Still plugging away at the carpet. I reached the stopping point last time when I got to the shifters. As most of you know, the inner shift boot is captured under the shifter sticks, which is a pain. My factory boot was torn a long time ago when I needed to remove it and had no way to do so without tearing it off. So it was no longer doing the job of keeping out heat. so I ordered a new factory boot. Mopar part #53005554
The transfer case shift rod is held to its base with a rubber isolator and a metal clip that locks onto the shaft and then clips into the shifter stick with some winged tabs. Last time I installed a new isolator and clip, I didn't know what I was doing and I installed them too far onto the stub. This made removing the old one really difficult. I also had to beat the hell out of the stick to install it last time, so my stick was rusty and dented. So I ordered a new used one from eBay in much better shape. The transmission shifter cane is just a tight fit onto the shift lever base, I reused that stick.
My transmission shift lever base was worn out (bought used on eBay 7 years ago), so I was hunting for a new one. Where it was worn was in the slots that locate it to the pins in the transmission shift tower. So I began the search for new. The factory part number is 5252055, and it includes the spring, locking cap, and upper boot that seals it to the transmission. I bought a 5252055 replica kit from Allstate gear. The parts looked the same....however, the square stub was too skinny and the shifter cane just slid right on.
Here's what I got from Allstate
Obviously, the aftermarket levers are a crapshoot, so I started hunting for stock. I found this:
New Novak short shifter. Fits the AX-15, which is the OEM transmission on the 1997 Jeep Wrangler. And also is the transmission on a lot of Jeeps and Chrysler vehicles. Brand new and out of box....
atlanta.craigslist.org
A few things to note:
1) He calls this a "short" shifter. First of all, the correct term would be "short throw" if it were anything. This is not short anything though, this is a stock shifter and then a Novak supplied unbent stick. The throw will be exactly the same as stock, if not actually longer because that stick is longer than stock which affects throw.
2) This is for a YJ technically, not a TJ. The YJ models use the straight shift lever. TJs have an S-curve to them that relocates the shifter around 1.25" further to the rear. So if anything, this guy should be marketing to the YJ crowd, not TJ crowd.
3) $199??? That's a lot to ask for. the whole reason these parts are for sale is because they came off of his brand new transmission and he couldn't use them. That right there makes them not so valuable. Nobody wants that shifter stick. But anyways....
I needed a factory shift lever to restore the tight fit of my shifter cane. I was considering reaching out to the Craigslist guy and offering him some money to just take the shift tower (or even just the lever), but it occurred to me to check my parts bin. I bought a new AX15 years ago and I didn't use the straight lever that my transmission came with. Reason being, at the time I was using a B&M short throw and so I maintained that. I did eventually go back to stock, but to do that I went with a used cane and lever off of eBay, since I didn't have a good way to press apart the cane from the lever to install it onto the new lever that came with the transmission. So the new lever sat in storage for 7-8 years.
Lo and behold, I found it in the bin last night. Confirmed - very tight fit with my old cane. This also confirmed for me that the kit from Allstate was for sure too small, so I will be sending that back.
So....I installed this lever into the transmission, I installed the 4x4 base onto the transmission and transfer case, and installed the inner shift boot. Also installed the cane onto the lever.
With the shifters being tied together via one boot and the boot captured under the press fit shifters, dealing with this stuff is just a total PITA. I'm glad I'm almost done.
After the levers for t-case and transmission are installed, the inner shift boot is slid over the top of both, meaning the two shifters are tied together as I mentioned earlier. That boot is fastened to the floor/tunnel plate, and then the accordian style boot comes down over the top of both shifters tying them together a second time, and fastens to the floor through the unused holes in the first boot, using self tapping screws.
Years ago I was tired of most of my self tapping holes not holding the boot down firmly, so I decided to drill out the holes and use nutserts. That was not a great move, as then it became very difficult to get the bolts to all line up since they now had threaded holes with no tolerance.
I have still maintained the stock design, by buying two brand new Mopar boots (inner & outer). I don't like it, but I don't plan to have to work on it so it is what it is. I was able to fasten down the inner boot like normal. I was able to get 2 of the machine screws into their nutserts. There were 3 holes I never installed nutserts in, because their self tappers still held fine. So I got those in. I was able to get a self tapper to grab one of the nutserts without stripping it, so that is also holding. Overall between the 6 fasteners I got to hold the boots down, they are not going anywhere.
Last piece of the puzzle is to install the carpet with a cutout of the right side to go under the last accordian of the boot. this makes for a nice clean finish and it doesn't have to be absolutely perfect. Some people instead capture their carpet under the shift boot ring, but that makes installing the screws for the boot very difficult and your carpet cut has to be about perfect. It also makes the whole mess look less finished, because the carpet doesn't end up covering the screws. So I prefer the method I used...cut the right hole and just tuck it under the last accordian.
Overall I think it turned out well! All done on the shifters, including new factory style knobs. Shifts are a bit stiff, but will loosen up with time. All transmission gears and all transfer case positions shift fine.
Now I need to finish the left wheel well, do some more trimming of the main floor carpet at the rear side, and then I can finally reinstall seats and console soon.
