Looking at buying a short throw shifter but im not really sure whats the best brand to get? I know i have seen over and over again people seem to think the B&M is the best but they are discontinued and i am not much of an ebay person. Found one for sale thats a ralco after doing some shopping around they seem like a much cheaper alternative but i also know you get what you pay for. Would i be foolish to go with the ralco?
I would go b&m Like you said even if it meant buying used.
I just installed a Ralco short shifter today. I am less than impressed, but it will do the job for now. They didnt provide a c-clip/snap ring for the one pivot and the actual throw isnt changed. I should have gotten a B&M years ago.
its an old concept. time for something new to take the reigns. - Z yaaaa
Good to know, thanks guys i really was debating going with the ralco because of price but if they are that much worse i wont do it. I have also heard nothing but good things about the B&M's. Theres also a guy on here making his own not sure when hes gonna be ready for a GP but since i dont have the money right now ill just save up and wait for him or buy a used B&M. Any idea why they stopped making the B&M? it seems like a lot of people on here anyway have them they must have been a good seller.
With looking at the pic of the ebay shifters and the Ralco the only difference i see is a weighted metal shift knob that says "Ralco" on it. I wouldnt be surprised if Ralco is getting them from the same suppler and just tossing in a shift knob. The weight is nice, but i hate how it looks. So i tossed the stock knob back on for now.
its an old concept. time for something new to take the reigns. - Z yaaaa
I recently installed a ralco shifter and haven't had any issues. I love it. I definitely do notice a reduction in the throw, but I have no idea how it compares to the B&M. I did a lot of research before I bought mine and found a lot of crap about B&M, stuff like rattling and bad o rings. I figured that at any rate, the ralco couldn't be any worse. Plus, with B&M being 4 times the cost, I went with the ralco. Both B&M and Ralco claim to have a 40% throw reduction, but all I know is if I paid for the B&M, I would not feel like a got any value for my money. I would suggest the Ralco for those reasons.
Tinkles wrote:I just installed a Ralco short shifter today. I am less than impressed, but it will do the job for now. They didnt provide a c-clip/snap ring for the one pivot and the actual throw isnt changed. I should have gotten a B&M years ago.
This makes no sense at all, I bought a Ralco shifter, now granted it didn't come with a whole bunch of extra parts but it did come with everything I needed to replace my old shifter, and the throw is much improved and shorter over stock. The B&M shifter is great from what I hear but you cant beat the ralco for the price. I payed 70 shipped for mine and has been working perfect ever since. and NO I didnt get it off of eGay.
CarDomain:
http://www.cardomain.com/ride/3828276
If you understood how a true short throw shifter works then it would make perfect sense. To shorten the throw of the shifter you need to raise the pivot up on the shaft. The Ralco has the same throw as the stock shifter(the pivot is in the same location), but because it is not as tall as the stocker the shift knob travel is reduced. If you cut and thread your stock shifter you will get the same effect but with better quality.
its an old concept. time for something new to take the reigns. - Z yaaaa
Tinkles wrote:If you understood how a true short throw shifter works then it would make perfect sense. To shorten the throw of the shifter you need to raise the pivot up on the shaft. The Ralco has the same throw as the stock shifter(the pivot is in the same location), but because it is not as tall as the stocker the shift knob travel is reduced. If you cut and thread your stock shifter you will get the same effect but with better quality.
I guess the thing I notice the most about mine is a tighter gear box, more than shorter throws. I will agree with you there. I had cut the shifter extremely short on my old cav and it didn't compare to this one. A B&M is probably better, but I agree with Fashow69 when he says for the price, you can't beat what you are getting.
