Gaging interest in resurrecting the Shiftster

[Jim Oaks]

I have one. I used it when I bought a 2000 Ford Ranger 4x4 that was stuck in 4LO. I negotiated the price and then pulled the shift motor, installed the shiftster, and drove it home. That was about 10-years ago.

The only real issue I had was that the factory bolts were too long for the Shiftster (photo above). You can see in the photo below how tall (thick) the base is that the factory bolts go through to hold the motor. That's something that you need to account for. You don't want the thing disengaging from the selector while you're driving down the road.

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Iirc, I paid us$50 in 2010. So today 100 isn't out of line.

 

[racsan]

Hello, yes I do work at a place that makes sand cores for foundries, most of the sand cores are cylindrical that we make. Not any way I could assist in this, there would be so much r&d, tooling, then need a foundry that would work with small orders, $100 for a part that’s already out there seems like a good deal, and lot less headaches.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Hello, yes I do work at a place that makes sand cores for foundries, most of the sand cores are cylindrical that we make. Not any way I could assist in this, there would be so much r&d, tooling, then need a foundry that would work with small orders, $100 for a part that’s already out there seems like a good deal, and lot less headaches.

Never hurts to ask, sometimes the answer is expected and sometimes it’s a surprise. Thanks for taking a minute to explain.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

Talked to the machine shop today. There is good news, and some not so good news.

The good news is that it's not a big deal to make. The new version of the Shiftster, now known as the 'ShiftHappens,' will be a bit different than the original - current design revision will have a one piece CNC cut handle and rotor shaft all made from aluminum. Doing it this way will cut down on final assembly on my end, and hopefully lead to increased durability, etc. Neutral detent will be a feature as well. Still the same idea with a baseplate and spring loaded knob for locking in the correct position. Current plan is to ship as a finished unit with three bolts so that the swap is simple and it can be carried as a kit. Might include a convenient pouch, might not depending on cost.

The 'neutral' news is that increases in material costs and using all american parts and labor is going to lead to a slightly higher price point, around $129 per unit. I can probably get that lower, but will have to sacrifice the "Made in USA" stamp, which I'm not sure I'm willing to do.

The not so good news is that they want to do an initial run of 100-150 units. Not sure if the market is there for them. Unknown.

Comments appreciated.

 

[fastpakr]

How strong do the parts need to be? Just curious if there are any filaments that might be adequate so it could be 3d printed at a much lower production volume.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

How strong do the parts need to be? Just curious if there are any filaments that might be adequate so it could be 3d printed at a much lower production volume.

I mean, my understanding is that there is a pattern to 3d print a knob but it’s not something like the Shiftster, it’s just a knob so you can get 2wd or 4-low. So technically it could be printed if someone did up the CAD work.

 

[racsan]

I wondered about 3-d printing on this project myself, we use 3-d printed parts on some of our fixtures at work.

 

[lil_Blue_Ford]

Talked to the machine shop today. There is good news, and some not so good news.

The good news is that it's not a big deal to make. The new version of the Shiftster, now known as the 'ShiftHappens,' will be a bit different than the original - current design revision will have a one piece CNC cut handle and rotor shaft all made from aluminum. Doing it this way will cut down on final assembly on my end, and hopefully lead to increased durability, etc. Neutral detent will be a feature as well. Still the same idea with a baseplate and spring loaded knob for locking in the correct position. Current plan is to ship as a finished unit with three bolts so that the swap is simple and it can be carried as a kit. Might include a convenient pouch, might not depending on cost.

The 'neutral' news is that increases in material costs and using all american parts and labor is going to lead to a slightly higher price point, around $129 per unit. I can probably get that lower, but will have to sacrifice the "Made in USA" stamp, which I'm not sure I'm willing to do.

The not so good news is that they want to do an initial run of 100-150 units. Not sure if the market is there for them. Unknown.

Comments appreciated.

I don’t know when I’ll have the money for one, but if this did happen, I’d take one.

 

[Jim Oaks]

I thought someone posted a file here for a shiftster type handle. Have to do a search.

The price point seems fair, but that's a lot of pieces to order. You might be sitting on those for a while.

I'm curious about the 3D printing. This is one of those things you carry in case the module goes out and you're stuck in 4WD and need to get it home. Kind of like a little temporary spare tire. It will get you where you need to go, but you shouldn't be driving around on it forever.

A 3D ShiftHappens just has to be strong enough to turn the shaft and fork to shift the t-case without cracking.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

100-150 will take forever and three days to move.

 

[97RangerXLT]

I think that the next step would be to see if the knob can be 3d printed and still be durable. After that , maybe start a "Who is committed to buy one" thread to see how many will sell. I would say that that is quite a bit of inventory to move.

Another thought.. what is the feasability of creating an insert/ knob that goes in place of the actual motor but uses the existing shift motor mechanicals? it would not be as plug and play and likely the person using it would have to turn the knob quite a bit (maybe have a 1/4" shaft to hook a cordless screwdriver into it) but this might cut down on the manufacturing process or at least allow a standard pre made knob.

a few thoughts anyways.

even at 150, I would be interested, but it would be pretty hard to scrape up

AJ

 

[Roert42]

If you could figure out a list of all the types of trucks it would work in, I’m sure you could move 150 of them in a year or so. Would have to list them online somewhere, like Amazon or whatever.

Could probably sell some to the Affordable Off Road guy or have him list them on his website. I think he’s based out of central Pa.

 

[PetroleumJunkie412]

If you could figure out a list of all the types of trucks it would work in, I’m sure you could move 150 of them in a year or so. Would have to list them online somewhere, like Amazon or whatever.

Could probably sell some to the Affordable Off Road guy or have him list them on his website. I think he’s based out of central Pa.

Sitting here reviewing what the margins look like selling on bezosmart. I've sold on ebay for 10+ years, so very familiar with that one. Their margins SUCK now.

Affordable offroad guy is a good idea, didn't think of that.

 

[JoshT]

Another thing to consider is that it doesn't all have to be made from aluminum. How much force/stress will the unit actually be seeing? You're using it to turn a shaft, after that the only forces applied that I can imagine would be if you bounce it off a rock or something. If this is the backup plan to get home it probably shouldn't be encountering too many hard objects like that. Even there with where I'm mentally picturing the shiftster to be located, anything would have to get past the transfer case itself to hit the unit.

I can understand wanting the plate for indexing so that you can be certain of having it in 2, N, 4hi, or 4lo, but that seems to be it's main purpose aside from holding the knob in place. The plate itself should probably be metal considering that you're bolting it up to the t-case, and likely to be a fair bit of vibration there. That said, it should be a fairly simple object to machine. It could probably be designed as flat plate with a few mounting and indexing holes, maybe a couple of engravings to show the position.

Isn't the shaft in the shift motor plastic, been a while since I looked at one? All it needs to do is rotate the shaft on the t-case, that shaft can be turned by hand if you can get a grip on it as evidenced by the original shiftster. We use a pair of pliers in the field because we can't get a grip on it, not because we need the extra leverage to turn it. Maybe a metal sleeve to reenforce the plastic shaft where it mates with the transfer case? Just to help prevent cracking and spreading. Might need a little more consideration to design than that, but seems to me like it could be fairly easily 3D printed, or maybe machined from something like Delrin for less cost than aluminum.

The knob shouldn't be a problem to 3D print, be a lot less waste than CNC from aluminum. The issue with CNC, depending on the equipment, is machine setup. They want enough production to justify configuring the machine for the job, which means large batches. With 3D printing, once the initial design work is done, upload the file to the printer, load the correct filament, and print. No major work to be done on switch over, so smaller batches souldn't be a problem. There are some very strong materials out there these days.