Shift Linkage

[jon99099]

I was recently driving my 89 sho today and when i was shifting from 2nd to 3rd, the car would not go into gear. upon closer inspection, the ball and socket underneath the shifter had blown out and looked as if the previous owner or somebody had tried to hold it together with a piece of wire. the problem is after this dilemna was solved, where the linkage meets the transmission had popped off and also looked as if someone had safety wired this together. it is a wonder the car has gone this long like this. i was wondering if there is anyway possible to hold the linkage back into place where it meets the transmission? i'm out of ideas and would rather not buy a whole new shifter.

 

[AREA 91]

I assume your 89 still has the cable shifter? If so, there is a Mopar "clip" that you can buy that will help you keep the cable ball and socket together. Your best bet, in my opnion, would be to find a used rod shifter. The rod shifter is far superior to the old cable shifter. I replaced the cables in my mocha (early 91) twice. I finally replaced the entire shifter with a mid 91-95 MTX rod shifter. The car shifts a 1000 times better with a rod shifter in it. You can find one fairly cheap on e bay, or post in the wanted to buy section here on the forum. If you go the rod shifter route, the are complete install instructions avilable on here, or shotimes. Worst case, I have a spare I would sell fairly cheap, as the complete rod shifters usually bring $150-200 bucks. Good luck with your adventure.

 

[jon99099]

i have actually found a way to repair the ball and socket that broke/blew out. it's a little time consuming and tedious, but it works a lot better. i just welded a 1/4" hyme joint to the end of the linkage and bolted it to the bottom of the shifter. it took a lot of the slop out and it was really cheap