Ideas about my new shifter

[ThatOneGuy]

So as you guys know I built a new transfer case linkage to use my 1350 on an m50d. One thing I have noticed is without the stock gated shifter, it feels like the gear detents on the transfercase are unsuited to keep the shifter in place. Now am I just being overly cautious, should I post a video to show you guys what I mean. I do have an idea for a system to lock it into each gear, however it seams on paper that it could be a failure point. Unless it was built quite sturdy greased and sealed

 

[ThatOneGuy]

My drawing and hand writing suck I know. Putting my hand through a window and damaging nerves in my writing hand was a great idea not!!!. Anyway if you need a better explanation, have any thoughts on my design. I need a project to keep me busy my wife got covid from her brother we are OK she was sick for a few days but I cant go to work for 10 days.

 

[RonD]

So the handle is not physically attach to the shift rod arm?

I can see how it would push it down, but..........
I can't visualize how it can pull the shift rod arm back up, the big washer is hiding it

Photo here: https://www.explorerforum.com/forums/attachments/nba0qss-jpg.416762/

Glad to hear/read the Covid wasn't too bad

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Alright after dinner I'll take some more detailed pics of the set up. Been working on making this, don't hate too much I definitely won't be selling my work as a fabricator. However it's good enough for the girl I go out with lol.

 

[85_Ranger4x4]

No idea what you got going on in your last pictures but with the stick shifter there are only stops so you don't pull it back too far. There is nothing to actually assist the detents to hold it in position.

With my factory original lever I had to feel for the detent, shifting to the stop in 4hi would let the lever go back too far.

 

[ThatOneGuy]

Ok so to clear things up the shifter I made seams to have too much weight. So with it being built as a better lever, than the more up and down design from stock. It feels like any significant bump could cause the transfercase to shift, due to the internal detents being fairly insignificant. First 3 pics show how big a difference there is.

The benefits to my design are that the shifter ends up in the correct location next to the transmission shifter instead of being several inches behind which would have put it under the bench seat, shown in 3rd pic. I'm not sure how you guys have gotten around that putting an m50d in a 1st gen, with a stock transfercase shifter.
So I started thinking about making my own auxiliary shift lock. My first thoughts were a ratcheting system, however space constraints, and total shift throw didn't leave me with many good ideas. Than I moved on to the next idea of a spring loaded lock pin actuated by a bicycle brake cable, however again the limited shift throw didn't leave enough space for all 4 detents in a single arc. 2hi 4 hi and neutral are super close. So was born a terrible 12 am drawing of a half thought out dual spring loaded lock pin system, that is shown in the first post. Than today I built it.

The first of the above pics is the spring loaded pins, the second showes where on the shifter they will sit, there will be a plate mounted to the transmision with detent holes, the top pin will be 2hi, and neutral, the second pin will be 4hi and 4 low. This configuration allows proper spacing for each detent hole for a very secure shift lock. Only one spring loaded pin will actually be actively engaged in any given gear. Long term this could cause wear issues due to pins dragging against the plate, however with how infrequently the shifter is moved it would be a long time out. This last pic shows with the green wire approximately how the bike brake cable will run from the shifter to the actuator for the pins. Once I'm happy with the full assembly, I will install a zert fitting, and fully box in all the moving parts and fill with grease that way it will be protected from debris, and rust.