Critique/comments on TWM short shifter
10-11-2009, 12:46 AM
#1
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 05-06-2008
Location: Over here
Posts: 1,076
Critique/comments on TWM short shifter
After seeing TWM's Back to School sale post here, I had a momentary compulsion and ordered a short shifter, base bushing kit, and flat black knob--
HHR SS Short Shifter (4507) and Base Bushings (4815) (Flat Black HHR SS Knob )
$289.80 including shipping
Kit arrived in reasonable time, and was well packaged. Instruction book was thorough, included photos, and pointed me to their website, where I was able to download a PDF and view scalable larger color photos. The kit did not come with required white lithium grease. A single-use tube would have been appropriate for such an expensive kit.
Following instructions, the installation was straightforward and took less than an hour.
A few issues/problems--
1. While prying ever so gently on the shifter cable clip, the gray part that locks the cable in place broke (see image from instruction sheet below). Without this part able to be locked down, the entire shifter mechanism is useless (as in, you cannot operate the car!). I currently have a cable tie wrapped around the piece, which locks it in place. It's probably as strong as the GM part that broke. GM did a crappy "let's save $1.87" job on this design... TWM should design and offer something that replaces everything from the short shifter's lower pivot ball, all the way to the cable end.
2. For the ~ $70 extra that I paid for a flat black shifter knob, I would have thought the reverse lockout would have also been black anodized (GM even thought to make their factory reverse lockout black). TWM didn't. So I've now got this blingety shiny silver lockout button and a flat black knob. Frankly, it's hideous.
3. No matter what "adjusting" I did on the cable, the reverse lockout never managed to do as documented-- "When placed in reverse, the tab on the passenger side of the reverse lockout mechanism should hook on to the black plastic tab on the shift assembly keeping the shifter from moving from reverse." And the slap to 5th gear allows the shifter to move beyond the gate to hit 5th. To its credit, the reverse lockout does keep me out of reverse unless I pull up on the button.
4. The optional base bushing set is an exercise in unnecessary extravagence. The $24 kit includes 4 machined "washers" and 4 standard off-the-shelf washers. These replace the stock bushed washers and rubber grommets. A quick trip to the hardware store with one of the bushed washers in hand, and you could spend less than $2 for a set of metal bushings that would serve the same purpose as the machined aluminum parts. Or, if you didn't want to fork out the $2, you could simply stack a couple of regular washers under the shifter base and be out less than $0.50. This all assumes that swapping the bushed washers and rubber grommets for solid mounts actually adds any value... for the sake of argument, I'll assume it does. However, it might give you more satisfaction to run a $20 bill through a shredder just to see it slice up your money, than to spend it on the bushing kit.
While I understand the price based on materials and parts manufacturing costs, I don't believe this kit offers any real performance value, and was certainly not worth the cost.
/One man's opinion
.
HHR SS Short Shifter (4507) and Base Bushings (4815) (Flat Black HHR SS Knob )
$289.80 including shipping
Kit arrived in reasonable time, and was well packaged. Instruction book was thorough, included photos, and pointed me to their website, where I was able to download a PDF and view scalable larger color photos. The kit did not come with required white lithium grease. A single-use tube would have been appropriate for such an expensive kit.
Following instructions, the installation was straightforward and took less than an hour.
A few issues/problems--
1. While prying ever so gently on the shifter cable clip, the gray part that locks the cable in place broke (see image from instruction sheet below). Without this part able to be locked down, the entire shifter mechanism is useless (as in, you cannot operate the car!). I currently have a cable tie wrapped around the piece, which locks it in place. It's probably as strong as the GM part that broke. GM did a crappy "let's save $1.87" job on this design... TWM should design and offer something that replaces everything from the short shifter's lower pivot ball, all the way to the cable end.
2. For the ~ $70 extra that I paid for a flat black shifter knob, I would have thought the reverse lockout would have also been black anodized (GM even thought to make their factory reverse lockout black). TWM didn't. So I've now got this blingety shiny silver lockout button and a flat black knob. Frankly, it's hideous.
3. No matter what "adjusting" I did on the cable, the reverse lockout never managed to do as documented-- "When placed in reverse, the tab on the passenger side of the reverse lockout mechanism should hook on to the black plastic tab on the shift assembly keeping the shifter from moving from reverse." And the slap to 5th gear allows the shifter to move beyond the gate to hit 5th. To its credit, the reverse lockout does keep me out of reverse unless I pull up on the button.
4. The optional base bushing set is an exercise in unnecessary extravagence. The $24 kit includes 4 machined "washers" and 4 standard off-the-shelf washers. These replace the stock bushed washers and rubber grommets. A quick trip to the hardware store with one of the bushed washers in hand, and you could spend less than $2 for a set of metal bushings that would serve the same purpose as the machined aluminum parts. Or, if you didn't want to fork out the $2, you could simply stack a couple of regular washers under the shifter base and be out less than $0.50. This all assumes that swapping the bushed washers and rubber grommets for solid mounts actually adds any value... for the sake of argument, I'll assume it does. However, it might give you more satisfaction to run a $20 bill through a shredder just to see it slice up your money, than to spend it on the bushing kit.
While I understand the price based on materials and parts manufacturing costs, I don't believe this kit offers any real performance value, and was certainly not worth the cost.
/One man's opinion
.
10-11-2009, 05:26 AM
#2
Senior Member
Join Date: 06-26-2008
Location: N.W. Burbs Chicago
Posts: 4,152
The B&M short shifter i installed came with the grease, black reverse lockout, machined washers, was an easy install, and was $ 167.00 But it looks like a $300 shifter, and works perfect.
Pics in my gallery
Pics in my gallery
10-11-2009, 12:13 PM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: 11-27-2007
Location: Austin, Texas
Posts: 1,115
Personally, I am very happy with the quality and performance of my TWM setup. It was a bit pricey, but I think that the market is fairly small and the compensation for R&D and skilled labor is fair IMHO. As far as your clip breaking, I have had mine uncoupled at least 5 times dialing in the adjustment when I first installed the shifter, so I bet yours was damaged or faulty as delivered from Chevy. As far as the aluminum vs black looking "hideous" looks fine to me, but certainly we all have different tastes. Photo below since you did not have one. Good luck with your repair, and once you drive with it a while I bet your satisfaction improves.
10-11-2009, 01:11 PM
#5
New Member
Join Date: 04-06-2009
Location: West Lafayette, IN
Posts: 15
I also had the short shifter installed with the base bushing and black shift knob. After installation, shifting into gear, especially 3rd and 5th, was more difficult and required more strength and effort than before. After shifting for a long duration, my shoulder starts to ache and pain. This is not to say that it was due to the TWM shifter, because the rough shifting also occurred original shifter, but the shorter shifter lets you feel the shifting more, including any imperfection in the original setup. I was wondering if anyone else experienced similar shifting experience or if this is normal? The car is perfect for me in all other aspects, except for this rough shifting. Please let provide advice if anyone has suggestion on how to smooth the shifting? Would replacing the clutch resolve this problem? Thanks for any advice.
10-11-2009, 08:21 PM
#6
Senior Member
Join Date: 08-16-2009
Location: South
Posts: 751
some pics in my gallery
10-13-2009, 02:03 PM
#9
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: 05-06-2008
Location: Over here
Posts: 1,076
From an aesthetic perspective, I would have expected a flat black knob to give me a flat black "product." I was wrong. It just means that the top of the extremely shiny stick is flat black... 2 very contrasting colors and sheens. Something that I think others should know from my experience in case they have similar expectations that I had.
Orthogonal to workmanship, their design is heavy-handed for what you end up with in the "system." It's a very heavily designed "link" in a weak chain. As I also mentioned in my original write-up, I strongly urge them to round out the product into a full solution by designing something to get from the bottom pivot to the cable. This might be as "simple" as a small aluminum block that's split down the middle, with ball half-sockets on each piece, and threaded half-barrels on each piece, with hardware to clamp/screw the 2 together. This would get rid of another weak link in the system... thus adding value to the shifter itself.
No pics because the dash area is still in pieces (for various reasons).
