CobraMarty

Here is one of my original threads with what I did.

CLICK HERE

Charley3

What am I looking at here?

Charley3

Thanks. I'll check it out for sure.

CobraMarty

That was one of the early designs of the Tiptronic controller, BrettM or Kevin Fletcher.

Charley3

My thumb is messed up with arthritis and past injury. I can easily flip toggle switches with my fingers, but a rotary dial switch requires a thumb to easily shift it. So I've decided the Montana Fab shifter isn't for me.

Thanks for the info though.

CobraMarty

I would like to see a clean Winters Shifter install that doesn't look all hacked up. Most all remove the stock center console and build from there. No cleen stock appearance. They are usually used in full on Crawlers, Jeepspeed or race vehicles. Most Don't keep the TCU and the auto feature.

To make the RaDesigns Winters Shifter work with keeping the TCU for auto function will require a switch and resistors to keep from setting a CEL. It can be done but seems like a whole lot of effort and money for something that is not really needed unless hardcore wheeling or race vehicle.
If you are having a problem with the trans shifting 1-2, use low range and crawl slower. Shifting into 1-2 and low range will solve 99% of any shifting issues.

Charley3

Offroad I would be like to conveniently control both 1 & 2. I might sometimes want to start in 2 (and 4-low) and keep it there for when mudding or on some trails.

However, my main purpose isn't offroad. It's on mountain roads.

In the West we have a different concept of what a mountain is. Our unnamed hills wiould be called mountains back East, and we have a ton of unnamed hills and even unnamed mountains (plus the named ones) in the Costal Range and the larger Cascade Range.

I live on the lowlands sandwiched between those two ranges. Any drive N or S is level or only slight hills. Any drive W or E is over mountains. That's why I regeared to 3.73 for 30" tires (and like it). On mountain state and Interstate highways pulling it into 3rd works fine.

However, on rural mountain highways with speed limits of 35 to 45 and STEEP it would be really nice to shift into 2nd and leave it there going up or down the hill. On Winter roads it would be nice to be able to start in 2nd gear (when a reasonably level road is slick).

A Rad Winters shifter setup would be ideal for mountain roads. However, it does sound like a lot of work and expense. Montana Fab shifter is good for offroad, but onroad it's not ideal because on mountain roads I'd like control of 1, 2, and 3 with easy-quick shifting between them. With Rad Winters I'd only have to shift one stick. With Montana Fab I have to shift two things. The added distraction of two shifts could be dangerous on a narrow two lane mountain road.

Even so I might just get a Montana Fab setup because it's cheap and easy to do, would be an improvment over stock setup when I need 2nd, and MF lights up at night and so does stock shifter. The RW shifter does not light up at night, which might make night shifting difficult (and a dangerous distraction trying to shift at night on a narrow windy mountain road).

The best solution is your solution Marty, IMO. Using stock shifter (and a switch to go between manual vs auto). I like that better than Winters because stock shifter is lighted at night.

CobraMarty

Charley3

Is that a diagram of your shifter mod with toggle switch that uses stock shifter? I'm not an electronics fellow.

My friend who works at local transmission shop as their chief tech is a Toyota wheeler and I just learned he was an electronics expert in the military. He understands wiring and is good at sodering, etc. So maybe he could read your diagram and implement it.

I'm now thinking that with good instructions and diagrams from you, my friend could do it.

00t444e

What if I wanted to do just a torque converter lockup switch? I did one on my truck when it was an auto and all you had to do was tap a wire and ground it with a switch.

Charley3

I'm no expert on that and I haven't done it myself, but I've seen threads on it. It sounded pretty easy to do.

CobraMarty

Not mine, just a general diagram for using switchs and RAD shifter.

Just need to supply 12+ to TC solenoid to lock it up. Don't forget that you would have to UN-lock it when coming to a stop.