Standard shift Automatic
 

I know this may sound weird but I want my Auto transmission to stay in the gear I put it in. As in not kick down. And it would be nice to be able to start out in second in low range.

Anyone know if this is possible?

I won my first mud run to day. And I know I could shave quite a bit of time if I could start out in second gear.

did you try searching?

http://www.radesignsproducts.com/Baja.html

That would be sweet!

Wow! That is awesome. Thanks

Exactly what I was wanting.

Didn't know such a thing existed.

yup.

i want to get one eventually but its not really high on the priority list right now, sooooo until then i will be letting the TCU shift

So when you switch to this, do you have to change the way your converter locks up?

Does this thing replace the stock P-R-N-D setup? If so, where is park reverse and neutral on it?

its totally up to you. when you use this shifter, the TCU is basically turned off. you are now shifting with relays wired up to the transmission solenoids. this means you will also need to wire in a lock up switch if you want to use it. you can make a switch to differentiate between the shifter and TCU as well, so you still have automatic option.

to answer your last question, it does not replace PRND setup. the stock shifter would have to be shifted into D for the manual shifting to work.

ok, now that you say that, my question was a pretty dumb one.

I guess a bracket or a box would need to be fabbed up too. Where do you think a good place would be? I can't think of a place that would be accessed easily and still look good.
Where are you putting yours?

i have a column shift MJ which i swapped in a 97+ center console into. which means i have an empty hole where a shifter was supposed to go, if you know what i mean

look further on the website, they make a smaller version of the shifter that more floor shift XJs use. with some searching you can find multiple threads on installs of both their shifters into XJs. I've seen them near the e brake handle as well as on the side of the center console.

And this is why I have a AX-15 manual in my 97. I start in 3rd gear / 4LO and get all the torque I need.

Yes I thought for mud racing a standard would be king. However 75% of the trucks I competed against in my class were standard. And I did pull off the win.

Plus using a clutch on hairy trails is a lot of work, and can be quite scary on technical hills.

I have the rad designs rail shifter. Works good my only complaint is it doesn't slide from gear to gear very smoothly.

If you have a newer xj it will throw a code but there are ways around that.

Can you post a pic of the way you mounted yours?

Yeah I can later tonight or tomorrow I don't have one on my phone.

I do have a pic of how it's wires kind of. I used 2 dpdt switches (one 4pdt would work better). Both switches down is normal operation. Both switches up is manual shift control with the tcu being routed to the 2 clearance lights under the dash, which puts enough of a load on the tcu that it doesn't throw a code.

Attachment 136910

When manually shifting at night you can see the glow from the lights shining on the floor as the turn on and off. Since they are both off in 4th gear it doesn't bother me.

Also know that to hold it in 1st gear going down hill the factory shifter needs to be in 1-2

I just used self tappers

Attachment 136968

Switches


Attachment 136970

That is likely to work loose on you - unless you used backup plates.

I would either:
- Remove the screws, clamp a piece of wood to the inside, and reinstall the screws threading them into the wood.
- Remove the tapping screws, switch to machine screws, use nuts and fender washers inside plastic. Nylon collar locking nuts would be preferred.
- Insert a strip of sheet metal inside the plastic console, then use sheet metal screws to bite through the sheet
- Drill/tap a plate to accept mounting screws.

Either way, using tapping screws into plastic is likely to have the screws work loose as you use the shifter, but it's an easy fix. I'd just take the half-hour (or less, probably) to do the fix before you need to - a shifter is something you don't really want to have move around...

Wow, thats not as bulky as I thought it would have been. It fits nicely. That's a very clean setup, thanks for posting it.

I think I am going to do the same thing. There are a couple of things I need to take are of first but this definitely high on my list.

You Should be able to lock up the torque converter with another switch and it will stay in whichever gear you have it in going down hill

Torque Converter Clutch (TCC) has nothing to do with selecting a gear range - it was originally implemented as a device to improve fuel economy.

The TCC will turn the torque converter from a fluid coupling with about an 85% efficiency to a mechanical coupling with ~100% efficiency. Also, this reduced internal shear friction in the fluid, which reduces operating temperature.

However, it has nothing to do with range selection - it's there for steady-state cruising in gears higher than second.

An override switch can be added to make TCC lockup available in all ranges - just turn the override off on the street, or you'll screw up transmission operation.

Ideally, the transmission control unit can be bypassed and overridden using three toggle switches, to control the three solenoids in the valve body. Two switches will control gear range selection, one controls TCC lockup.

I'd have to check, but a double-pole four-position rotary switch can probably be used for gear range selection as well, as can an array of pressbutton switches (either radio-style switches or with supporting latching electronics.)

I believe these approaches have already been tried, in addition to a joystick-style shifter and the shiftgate shown here.

Kinda cool, I just want a true 1st gear for slow donwhill crawls could care less about controlling high gears.