[smiley_man]

I’ve installed the JBR short shifter and all their bushings. I’m happy with the upgrade, but still don’t like the wobbly feel of the gear shifter.

I’ve exposed the mount and it seems there are some plastic bushes linking the shifter to the cables.

Would there be any upgraded options for rigid/ metal gear linkage bushes?

(I hate the imprecise feeling with slight lateral and front back movement.)

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[smiley_man]

Can anyone please help with my question?

 

[AMS13]

I doubt anything like that exists. I bet if you were to knock out the plastic bushing that's pictured in the first picture, measured it, and contacted a company like https://www.twmperformance.com/ they could probably help you out.

 

[curvyroads28]

You can start by looking here:

McMaster-Carr

You will need to take measurements utilizing a good caliper to figure out what parts to start looking for. But as AMS13 stated, you may need to consider these need to be custom parts. I would recommend purchasing parts from Mazda as opposed to pulling apart your shifter as the pieces may be deformed when pulling them apart (namely the bushing in your first image as it is spherical and will most likely require 'popping' it off of the inner joint).

I think what might be more effective is a custom pivot socket (that plastic piece that houses the ball on the shift stick) which would require some engineering work, which I am not opposed to getting at myself. I will add this to my list of custom fab projects and when I come up with something I can run it by the forum to see if there is any interest in coming up with a group buy-in sort of deal to fund fabrication. I will have to obtain the parts first to reverse engineer it, but it won't be difficult to fab up.

-CR

 

[smiley_man]

You can start by looking here:

McMaster-Carr

You will need to take measurements utilizing a good caliper to figure out what parts to start looking for. But as AMS13 stated, you may need to consider these need to be custom parts. I would recommend purchasing parts from Mazda as opposed to pulling apart your shifter as the pieces may be deformed when pulling them apart (namely the bushing in your first image as it is spherical and will most likely require 'popping' it off of the inner joint).

I think what might be more effective is a custom pivot socket (that plastic piece that houses the ball on the shift stick) which would require some engineering work, which I am not opposed to getting at myself. I will add this to my list of custom fab projects and when I come up with something I can run it by the forum to see if there is any interest in coming up with a group buy-in sort of deal to fund fabrication. I will have to obtain the parts first to reverse engineer it, but it won't be difficult to fab up.

-CR

Thank you, that sounds great!

Will see if I can find the original bushing to buy from Mazda.


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[bushmastuh]

I agree with getting parts from the dealer. After installing my JBR SS + all the bushings, I started looking into that exact pivot joint as the culprit for the wobbly shifter. My 3 is only @ 5K miles and it already has crazy wobble from time to time. Well, long story short, I did some tinkering and managed to get everything off to inspect what I was getting into, but upon reinstall I over tightened the screw holding that joint in (it's the welded screw on the other side of the shaft), and it completely sheared off. Granted it was my fault 100%, but I cannot believe Mazda decided to go with such a small diameter/thickness screw to hold your shifter to the shifter cables. Ended up having to get my ENTIRE shifter linkage assembly replaced. Bad experience, but the new screw I threw in is way beefier and won't be snapping anytime soon.

 

[smiley_man]

I agree with getting parts from the dealer. After installing my JBR SS + all the bushings, I started looking into that exact pivot joint as the culprit for the wobbly shifter. My 3 is only @ 5K miles and it already has crazy wobble from time to time. Well, long story short, I did some tinkering and managed to get everything off to inspect what I was getting into, but upon reinstall I over tightened the screw holding that joint in (it's the welded screw on the other side of the shaft), and it completely sheared off. Granted it was my fault 100%, but I cannot believe Mazda decided to go with such a small diameter/thickness screw to hold your shifter to the shifter cables. Ended up having to get my ENTIRE shifter linkage assembly replaced. Bad experience, but the new screw I threw in is way beefier and won't be snapping anytime soon.

Sorry for the bad experience - was thinking that a metal spherical bearing would be better than the cheap plastic bush.

Did you measure the dimensions of that bush?

I’m thinking to get something like this:

http://www.mcgillmotorsport.com/1-2...wvl7iI3NWx_nTSWpEjS7985LwDtwT3wxoC78cQAvD_BwE




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[bushmastuh]

Sorry about the late reply- I have not measured it but my linkage cables are sitting in the garage at home. When I get back from work I will take a look and measure. That bearing looks solid, you got me thinking about doing a replacement now too...

 

[mazada]

I don't think a cable actuated shifter will ever give you the "tightness" you are looking for...

The benefit of a cable shifter is lower cost and less noise/vibration.
The drawback is less feel than a rod or trans mounted shifter, like on a rear wheel drive car.

Maybe you have it the best it can be?