Shifter Rattle With Newer Manual Transmissions?

[danbrennan]

Just an off-the-wall question. One thing that's always annoyed me with my manual transmission '72 442 and '78 Z28 is the way the shifters rattle at highway speeds. I can get it down some by getting the tires balanced - or new tires altogether - it never, however, goes away completely. But they have the old style linkage shifters - both of them are Hurst shifters, actually - not the newer shifters that mount directly into the transmission. I've driven C5 and C6 Z06s, but just on our test tracks, not for an extended time on a freeway. Are the newer shifters quieter than the old shifters we have in our '70s cars?

 

[Gary S]

My original Hurst shifter on my '70SS has never had any kind of rattles in it. Perhaps the ones Hurst made for GM demanded more than the aftermarket Hurst ones.

 

[BLUE72CAMARO]

The shifter on my t56's have never rattled but they have nylon bushings that the ball end of the shifter goes into.

 

[Dave Nelson]

Factory Hurst on my 70 SS with M20 Muncie no rattles.

 

[tom3]

Lot of those shifters had clips that kept pressure on the arms instead of cotter pins. And the factory usually used plastic bushings - in the linkage that had bushings. High school boys made some money in machine shop making metal bushings to sell. Down the road a few miles and things loosened up, engines started vibrating, and the rattles started.

 

[TheFastForester]

My 78 Z rattles like that as well, I just keep my hand on the shifter most of the time.

 

[kenny77]

If it's a Hurst then put the NYLON bushings in. Yeah, I know the metal ones are better......blah, blah. But look at how the 70-81 factory units used those big rubber bushings in the shifter linkage and shifter arms. They did it for a reason.

 

[1980RS]

Brass bushing in my T-56, no noise at all.

 

[Phil G]

Brass bushing in my T-56, no noise at all.

I always put the metal bushings in my Hurst shifters and never had a rattle. Using the spring type pins. Always put them in during the install. Nylon bushings got "repurposed"...

 

[rebski]

Hurst used to make maybe still does a refurbish kit that had new better clips and bronze replacement bushing. A little powdered graphite on them and the shifts really got slick. A rattle in the shifter is not a common hurst issue. Look for something else.