory plastic anti rattle washer on top of the set screws and the small rubber O-
ring on top of the white anti rattle washer.

© 2015 Steeda Autosports, All Rights Reserved.
Steeda S550 MT-82 Tri-Ax Race Short Throw

 

[lo-fi]

I'm glad I've been lazy about getting to the install of my Steeda Race Shifter. I'm going to take a look at mine later tonight as I will be installing soon. Appreciate the write up OP.

 

[Marin]

I tried this first and luckily before I put it all back together because I soon realised that after sliding the reverse collar up a couple of times, the white plastic washer falls off the “shoulder” it sits on which makes the reverse collar lose again

I recommend anyone doing this install try both the Steeda and my method, slide the reverse collar up and down a few times and see which one works best for you and do this before putting it all the trim back together

 

[shogun32]

10. Slide the spring over the shaft of the shift lever and install the two supplied 4mm x 0.8 set screws into
the shift lever. Make sure both are spaced equally in the threaded holes and tighten them down firmly.
Then install the white factory plastic anti rattle washer on top of the set screws and the small rubber O-
ring on top of the white anti rattle washer.

so the white plastic ring is now mismatched to the too-small shaft and you're expecting a chinsy o-ring to keep it in check and not slide further up? Come on, now.

@Marin is the only CORRECT solution given the parts on hand.

I might also suggest a thin washer of correct ID under the set screws and on top of the white donut. Heck, Steeda your solution might actually work if you have a similar washer but with OD matching the smaller shank diameter and then the o-ring as the final element. Then it might have a chance.

The choice of set screw seems curious. You can't find a socket-head cap screw that works?

 

[WD Pro]

I had to go back and look at mine from my install after seeing this post. Mine has been good to me. Hopefully it’ll continue to work well.

I spoke to our install team:

10. Slide the spring over the shaft of the shift lever and install the two supplied 4mm x 0.8 set screws into
the shift lever. Make sure both are spaced equally in the threaded holes and tighten them down firmly.
Then install the white factory plastic anti rattle washer on top of the set screws and the small rubber O-
ring on top of the white anti rattle washer.

Can anyone in this thread recall how their stock shifter was assembled (with regards to the o ring and white spacer) ?

I’m fitting the Steeda reverse lock out collar and working from the bottom up, mine was spring, roll pin, o ring and then white collar.

As the roll pin had already started to bite into the o ring, logic tells me mine was wrong from the factory, and it was defo flipped in assembly order compared to the posts I’ve quoted above.

As I had a buzz from the shifter at high rpm, I’m looking for correct (standard) assembly confirmation before reassembly. I’m hoping the replacement collar and correct assembly will cure it

WD

 

[WD Pro]

so the white plastic ring is now mismatched to the too-small shaft and you're expecting a chinsy o-ring to keep it in check and not slide further up? Come on, now.

@Marin is the only CORRECT solution given the parts on hand.

I might also suggest a thin washer of correct ID under the set screws and on top of the white donut. Heck, Steeda your solution might actually work if you have a similar washer but with OD matching the smaller shank diameter and then the o-ring as the final element. Then it might have a chance.

I'm going out on a limb here, but I suspect Steeda's assembly order / instructions may just be based on mimicking the standard setup (and not allowing for the change in shaft diameter as highlighted).

I've been looking at the standard setup including the lock out collar, in an attempt to get rid of my high RPM (7k+) shifter buzz.

From what I can tell (and if Ford would have assembled mine correctly), that white spacer is held down by the o ring, and the o ring is held down by the standard reverse lockout collar when it's in its lower / home position i.e. even if the spacer and o ring move up a little when the collar is lifted and reverse is selected, they will get pulled back down the shaft by the collar when it returns to its home position. The o ring also acts as a buffer / isolator between the white spacer and the lock out collar.

Note that the standard collar does not have the upper internal o ring like the Steeda collar.

I think that my rattle was coming from the incorrect assembly i.e. my shift collar sitting directly on top of the white spacer, coupled with the following :

• No internal o ring in the top of the standard collar.
• My change of shift knob to the Ford Performance version (no leather wrapped up inside the internal bore to act as a buffer / sound deadener to the standard shift collar).

The replacement Steeda collar appears to be designed to operate in exactly the same way as the original (with regards to keeping the o ring and spacer down in position), but has the added benefit of having a second internal upper o ring to keep the top of the aluminium collar from contacting the shaft, therefore adding additional sound deadening / metal part isolation In that area.

Now if you change any of the components in that area, and those changes affect anything to do with the shaft diameter and / or the relationship of where the collar upper internal diameter sits on the shaft in relation to the roll pin hole, something else needs to change to accommodate the new / modified parts ...

Some random pictures to help with understanding the above, and to brighten up what might have just been the most boring post I have ever written on this forum ...

Standard and Steeda components - note that the bottom of the standard shift collar has been removed as it gets broken during removal of the standard shift boot :

Standard (MT82) shifter :

Standard assembly order (I think) :

Spacer and o ring position after fitting the standard collar in the home / bottom position (same position with the Steeda collar) :

Not the easiest thing to remove, it needed a bit of glue afterwards ... :

A right pair of knobs :

All done (and my 7k buzz has gone) :

As I’ve seen a few posts in the past asking - mine takes 11 full turns (approx 14mm of thread engagement) to sit in a nice position that still allows easy engagement of reverse. 12 turns still worked, but the ridge on the collar was right up to the underside of the knob.

11 turns, and reverse :

The only problem I have now the buzz is gone, is the loss of my audible 'shift now' warning ...

Note for anyone doing this mod on the standard shifter : ensure the roll pin is centered in the shaft :

If that pin is not centered, there is a chance it will cut into the inner bore of the Steeda collar (possibly adding NVH ?) :

Those marks aren’t from my assembly. I bought the collar from another forum member who was selling up, and tidied the finish up a little before fitment :

WD

 

[JTM88]

A right pair of knobs :

Of topic a bit, but where did you get the knob with the red, white, and blue. I've been searching, but I can't find them anywhere.

 

[WD Pro]

Of topic a bit, but where did you get the knob with the red, white, and blue. I've been searching, but I can't find them anywhere.

They were both the original / standard white text, I refurbished them

WD

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