URD short shifter and gear whine.

[slomatt]

Today I installed a used URD short shifter on my 2000 4runner, while it was apart I also installed a Marlin Crawler shifter seat and socket.

The shorter throws are nice, but I've noticed two problems.

1. It is extremely difficult to get into 1st gear when stopped. I have to put it in 2nd gear first and then use a good amount of force to get into 1st.

2. There is a significant whine in 5th gear at highway speeds when under load. This gets louder as the speed increases, and goes away when I get off the gas and coast.

At this point I'm thinking of going back to the stock setup. But, before I do, does anybody have any input on the above issues? My guess is that for some reason the shifter is not allowing me to get completely into 5th gear. I have the extension fully seated on the stock shifter, so the only thing I can think of is if the extension body is rubbing on something. I did notice that the extension has some wear on the sides from the previous owner, so perhaps it does rub.

- Matt

[4x4mike]

I have no idea Matt. My shifter is going on 4 years old and I haven't touched it since installing it. There maybe rubbing on mine but it doesn't effect anything. As for getting into first, mine has always been like that. Sometimes I've got to give it a push especially when it's cold. 5th is fine. I'm wondering if something is out of alignment? Maybe the Marlin shift seat.

I replaced my shift seat when I installed my URD kit hoping it would smooth out the shifting, it didn't. I'm running a Toyota one and the one I pulled out was fine (not broken). I'm thinking you should give it a little time, maybe it needs to wear in.

One thing I noticed after installing mine was that I didn't bolt down the big gasket thing. As a result everything was louder than before. I had it bolted and all, the rubber piece just wasn't aligned right. On grades I'd get gear oil smell as the tranny breather is right on top.

[slomatt]

I'll try taking the plate back out and making sure it is seated correctly. While that is out I'll also pull the shifter out of the socket and look for any weird wear marks. Thanks for the pointers.

In other news, I unwrapped the axle a couple days ago. Wow, you were not joking around when you packed that thing! It must have taken 15-20 minutes to get all of the plastic off. There is no sign of rust and everything looks great. Hopefully I'll find time in the next few weekends to cut the notch for the elocker and get everything setup. Thanks again Mike!

[4x4mike]

Were you able to get install instructions for the plate? They might have them online but I haven't checked. I know I have mine somewhere. If you need them let me know, I'll scan them or something. I remember the install being very straight forward but maybe there was something special in there.


Good to hear there wasn't any rust. I packed that thing like I would a body and it's good to know it held up. My biggest concern was keeping everything contained. I couldn't clean the entire thing out and didn't want it spilling gear oil in your 4Runner or garage.

[MTL_4runner]

Matt, that definitely sounds like either something isn't aligned right or it's rubbing somewhere. The whine usually comes from gear noise due to something not allowing them to fully seat properly. I'd pull it all back out and look for irregular wear marks, binding, alignment issues, etc and correct as needed.

[slomatt]

I just spent 10 minutes writing a post and lost it when my wifi crashed, so here's the abridged version. Arg.

When I installed the used shifter there was visible wear on the sides of the shifter extension. Today when I pulled it out there additional wear at a different point after only 30 miles. The extension is fully seated on the shifter, so the only thing I can think of is that the shifter extension is rubbing on the shifter socket in the transmission. I used a Dremel to clearance the shifter extension a bit at the wear points and reinstalled it. Now I can get into first gear reasonably easily, I haven't driven it yet so I'm not sure if the 5th gear whine is fixed.

After a day or two of driving I'll pull it back out and check again.

- Matt

[slomatt]

I had time to do another test drive and while things have improved it is still difficult to get into first gear and there is some 5th gear wine. I pulled out the shifter and there are more wear marks on the shifter extension. This makes me think that something is installed incorrectly, but I followed the instructions exactly, and since the ball extension had wear on it from the previous owner I'm wondering if this part just doesn't fit quite right. The one thing that came to mind is that I installed a Marlin Crawler shifter seat at the same time, and that required removing the rubber insulator at the same time (http://www.marlincrawler.com/tech/gu...t-installation). I guess there is a chance that the Marlin seat is slightly shorter and puts the shifter lower into the transmission leading to the wear. I'm going to do some more clearancing in the morning and see how it goes.

- Matt

[4x4mike]

I hadn't thought of that. Have you called URD or even Marlin? Since you have it apart it might be worth while to put a Toyota one in there.

[slomatt]

I haven't contacted URD or Marlin yet. This morning I did a bit more clearancing and first gear is now working well though I have some 5th gear whine still. I left the trim pieces off so it is really easy to remove the shifter. Tomorrow I need to use the truck to pickup a new tool car so I'm going to put the stock shifter seat back in and see if that resolves the problems.

[slomatt]

I put the stock shifter seat and spacer back in and the 5th gear whine is gone, which seems to indicate that the Marlin shifter seat is slightly shorter than the stock piece and puts the shifter lower into the transmission. When viewed side by side on the bench it definitely looked a bit shorter.

For future reference, if you are thinking of using the URD short shifter kit with the Marlin Crawler shifter seat you might run into similar issues.

- Matt