Shifter knob replacement.

[Snail Farmer]

I know I saw someone post not too long ago that they replaced their shift knob with a threaded cue ball I think it was. My searching skills seem to be failing because I can't find the post for the life of me. I've been wanting to replace my shift knob since I bought my Jeep, but I can't figure out how to get the factory knob off. :icon_eek: Does anyone know how it's held on? Or the trick to removing it?

 

[KJScott]

that would be me sir. I thought about doing a how to thread. To remove the knob, carefully pry up on the leather base, there are like 6 retainers. Then lift up the leather boot, you can then see how the knob is attached to the shift rod. Push down on the knob and turn it, there is a roll pin that is holding the ears of the shift knob on, it is spring loaded, nothing major, just don't lose the spring. pull the knob and boot off. You will see an O ring in the groove of the rod. That rod is 9/16". So I ordered a cue ball (but the guy will do any pool ball) from a guy named Pete in Lilburn Georgia on ebay. I asked him what thread he would cut for 9/16", he said 18. So then purchase a cutting die (not rethreading) I got mine on amazon, and because of the size I needed a tap handle also, inexpensive as well. Back to the Jeep... unbolt the shift rod from the lower shifter, two bolts. Take to the bench vise, remove the roll pin, cut off the top at that O ring groove. Smooth out the cut making just a very slight chamfer all the way around. This will aid with getting that die on nice and straight. Soak the die with light oil, then carefully and squarely start threading the die, more oil! Constantly back off slightly, to clear the chips, use more oil and keep cutting. Compare the depth of the cue ball to know how far to run down your thread.

Still with me? The next thing is separate your boot from the shifter knob. It is just a tight fit around the base. Searching through storage bins I came up with a rubber shock tower bushing. I made up a jig using a bolt, washers and nut, to hold the bushing then inserted the jig in a drill press and cut a groove in the side of the spinning bushing using various sharp objects. This groove is used to hold the top of the leather bag when installed. The bushing fits tight over the rod and the boot neck fits tight over the bushing. Two months and no issues. Pete sends teflon tape with your shift ball order. This will actually help snug up the threads to eliminate spinning while shifting.

Now if you want to do a custom shift rod, which would be really cool, put up pics! As for my recommended seller on ebay, there are others out there. This guy was fast and responsive, and the product was top quality. My apologies if I detailed the die cutting process too much. $19 for the shift knob, and less than $25 for the die and handle.

 

[Snail Farmer]

That's what I thought you did. Thank you very much for the reply. And no you didn't lose me I'm a machinist this is the kind of thing I do for a living. Your end result looks great. Guess I'll pull mine apart and see what I can come up with.

Sent from my HTC One using the power of Mary's purse

 

[KJScott]

Aw man! I didn't know you were a machinist. I actually learned doing this project the difference between rethreading and cutting dies. Haha! Well hopefully I learned others . Post some pics when you do yours.

 

[Snail Farmer]

I'm actually thinking of copying your setup. I really like how it looks. How much shorter is it than with the stock knob? I wouldn't think it would be too much shorter.

 

[KJScott]

Its probably an inch shorter, mainly because the factory knob assy is tall.

 

[Snail Farmer]

Well with yesterday being the first day in weeks with temps above 0, I decided to get my shifter knob done. I purchased the cue ball from the same ebay seller as KJScott. The quality is decent, no complaints there. I spent close to an hour in the hardware store trying to find something that would work well to hold the boot in place. I finally found a large neoprene expansion plug. It was really way too big but I couldn't find anything else smaller that would work, so I took it to the lathe and turned it down to the right diameter and put a chamfer on the top so it didn't look rough. I didn't want to lose a lot of overall height to my shifter, so instead of cutting the shift lever at the o-ring groove as KJScott did, I opted to take my dremel and grind down the diameter enough for the die to pass over it and started the threads just below the groove. And this way if I ever want to put the factory knob back on for any reason, I won't have anything to contend with. Overall I'm very pleased with the outcome. This is so much nicer than the factory knob. Thanks again Scott for the idea and I apologize for copying you. :favorites13:

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[KJScott]

Looks great!!! And good idea about leaving the factory groove in the shift rod. Nice job man!

 

[KJScott]

Now if I just had a V8 with a slight lopey cam in front of my ****** I would have the perfect vehicle

 

[Snail Farmer]

I agree. The 3.7 isn't a complete dog, but they really should have put something with much closer to 300 hp in the Liberty imo.