kugel/lokar shift rod fitment

[lowlyfec10]

those of you with the aftermarket shift rod kit for a 4l60/80/etc....how is the end at the trans positioned to have the best placement with the actual shifter on the column. right now im maxed as far as length goes so it is towards the end of the bracket on the trans side but i noticed the selector is way off on the column.....is this somewhat normal considering i have an 80e? i'm thinking i need to add about another inch of length to the rod to get closer to the bottom of the slotted bracket to help......

[H20cooled]

Good luck, I have the 4l60e in my 68 and I was never able to get the indicator to align right on the column and still keep Park locked out. Park was way off to the door side so when you put it in the other gears it was all off on the indicator by 1 gear. Since I have the Dakota Digital dash I just bought their gear indicator and installed it and then removed the indicator from the column and made a cover for the hole in the column. Now my gauges show me the correct gear.

[Tilt]

The gear indicator is close to the right position on mine. It gets a little farther off as I shift it down through all of the gears. The Lokar kit I bought has a 21" rod (I belive) but they have a longer rod that you can order. Seems like the longer rod is 26". That should let you find the sweet spot on the shifting lever of the trans so your indicator would line up correctly

[dayj1]

Originally Posted by lowlyfec10

those of you with the aftermarket shift rod kit for a 4l60/80/etc....how is the end at the trans positioned to have the best placement with the actual shifter on the column. right now im maxed as far as length goes so it is towards the end of the bracket on the trans side but i noticed the selector is way off on the column.....is this somewhat normal considering i have an 80e? i'm thinking i need to add about another inch of length to the rod to get closer to the bottom of the slotted bracket to help......

I've used the Lokar linkage in several vehicles and I've always been able to get it to work correctly. It's a good product, but the instructions suck. There are 3 adjustments and it always helped me to make them in this order:

1) The length of the rod. This just determines where the gearshift indicator lands on the column. Lengthening the rod moves the indicator to the left and shortening it moves the indicator to the right. The rod length will move the pointer an equal amount for ALL gears.

2) The position of the linkage rod in the transmission arm. Sliding the linkage further away from the pivot point increases the distance between gears and sliding toward the pivot decreases the distance between gears. This adjustment affects the distance between all the gears equally.

3) The clocking of the transmission arm on the transmission selector shaft. The instructions say to start at 8:00, which works great for cars, but I've found that it works better at 9:00 to 9:30 on the '67-'72 trucks. This adjustment is what you want to change if the distance isn't the same between all your gears (i.e. the adjustment is better/worse at one end or the other of the gear selection).

Each of the adjustments above affect each other to some extent and you''ll have to go through them several times. It really helps to have someone in the cab checking your changes while you make adjustments under the truck.

[ls1nova71]

And whatever you do, dont run the exhaust first. I found out the hard way. I built the whole rolling chassis complete with exhaust, then bought the Lokar kit that Doug Thorley says to use with their headers only to find out I put the pipe right where the lever on the transmission needs to go to. Ended up modifying the stock linkage and now have a $70 paper weight in the garage.

[Hart_Rod]

Originally Posted by dayj1

I've used the Lokar linkage in several vehicles and I've always been able to get it to work correctly. It's a good product, but the instructions suck. There are 3 adjustments and it always helped me to make them in this order:

1) The length of the rod. This just determines where the gearshift indicator lands on the column. Lengthening the rod moves the indicator to the left and shortening it moves the indicator to the right. The rod length will move the pointer an equal amount for ALL gears.

2) The position of the linkage rod in the transmission arm. Sliding the linkage further away from the pivot point increases the distance between gears and sliding toward the pivot decreases the distance between gears. This adjustment affects the distance between all the gears equally.

3) The clocking of the transmission arm on the transmission selector shaft. The instructions say to start at 8:00, which works great for cars, but I've found that it works better at 9:00 to 9:30 on the '67-'72 trucks. This adjustment is what you want to change if the distance isn't the same between all your gears (i.e. the adjustment is better/worse at one end or the other of the gear selection).

Each of the adjustments above affect each other to some extent and you''ll have to go through them several times. It really helps to have someone in the cab checking your changes while you make adjustments under the truck.

Great advice as always Jonathan!!!