Mechanical linkage to replace cables for Isuzu - Transmission Forum

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Mechanical linkage to replace cables for Isuzu
Sunday, December 25, 2011 4:42 PM
Hi everyone,
merry Christmas from the home of the "Dragon" aka "Deal's Gap"! My son and I spent the morning having fun. Took a couple videos we may eventually get posted to youtube.

Besides wishing I had a better setup for heel/toe downshifts, the cheap cables that GM uses leave shifting on an almost 300k J body somewhat of a challenge.

I was under the car yesterday doing the usual maintenance and noticed that there's plenty of room to install a push/pull rod linkage in place of the sloppy cables. It may require a relocate of the ignition module/coils, but that's not too much of a challenge.

Has anyone ever done this? I'm actually limping along with one LN2/isuzu and one LD9/isuzu cable right now after having had the fore-aft cable disassemble itself. My local Chev dealer (West Chevrolet) has a new guy just moved here from MI, where he'd worked for Chev for a long time. He found a NOS that promptly broke on the first attempt at putting it into first gear. Old plastic I guess.

thanks,
dennis

Re: Mechanical linkage to replace cables for Isuzu
Monday, December 26, 2011 12:47 PM
I always hated the links in my Nissan, but then again, the bushings rotted out and I lost 2/4/R..... lol




SPD RCR Z - '02 Z24 420whp
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Re: Mechanical linkage to replace cables for Isuzu
Monday, December 26, 2011 3:12 PM
SpeedRacerZ wrote:I always hated the links in my Nissan, but then again, the bushings rotted out and I lost 2/4/R..... lol


can't win!

Eventually the entire J body will be re-invented or at least re-engineered for some reason.

The most robust and secure linkage I remember is the Mack Truck 5 speed I worked on in the 70's. The shifter had a ball on the end that directly engaged the shift rods. I've still seen it broken though.

Now why can I remember that but it takes days to get a new ink cartridge and install it?

dennis
Re: Mechanical linkage to replace cables for Isuzu
Monday, December 26, 2011 4:34 PM
MasterFlight wrote:
SpeedRacerZ wrote:I always hated the links in my Nissan, but then again, the bushings rotted out and I lost 2/4/R..... lol


can't win!

Eventually the entire J body will be re-invented or at least re-engineered for some reason.

The most robust and secure linkage I remember is the Mack Truck 5 speed I worked on in the 70's. The shifter had a ball on the end that directly engaged the shift rods. I've still seen it broken though.

Now why can I remember that but it takes days to get a new ink cartridge and install it?

dennis


Almost every RWD manual transmission is setup like this... including bigger HD transmissions like the Eaton Roadranger.

What your thinking about doing is FAR too complicated... you would need at least 3 pivot points to make it work (shifter and trans, and then something in the middle to make the left hand turn from the tunnel to the trans) and thats too complicated to be honest... it will make your issue worse. What I would look into is a company that custom makes Push/Pull cables for boats (they use them for trim adjustments) and talk to them about cable ends and a set of custom cables that would be more stout than the stock set.



Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
Re: Mechanical linkage to replace cables for Isuzu
Monday, December 26, 2011 4:54 PM
Alex Richards wrote:
MasterFlight wrote:
SpeedRacerZ wrote:I always hated the links in my Nissan, but then again, the bushings rotted out and I lost 2/4/R..... lol


can't win!

Eventually the entire J body will be re-invented or at least re-engineered for some reason.

The most robust and secure linkage I remember is the Mack Truck 5 speed I worked on in the 70's. The shifter had a ball on the end that directly engaged the shift rods. I've still seen it broken though.

Now why can I remember that but it takes days to get a new ink cartridge and install it?

dennis


Almost every RWD manual transmission is setup like this... including bigger HD transmissions like the Eaton Roadranger.

What your thinking about doing is FAR too complicated... you would need at least 3 pivot points to make it work (shifter and trans, and then something in the middle to make the left hand turn from the tunnel to the trans) and thats too complicated to be honest... it will make your issue worse. What I would look into is a company that custom makes Push/Pull cables for boats (they use them for trim adjustments) and talk to them about cable ends and a set of custom cables that would be more stout than the stock set.


Hey Alex,

I'll take that as a challenge! I like the idea of talking with the boat cable makers! Thanks! We have a bunch of boat makers around here.

Dennis
Re: Mechanical linkage to replace cables for Isuzu
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 8:01 AM
MasterFlight wrote:
Hey Alex,

I'll take that as a challenge! I like the idea of talking with the boat cable makers! Thanks! We have a bunch of boat makers around here.

Dennis


Just look into "Push/Pull Cables" instead of limiting yourself to boats, they have many industrial uses... thats just one of them I knew of.



Buildin' n' Boostin for 08' - Alex Richards
Re: Mechanical linkage to replace cables for Isuzu
Tuesday, December 27, 2011 8:33 AM
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