I don't want this to be a bash Steeda thread. Steeda makes a ton of great stuff.

I want to add to my previous post that my Steeda triax does hit 3rd nicely and it does have a comfortable throw. They also make great shift ***** to top off the triax.

I'm just going to try MGW because I'm curious, I have the means to, and I want something quieter.

 

I have to agree the curiosity is there probably for most of us. I felt the through on an MGW in an S197 just last week and man is it a lot shorter then my Tri-Ax. Unless I found a super deal on a used one, $300 is to much to test out my curiosity.

I had a nice conversation with Hollywood about my Tri-Ax and I'll sum it up here. It's a good shifter for what I use it for, mainly a daily driver. I have not "raced" the car yet meaning the strip or road course but I of course have slammed through the gears and it's fine for me.

My Summary

Shifting is smooth. Was very notchy at first but after breaking in and me adding a little extra grease into it solved that)

Cabin noise is increased but I got used to it fast. Hell the drone from the exhaust is loud enough and the car isn't a Caddy. Of note here, I picked up some Dynamat that is still in my garage as I have gotten lazy but I plan to install it under the console to see how much noise I can eliminate. It also has an annoying squeak going into 5th or reverse. Basically when you have to move the shifter all the way over to the right in that area, it squeaks.

The height is adjustable as well as the position on the handle. It depends on how you mount the shifter arm. With the angle facing away from the dash it will place the arm a little further back from stock. If you angle the arm facing the dash it will be where the stock shifter is.

Can use stock shifter handle. I have the Tri-Ax **** which fits the theme in my interior nicely. I just wish Steeda would make an old school style T-handle to go on it. The handle does get hot in the summer.

It did loosen up on me after about 6 months. The 2 small bolts that go on the long studs loosened up and caused the shifter to slowly feel stiffer and harder to shift. It also developed a creaking noise because it was loose. Figured out it was the two bolts, put some locktite on them and it felt like a new shifter.

Most important item on my Tri-Ax. It passed "The Wife" test. She likes how it shifts and she is the furthest thing from being into cars.

 

Thanks for the feedback. The piece to use the factory nylon bushings was a running change we did implement specifically for NVH reduction. It works as confirmed by Anthony05GT. This piece is standard on all current Tri-Ax shifters. It also makes it easier to shift into 5th and reverse than competitors which someone here stated was an issue with the Pro-5.0. I have also talked to customers with other shifters with the same issue including the "unnamed" shifter

Wish we could have looked at your boot back in the day. We have not revised the boot at all and it really has not been an issue with any of the other ones we have had in the field.

Inside the shifter there should already have been shims to set the spring tension. They also need to be in a specific position to work properly. Wish we could have looked at that too.

We never sit still and so we have continued to fine tune the spring mechanism and make improvements to reduce NVH and improve shift consistency over the years.

Gus

 

Do you have the current design or one of the prior ones? We would like to take a look at it for you and update it to the latest design free of charge if its an older one. The current version does shift and feel great.

 

If you purposely pull up on the shifter there will be able to move it up and down due to the ball and socket design. This is not an issue though when you are shifting back and forth.

The bracket that uses the factory nylon bushings as in my earlier post does reduce NVH and improve shift effort, particularly in 5th and reverse. As far as the binding goes the u-bracket and nylon bushings should have helped that as well. Unfortunately we cant look at that anymore on your car either.

Thanks for your feedback.

 

I've had my tri-ax installed since November 05.

My installation was a nightmare. The bronze busings it came with for the shifter arm were the wrong size, the inner diameter was too small. Good thing I have a machine shop, I bored them out on the lathe to a slip fit. Then I had issues with the nut that holds the bushings on, if you tightened it to spec, the shifter was too hard to move. So I backed the nut off until it felt good then I threadlocked it with loctite.

Then there was the whole issue of 5th gear and reverse being too tight. I solved that again by backing off the bolt on the big donut bushing and bolt that connects to the transmission and securing them with threadlocker again. Very mickey moused in my opinion but it worked. The shifter moved somewhat freely, but after 2.5 years and 50k miles of having the shifter installed, it is still a challenge. I doubt there are not many of these shifters on the road that have as much mileage as mine.

The transmission mount bolt fell out twice and had to be reattached with threadlocker. Not fun being an hour from home and have your shifter disconnect. I managed to make it work.

Over time the shifter squeaked a lot so I had to put white lithium grease on the bronze bushings a few times to quiet it down.

After the car being parked for 2 months this winter in freezing temperatures I took the car out for a spin. The shifter was somewhat frozen in place. Then it was difficult to move. I dunno if it was ice or what. Also the poly bushings I can tell stiffened up considerably and it was almost impossible to get into 5th and reverse. I don't know if the things harden over time or what, they would not flex. After a couple of weeks of driving it now the issues have gone away. For the last 2 winters I did not have this problem.

NVH was a huge problem for me, it seemed like my transmission tunnel was going to explode. I solved this by buying some high density silicone foam and put it between the transmission tunnel and the bracket it bolts to. I think this would have been a much better design if the back end of the shifter was free floating like the stock and Hurst shifers, and not fixed in place with a big donut. IMHO it causes a lot of NVH problems. I am a mechanical engineer so I understand the design of it and its limitations

All the issues aside, I am happy with the feel of the shifter and it takes a beating. The 5th and reverse issue is still somewhat annoying but I am used to it now. I took a peek under my car last year and it's not all shiny anymore, the aluminum has oxidized considerably. It would have been nicer not to have had so many issues getting it dialed in, I must have had to crawl under my car 20 times to fix the issues.

I would be interested in knowing it you can regrease the ball and socket of this thing. Anybody tried it?

Anyways I haven't read any of the other reviews on here yet, but this is my unbiased opinion

 

Dustin, if your car is still put up for the winter and you would like to have it upgraded to current specs to alleviate the 5th/reverse issue contact me. You can email, call, or PM me.

Gus

 

Gus,
I've had mine in since 6/06 and would like to know of any updates you have made for the unit. I don't drive mine a lot - 14,000 miles in 2 1/2 years - because of the traffic so I have experienced some of the problems others have. It is noisy and somtimes clunky when shifting. Thanks.

Chris

 

Gus, when did the change in spec take place? I purchased mine back in October of 2006. I wish this thread was a couple days older, I was just there yesterday having my alignment done.

 

How do I know if I have the updated shifter? I got it in the summer of 2005.

 

Gus;
Don't misunderstand me I still use this shifter and I just hand a couple small issue with it. I dont recall any other shims under the springs but it's been 2 years ago since I made those mods. Since then It's been fine. If you really want to get a good look at the shifter I'm sure we can work something out as the car is still in the garage for the winter.

I can't tell you what kind of shape the boot is in today but I would expect it's in the same shape as when I put the washer (it was actually a kingpin shim) in. I'm going to be taking the transmission out in the spring to replace the clutch I could also take some pictures if you want.

The mods I did to my shifter were not perfect by any means; but they have served there purpose and have gotten rid of the couple complaints I had.

 

The main updates were the U-shaped bracket allowing the use of the O.E. nylon bushing on the linkage and a slight change in the internal shift mechanism.

Does yours use a U-shaped bracket? If it does all that might be different is the internal shift mechanism which we can update for you.

Gus

 

My current bill of materials page unfortunately does not tell me when it was last updated. The best way to tell is to see if your linkage is attached to the shifter by a bolt with brass bushings or a U-shaped bracket with the stock nylon bushings in it.

Gus

 

You most likely have the brass bushing design, but as I dont have exact dates in my bill of materials page only way to tell for sure is to look at how the linkage arm is attached as I have described in a couple of my previous posts.

Gus

 

I remember it well, it's the U-Shaped adapter on mine. What will the updated shift linkage do for me? I think it shifts rather well but that could be because I added a little grease in there. It does and has always squeaked going into 5th or reverse.

 

I'll have to look and get back to you. Thanks.

Chris

 

No worries. If you do want us to take a look at the shifter you can arrange that with me.

Gus

 

In our own experiences with squeaking on a Tri-Ax so far all its been is the rubber isolator between the handle and the lever. With the bolts not tightened enough it allows movement between the parts and it caused a squeak. Doesn't necessarily mean that is what it is but in our past experience that is what I would look at.

If that doesn't do it and you can send the shifter in we can look at it for you.

Gus

 

Mine definately has a brass bushing connecting to the linkage. Would I have to send you the shifter? I hate to be without my car for a couple weeks.

 

indeed

Still not convinced that a bracket will solve all the problems