Brucelee28

So just installed the Non-Stop-Tuning's short shifter for the 95-97 tripod tranny. It was a bit tricky to get the bottom linkage to perfectly align with the hole to get the bolt to go through because the end piece of the short shifter is a bit thicker in comparison to the stock one, so it was a battle trying to get that and the linkage to fit. Also I noticed the top of the first gasket in the middle piece stuck out and never seeded in all the way while the stock one sat flush. None of the 2 aluminium top pieces provided actually fit either so I had to reuse the stock metal plate. Over all the build quality seemed pretty good and seems like it can with stand some hard shifts but we'll have to see. So far I'm not too impressed.

First driving impressions, shifts take .5-1 inch to go into gear. It makes the smooth w58 gears a bit hard to get into now. I noticed it's a lot harder to miss shift or go into the wrong gear cause once you're committed into going into a gear you really can't go into another by accident. Also noticed since the center piece is all billet aluminium it transfers a bit of extra transmission whine into the cabin when you're on it at about 60+. It sounds like a super charger but a bit annoying compared to the stock quietness. I don't know how I feel about this.

The stock shifter actually felt pretty good and thought at first it was a short shifter when I initially bought the car. I may go back to stock. I ordered some new rubber gaskets for the old shifter and may just rebuild part of it and go back to that if I decide to. Also bought a shift extension to play around for the current setup and see if that makes shifting better. I'll keep you guys updated in about a week and give you my impressions on it a week later.

Brucelee28

So quick up date. I decided to reinstall the stock shifter back in. The one thing that bothered me most was the additional in cabin noise Non-Stop-Tuning's Short Shifter had. The Trd's version of the short shifter had the same plastic middle pivot portion as stock, and I assumed they went with plastic because one it was cheap, but two it probably helps absorb a lot of the vibration and cabin noise. Probably the second thing that bothered me was that now the shifting input is on a different level vs. all my other inputs such as, pedal and steering. Those others still were on the softer side and it doesn't quite feel balanced compared to the direct preciseness of the short shifter. I can feel it harder to judge when the synchros were working because now every shift is a hard direct shift. The stock one has it's benefits is that when you come upon it's thrush hold you can still feel it. I don't like a lot of play but a little does help. I really wanted to love the product but I guess I don't want to take the risk over the period of time if things may go bad. I'm just gonna rebuild the old stock one with new parts which I already ordered. Maybe if I can find a genuine Trd short shifter I may give that a shot.

As I was removing the NST short shifter I noticed the assembly actually fully seeded and the top gasket was no longer protruding out. So my guess was after the period of time I was driving it did settled. It was a bit hard to pull out at first but with some patience it slowly came back out. In the end I don't dislike short shifter at all. I think there's just a design flaw where they did not accommodate the additional noise that prevented me from settling with it. My recommendation is if you gonna buy NST short shifter I would suggest just buy one on ebay. They actually seem to be the same product online I believe it is because all the hard ware and design looks the same, it's also cheaper. If you can get your hands on a TRD let me know I would love to try that out. Hope this gives insight on all the hype sometimes Short Shifters have, and people don't tell you the bad side. There's nothing wrong with wanting short direct shifts but their are some costs. I believe for daily driving the stock shifter is perfect just do a rebuild or purchase a new one oem is my suggestions. Anyways thanks for reading and hope this helps people out there thinking about getting one. If you're like me and want to try it, then go for it. You may like it you may not. It's not for everyone and their needs but you can't say much unless you've had the experience. Good Luck everyone!

1997Soarer

iTrader: (1)

Nice review.

I have the C's shifter for the tripod W58. To describe it, it would be slightly more aggressive than the TRD. It still uses urethane in the shaft like the stock shifter, and also uses the plastic holder that the ball of the shifter sits in.

It has all of the perks of a short shifter with none of the noise drawbacks you described

Brucelee28

Appreciate you reading! Yeah if I can find a C's short shifter or TRD for not to expensive I may try again in the future. I would definitely love to try out the C's though since it does not have any of that cabin noise like you said. That's perfect. Yeah because if you heard what I heard I'm sure it would have not fly for a second. It was very distinct whine and only got louder the faster you went. So that was a big deal breaker for a street car for me. If I had a track dedicated car I actually wouldn't had mind the noise at all.

QUOTE=1997Soarer;9601581]Nice review.

I have the C's shifter for the tripod W58. To describe it, it would be slightly more aggressive than the TRD. It still uses urethane in the shaft like the stock shifter, and also uses the plastic holder that the ball of the shifter sits in.

It has all of the perks of a short shifter with none of the noise drawbacks you described[/QUOTE]

RXRodger

iTrader: (2)

Hey Bruce hit me up if you want to sell the short shifter. I was thinking about going through the stock shifter with new bushings, etc for my race car but a short shifter like you have might work out nicely. I have no worries about the noise because all of my sound deadening is gone anyway. The W58 is just a noisy trans anyway so not surprised you found the shifter swap to be loud in the cabin. Just throwing it out there as an option if you want to move it, and by the way thanks for the write up..