Front shift rod bush - Teflon

[rlepecha]

A few years ago a member of the forum kindly had a few sample teflon front shift rod bushes made up. Only in this last week have I had chance to try one, I am very surprised by the improvement this has made to the shifting on my bus even through I have not long since replaced all the bushes on my bus.

To give a bit of background; I identified that the plastic bushes available on the market for right at the front of the shift rod, just below the shifter in the cab, were a very sloppy fit. I measured up the relevant items and drafted up a drawing for manufacturing from teflon.

So, back to the present day.... I have not identified a supplier for manufacturing a few of these, but if someone wants to take the idea and run with it; I am happy for you to do so. The drawing I created is attached.
Teflon is a fairly abundant material, and most small manufacturers will no doubt be happy to make you one for a small cost. http://cloud.tapatalk.com/s/5cacf58394ac5/Shift Rod Front Bush.pdf

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[Bluesnailman]

Well, this is an interesting thread.....

I too saw this suggestion some time ago and my friend who runs an engineering company made me a couple in different materials. Where we went wrong was using a plastic one as something to copy! The internal diameter was significantly wrong. I agree with your internal diameter on your drawing having done some measuring

1st one was made of PEAK, but he warned me was brittle, and it was. It had a clip like the off shelf one and it cracked when pushing it into place. Apparently this would be the ideal material and we're debating whether it's worth another try. He did some clever matching to try to stop crack propogation

2nd one is made of carbon flecked teflon and that's what I'm running at the moment. Only problem is that it's fit is a little bit too loose on the shaft. The rest of my linkage is in good order and the gears change nice and smooth. He's going to make me one with a 10.1 I'd and I'd expect that to be the bees knees.

He said a bit of grease would be fine, provided it could be kept free of dirt. If I can't be sure of keeping the dirt out, then I should run it dry

 

[rlepecha]

Well, this is an interesting thread.....

I too saw this suggestion some time ago and my friend who runs an engineering company made me a couple in different materials. Where we went wrong was using a plastic one as something to copy! The internal diameter was significantly wrong. I agree with your internal diameter on your drawing having done some measuring

1st one was made of PEAK, but he warned me was brittle, and it was. It had a clip like the off shelf one and it cracked when pushing it into place. Apparently this would be the ideal material and we're debating whether it's worth another try. He did some clever matching to try to stop crack propogation

2nd one is made of carbon flecked teflon and that's what I'm running at the moment. Only problem is that it's fit is a little bit too loose on the shaft. The rest of my linkage is in good order and the gears change nice and smooth. He's going to make me one with a 10.1 I'd and I'd expect that to be the bees knees.

He said a bit of grease would be fine, provided it could be kept free of dirt. If I can't be sure of keeping the dirt out, then I should run it dry

Excellent, it's good to hear that other people are identifying these issues with the parts available on the market, and trying to come up with alternatives!

I fitted this one dry, and all seems ok at the moment. The one I am using doesn't have any clips holding it in place, but is a interference fit with the shift rod and appears to stay in place fine.

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[Bluesnailman]

I agree, a bit of experimentation is a good idea and great fun. I must post up some of my other experiments, most notably a wiring diagram with fuses in the proper places (front and rear), removing the high current from the dash switches, wipers with variable speed, dual purpose fog/high level brake light, and an ignition system that switches of if the engine bay fire extinguisher lacks pressure (or worse is discharging)

 

[rlepecha]

Sounds good.

I'm currently working on a ambulance fan type equivalent set up for the front vents, using 12v 4" inline blower fans that are readily available and a PWM speed controller. I'll share that once it's done.

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[Happystamps]

I'vw also just changed all my bushes- and yes, the replacement front bush is rubbish (all of them are to be honest!) Have bought some teflon tube to turn down and try Thanks for the inspiration

 

[Happystamps]

So I got excited and 3D printed one out of PLA. I have no deal how long it'll last, but after opening up the hole a little with a 10mm drill bit spun by hand, it fits perfectly. Needs a fair old push to get it into the rod hole, and is secured with araldite. I've ordered one of the moulded jobs as well as a back-up, in case it destroys itself at any point, and if I get time I'll make the teflon one out of tube I bought.

First impressions are- easy enough to fit, moves well (with grease on the pin) and no slop at all. Very pleased with it.

Apologies for the potato quality...

 

[Moseley]

There’s a market here for sure... I’ve just bought a replacement front bush and the manufacturing quality is absolutely rubbish. I will photograph it and post up here (and probably with the supplier also) as I’m sure it’ll be useless at removing the play I currently have. It’s only a cheap part, but if there’s not even an option to pay more for a well-made, well-fitting item, homemade seems to be a great idea!


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[Moseley]

As promised, here is the utter garbage I’ve just received from Coolair.

There is plastic swarf aplenty inside it, and the retaining lip isn’t close to being central. It’ll be interesting to see once I’ve cleaned it up and fitted it as to whether it will take out some or any of the slop that currently exists...

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[starbiscuit]

Why do so many of the VW parts sellers think that everyone only wants to buy cheap tat ?

 

[Moseley]

Interestingly, and following on from the above, I had a whinge to coolair and they apologised, told me to throw that one in the bin and then sent me another. The new one is like night and day in comparison! If you look closely, there appears to be a VW logo on it, and certainly a part number on the other side. I’m intrigued as to how they have both types on the shelf, yet don’t advertise it. Do they just send out the cheap tat and wait for a complaint to roll in? Or maybe they have a fresh supply and are just running down old stocks. Who knows, but I’ll try both just to satisfy my curiosity as to which is better.

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[mike202]

Well done for complaining, feedback is very important to the suppliers I am sure. That new one looks like it would actually do the job !

 

[jkp]

I don't have a 3d printer but would be interested in trying one of these...could anyone on this thread make one for me? I can wire some funds over for materials / postage if so