1974 J shifter problems

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

astronot

New member
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
Location
Central Texas
I recently got my first EB and ran into a problem showing it to one of my friends. I told him to take a look at the shifter and of course he immediately starts jerking the J shifter for the Transfer case. Of course I yelled and told him to to look at the steering column. The problem is when I tried to shift to 2H to leave, all I could select was 4L & 4H. I drove it home in 4H with the hubs unlocked. I worked with it and finally was able to get 2H, but now it's stuck there. I looked at the linkage, but this being my 1st 4WD I wasn't able to figure out if it was ok or not. I know there's nothing broken, but not why I can't select 4wd L or H.

Any suggestions???

 

Bully Bob

TOP GUN
Moderator
Joined
May 23, 2004
Messages
3,844
Reaction score
12
Location
Boulder City, Nevada (Las Vegas area)
Hi Astro.., welcome..!

Yep., those shifters were a pain fr. the get-go. [-(

You can get a re-build kit for little $$ or you can get a twin-stick shifter for a few $$ more. :D/

--(BTW the re-build kits have some design improvments as I recall)--

It's not your friends fault...

If you have the ability., you can convert fr. column to floor shift. Big improvment.

This (floor shifter opening) helps give access to the transfer shift rails, etc.

It's all pretty easy & straight forward.

About a two banana job... :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />

 
Last edited by a moderator:
OP
OP
astronot

astronot

New member
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
Location
Central Texas
Hi Astro.., welcome..!

Yep., those shifters were a pain fr. the get-go. [-(

You can get a re-build kit for little $$ or you can get a twin-stick shifter for a few $$ more. :D/

--(BTW the re-build kits have some design improvments as I recall)--

It's not your friends fault...

If you have the ability., you can convert fr. column to floor shift. Big improvment.

This (floor shifter opening) helps give access to the transfer shift rails, etc.

It's all pretty easy & straight forward.

About a two banana job... :) /emoticons/[email protected] 2x" width="20" height="20" />
 
OP
OP
astronot

astronot

New member
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
Location
Central Texas
Rats! I was hoping that it was just a misalignment problem on the 2 shift rods going into the transfer case. I've seen the twin stick shifter in the catalog and if I have to I will probably go that way. I considered the floor shifter when I got it, but I'm having so much fun with the column shift (learned how to drive in one) that I think I'm gonna hold off a little while on that until the new wears off. It IS very sloppy and will hang up on a 1>2 shift.

Thanks for the help!!!

 

Bully Bob

TOP GUN
Moderator
Joined
May 23, 2004
Messages
3,844
Reaction score
12
Location
Boulder City, Nevada (Las Vegas area)
Ya.., The two shift rails are quite solid in their mounts...they have detents & ball/spring that hold them in gear.

You can re-build the J-shift mount W/O the floor shifter but it's just roomier with the floor shift hole cut-out.

Easy to pull the boot & have a look...a new J-shift is the easiest way & about $150

Also., the column shift is re-buildable & will work for many yrs. if you prefer.

Have fun..!!

 
OP
OP
astronot

astronot

New member
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
Location
Central Texas
Well after much hemming and hawing around I finally made the decision to go with the J shifter (improved model). So I went out to look at the shifter once more, only to discover that it WAS the new version. I looked down into the tunnel and saw that the 2 detents were slightly mis-aligned. With a little nudge, everything was working again! Another lesson learned! Now for the floor shifter!!!!

 
OP
OP
astronot

astronot

New member
Joined
Mar 21, 2011
Messages
60
Reaction score
0
Location
Central Texas
. . . and one or two more things. I found the JBG has the twin stick and J shifter for about the same price. So I asked BB for an opinion on both. Seems like the J is fine for just about anything I might do at this point. A little more versatility with the twin, but it will do for me now. Honestly I wouldn't have know about the new shifter already being installed if I hadn't nearly gone blind looking at the fuzzy pictures on the website and comparing them to the practically unreadable drawings of the factory shifter in the Chilton's manual. But I've got more confidence now and won't be so hesitant to put a wrench to the EB when something is wrong!

 

Seabronc

New member
Joined
May 22, 2004
Messages
7,315
Reaction score
35
Location
North of NYC
. . . and one or two more things. I found the JBG has the twin stick and J shifter for about the same price. So I asked BB for an opinion on both. Seems like the J is fine for just about anything I might do at this point. A little more versatility with the twin, but it will do for me now. Honestly I wouldn't have know about the new shifter already being installed if I hadn't nearly gone blind looking at the fuzzy pictures on the website and comparing them to the practically unreadable drawings of the factory shifter in the Chilton's manual. But I've got more confidence now and won't be so hesitant to put a wrench to the EB when something is wrong!
Jeff's Bronco Graveyard will give you a 2% discount when ordering on line. Enter discount code BZMEMBER and include your BZ user name in the order.

:)>-

 
Last edited by a moderator:

Members online

Forum statistics

Threads
22,621
Messages
136,701
Members
25,282
Latest member
79' Buckin Bronco
Top