abecedarian

blindsided was I by this.

I just replaced the clutch in my 88 (another story of discovery I may tell later) and and also replaced the shift bushing and ball seat (thanks Marlin Crawler!!!- shifts are precise, tight and swift) and now my gear shift lever hits my transfer case shift lever when I shift into reverse- if the transfer is in 2HI which is were it is 99% of the time. It didn't hit it before, and I may chalk that up to wear in the bushings but the trans is the same and the levers are the same so why did replacing the bushings cause interference and impact?

When in 2HI, that puts my transfer shift lever far left and forward. When shifting the truck into reverse the main shift lever hits the knob on the transfer case lever- it's not enough to keep me from grabbing reverse 'cause the transfer lever moves to the right... but it's something I don't think Toyota would've shipped out.

Looking at the boots that cover the body penetrations, the levers are oriented somewhat where they should be so rotating 180 the transfer case lever is not an apparent option, and even if I did, it would hit the center console and keep me out of 4wd.

I'm starting to think that a PO may have swapped something in and that's causing my issues now.

Any photos of how a stock 88 4Runner shift levers are oriented?

In 1st, my lever is almost vertical... if it was a few degrees towards the driver, 5th and reverse would be more towards the driver too and wouldn't hit the transfer shift lever....

peow130

Rotate the trans shifter 180 degrees and put it back in?
Bend it out of the way?

donomite49

my 88 5spd pu shifter hits my tc shifter too. at the most (if you pull the tc shifter to the left)maybe half an inch. doesnt bother anything. think my 79 did too.

donomite49

used to live in homeland, sweet snow wheeling on thomas mountain,east of hemet in my 79 w 3inch lift 33'' bfg baja terrains. good memories for sure.

abecedarian

tried rotating it 180 and it then it hits the console... well, not the console but the plastic just behind the shifter that contains the rear window wiper, rear window wiper lock and rear window roll up / down switches.

it used to point forwards towards the glove box and it still does now, but the 5sp shift lever hits now... and if I rotate the 5sp lever, the throws are way to long and even 1st is up by the speedo cluster.

abecedarian

I am going to add that I tried shift levers from a friend that has an 86 truck and those levers are the same as mine so it's not a 4Runner / truck thing from what I can tell.

wyoming9

iTrader: (1)

Is your transfer case shifter in backwards that would do it

abecedarian

nope. that was one of the first things I thought of.
if i put in in backwards, it hits the arm rest / console if I try to go into 4hi.

peow130

you can shift into all 6 gears correct? 1-5+r?

make sure that you can shift into those AND move..

maybe the shifter has been bent over time and when you put the new bushings in, it was bent back to compensate for going into 2nd, 4th, and R?

abecedarian

Yeah, no real problems shifting through the gears, just that shifting to reverse makes the lever hit the transfer lever and if I'm not paying attention and don't move the main shift lever a little left when I shift to reverse the transfer lever will get bumped into 4HI.

The torch is likely to come out soon so I can heat and bend the main lever just a bit so that doesn't happen. I'm just waiting to see if anyone with more experience than I pops in and suggests something else.

wii_tarded

Do you have a body lift? just asking. can you tell if the levers have ever been modified?
I had mine cut and extended for my BL, but the guy who did me a favor got the angles wrong, and now 1st is up under my knee.

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

Interesting idea Wii Tarded - that would make sense.

I just ordered those marlin parts today, as I've swapping my W56 this week

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

Is it possible you ordered the wrong marlin part? There are 3, for different transmission types.

wildfire124

thanks

abecedarian

okay...
I ordered from Marlin Crawler (over the phone, btw) -
- "square" shift boot - for early w56 (types a & b; later forward shift type c and up are "round" boots), and the square boot fit my trans.
- "red" shift seat - for early w56 (a/b)
- standard shift lever socket (bushing)

And I absolutely have no body lift at all... and that wouldn't cause the shift lever to hit the other lever. I checked for interference before installing the body shift lever boots and found the issue then. It's definitely related to the the levers and/or transmission.

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

Those are the same parts I ordered last night (so I think you're correct for what it's worth ).

Very strange. Not sure what to tell you other than it's likely a misshapen shifter lever?

Hope you get it sorted out soon and hope I don't have the same problem!

abecedarian

For the most part, it is sorted out.
Just a bit ago I stopped for soda and smokes and when parked and engine off, I put the shift lever in neutral and pulled it towards the steering column. It doesn't hit the tfer case lever any more.
And shifting is still "notchy" like it was after putting in the bushings so I apparently didn't hurt those either.

Philbert- get ready for re-learning your gearshift lever.

and on another note, I'm still getting used to the new clutch... seems the old one only contacted 1/2 of the old flywheel- and I put nearly 80K miles on it that way. The old flywheel has machine marks on 1/2 of its face and discoloration and heat check marks on the other 1/2. Must be good trucks to deal with that.

Philbert

iTrader: (2)

So what did you end up doing to your shifter? "pop" it back into place? "bend" it toward you?

wii_tarded

I just wondered due to the issues I have. Maybe not the original shifters... maybe PO modified them.... Just throwing out an idea to chase.

XtraSlow_XtraCab

lol I've gone through multiple years of shifter combinations from 84-89. There is only one pair I've seen that do NOT hit at some shift combination... and those are the ones I used from my 87 Runner. The tranny stick is completely vertical in first and seems to stay closer to the driver than the previous years of shifters.

My t-case stick is a bit more unusual. In 2-HI it "leans" in the 2 o'clock direction and by the time you hit 4-Lo its laying MAYBE 15 degrees from a horizontal plane (for those of you that know geometry). It is NEVER too close to the 5 speed stick.

The G52 carbureted transmissions (at least in solid axle years) the two sticks would hit at 2nd gear and 4-Lo. The 5 speed stick bent sharply to the passsenger side from the transmission and then bee lined it up towards the driver. (The stick pointed at the driver). The t-case stick was pretty much always near vertical and right in the center.

Visit a local yard and start collecting shifters. You can tuck the base into your boot and strap em to your leg.