“How To”-Getrag Shift Linkage-Counterweight Removal

[Z0mbi3SVT]

Ya my shifter went limp on me the other day the little ball came right out of its socket, so I'm thinking I need to put the weight back on. I ground 3rd again and then had no way to get the car into gear, had to make a little pit stop and attach the arm to the shifter. Anyone else run into this?

[HaveBlue83]

one of mine has the bolt in, one doesnt. No difference. One has a frpp short shifter one doesnt. The short throw is tighter obviously but they both have a nce notchy feel.

[djo90]

I did it a little while back, now it feels heavy to me again lol

[mellephants]

Ya its just for feel. Its the opposite of a heavy shift knob, which alot of people say "improves the feel" ... with a lightweight knob & deleted counterweight you will be able to feel the shift gates better, so it will be "notchier", but if you've ever had the tranny apart you'll be able to "see" whats going on just by the knob feel.

I like that.

[svtportland]

I just did this, and there is a nice differance,,,I started with a 13mm socket,,but was a little loose,,went to 1/2inch, and seemed to work better,,,might have to get a short throw shifter now

[HaveBlue83]

shortening the shifter length and adding a heavy ball is what i ended up doing. the ball helps but it's still notchy and "tight". i like it. too light on the ball and it's too much work. i like it crisp.

[LongDucDong]

One of my favorite features of the SVT when I bought it was the heavy, mechanical feeling of the shifter. Coming from a clanky, light, noisy, crappy-shifting Toyota 5 sp gearbox to the SVT's was like a dream come true. I dont know why anyone would want to remove the counterweight, it adds a nice, solid feel that most cars cant offer.

[dcwte85]

just did this today. feels awesome. i can actually tell when im going into gear now...

[turbodave]

Sorry to dig this up (again) - It is interesting the different opinions on this.
The correct term for this lump of metal (in transmission engineering speak) is a 'shift damper', or 'inertia mass'.

It's purpose is two-fold: Firstly, it adds mass to the shifter, before the shift lever (where its effect is optimal), which means the operator doesn't feel the notchiness / buzzing / zinging. It achieves this improvement of shift comfort because the mass is greater than these short duration, high amplitude spikes can accelerate, hence the term "shift damper".

The second benefit is that it adds inertia to the lever, which when in motion - just like a flywheel - doesn't want to stop as easilly as one without / or has a lower inertia. Result is that the shifts are completed, without the operator experiencing baulking, or shift notch as the synchro unloads - so long as they aply sufficient energy into the lever initially to accelerate the mass, and provide the inertia to complete the shift.

As regards why some transmissions do, and some don't suffer from the removal, welcome to the magical world of high-energy synchronizers, especially double and triple-cone units. That said, about the only negative mechanical effect of removing the mass (and accepting the poorer shift quality if present) is that you might experience increased wear in the shifter linkage - and that is only a might as it's pretty hard to prove if it was / wasn't due to the removal of the mass.

[03#1965]

Thanks...nice summary from a more technical perspective. Personally, I just really like having the 'clunk' gone!