Column Gear Shift Detent

[squaredeal91]

I think it varies depending on the column application and or generation. My 78 column has the detents.

 

[Grit dog]

That's my recollection, too. The column has Park and Neutral, and then any forward drive gear. All the drive gears are differentiated by the rooster comb in the transmission.

In the assembly plant we would set the column and trans in N and then tighten down the "barrel" on the shift rod. That way any error in the adjustment that would manifest itself at the end of travel was split in half.

K

And for the rest of the crowd, that principle applies to many things.
If you halve the constraints, you halve the potential for error.

 

[Bennyt]

That's my recollection, too. The column has Park and Neutral, and then any forward drive gear. All the drive gears are differentiated by the rooster comb in the transmission.

In the assembly plant we would set the column and trans in N and then tighten down the "barrel" on the shift rod. That way any error in the adjustment that would manifest itself at the end of travel was split in half.

K

Good info. I think I always set in D and tighten it but really can't recall. I'll do it in N going forward

 

[Bennyt]

Both of my trucks have 700r4's and no detent was changed and they work fine. I just swapped the indicators. I had one column rebuilt and 99% sure they said they were the same detents. Only power glides require a different detent IIRC.

 

[AuroraGirl]

so i did some more googling,, lots of talk of using the right neutral switch , replacing the 3 speed for a 4 speed one
And lots of talk about a slightly shorter rod from the column to the transmission, but im not familiar on that, i like the couple years of simplicity when they went to cable but before the new gen of columns came out.

Which if you knew what you were doing you definitely could do. So nice to just pull a plastic clip , rotate trans lever to neutral, put the column in the neutral **detent** lol , the only way to find the detent is by pushing the shift lever forward while moving it through the range

I can get that behavior in my 77 electra, 90 olds 88. But I dont have a good condition auto column to try on squares
I could try my dads 75 but hed need to find me the key

When pushing the shifter forward, and moving the shifter upwards at the same time, the last detent you will stop on against a "stop" is the very end of neutral , it requires a large letting off of the lever to get up into reverse when doing what im talking about, making it the absolute "proper" spot as far as the column cares

 

[MMostowyk]

I solved this one when I bought a replacement column from a suburban that had a 4 speed trans.
It’s easier now. All you need is the display window that shows the gears.
Not sure if you need to replace the collar that contains the display. I get my parts from the column guys in Texas. They have it all.

 

[Galane]

I put a 700r4 in a 1982. I installed the 4 speed indicator and a tilt column that supposedly came from a Suburban with 700r4. If I adjust things so Neutral is right, it doesn't go far enough to go into Park or 1st. If I adjust it for Park then all the other detents in the column are off and it won't move far enough to go into 1st. If I adjust it for 1st then it's all wrong the other way. Setting it to work in Park then relying only on the detent and spring in the transmission is not how I want to have it set up!

I assume the Suburban the column was pulled from had a 700r4 but not as original equipment. Looks to me like the hole in the side of the column where the shift arm sticks out isn't wide enough for the wider range of motion required, and the shift gate in the column isn't correct either.

It would be nice if some company would make a 4 speed conversion kit and modification instructions to make the 1980's 3 speed columns work with a 700r4. Original columns for the 700r4 are essentially unobtainable. They're the first part to get taken when a 1982+ truck comes into a junkyard with an original 700r4, right up there with 454 fuel injection stuff for converting old motorhomes.

There are conversion kits for columns for the years predating the existence of the 700r4, so why not for 1982 and later columns?

 

[Scott91370]

I solved this one when I bought a replacement column from a suburban that had a 4 speed trans.
It’s easier now. All you need is the display window that shows the gears.
Not sure if you need to replace the collar that contains the display. I get my parts from the column guys in Texas. They have it all.

I replaced my 3 speed with a 4 speed and only needed the correct dash 'display' not the entire collar. IIRC it was only 2 screws to swap it. The actual detents are on the transmission.