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Gen III with TH400, what style shifters are you using

3K views 22 replies 17 participants last post by  rajincajingt 
#1 ·
A little about my rig... It was once a 97 TJ, for quite a few years I've been running a 1978 HP 60 front with 10.25 rear with the old 4.0 & 32RH 3 speed auto. This last winter swapped over to a 5.3, TH400 with the 231j transfer case still. Of course I went through Novak for a lot of this. They highly recommended a Lokar cable shifter for my TH400 & to be honest I don't like it.
The cable is about 40" long so I have to route the cable over the top of the transfer case, around the back & underneath. The guys at Novak say that's how they're installing them but I think its a shitty design. I found out the hard way that any time I lower my skidplate I have to unhook the cable or it pulls apart, plus its really stiff down shifting manually to 2 & 1, vise versa going back up.
What other shifter options have people been using with the gen III engines & TH400? Linkage? Cable? What's been working for you guys?
 
#12 ·
i used a junkyard shifter out of like a 89 style camaro. cheep and bolts right to your trans pan.

slight variation as i have a s10 and a 700r4 transmission but i would think it would work just the same
I've got both ways, on my YJ and TJ when I installed a th400 in each rig. On the YJ, used a Kia Sephia shifter (three speed auto), and it worked perfect, other than a little creativity with the mounting. Cost, less than $20. On the TJ, used the Winters. Installed it thru the floor, in the hole where the original 5 speed shifter used to be. It's mounted flush with the floor, using some simple aluminum angle. Still easily in reach of the hand while strapped into the seats, although I did extend the shifters knob an inch or two.
 
#3 ·
i used a junkyard shifter out of like a 89 style camaro. cheep and bolts right to your trans pan.

slight variation as i have a s10 and a 700r4 transmission but i would think it would work just the same
 
#4 ·
Thanks for the quick responses. Blue torch I'm curious about the winters, is there any info you can give as far as fastening the shifter end of the cable to the underside of the body? That's where my Lokar cable has pulled apart a couple of times.
Is there any allocation for a reverse light switch in the shifter?

abig84, is that cable or a linkage setup? I'm starting to lean towards a simple linkage setup after my previous problems with this cable

I've seen a the Lokar linkage setup where the shifter mounts to the top of the transmission housing but from what I've heard it has a long throw to it & requires a huge hole in the floor. I'm kinda liking the look of that winters design though
 
#7 ·
We use cush clamps to hold the cable up out of the way . use a 1/4-20 bolt to secure it . it comes with the brackets to bolt to transmission pan bolts and has the cable mount to hold cable in the correct spot, along with the shift arm for transmission end.

here is the link to all they offer for the shifters and other switch mounts and buttons.

http://www.wintersperformance.com/Automatic Transmission Catalog.pdf
 
#5 ·
#14 ·
I have a used winters shifter with new trans mounting hardware. it came off my 4L60E and just changed the gate on it to work. I'm building a new buggy so I wanted a nice clean looking shifter. 100$ plus the ride. I'll adjust the cable and get it all set up so you just have to slap it in. FWIW Goatbuilt has a great mount for these as well. Its what I'm running and placement is very nice.
 
#17 ·
I have a Winters gate shifter currently on my th400 with full manual reverse valve body and like it. 1st and Reverse are back to back. In my old rig with a standard valve body th400 I had a modified Pro Stick and liked it as well. Before the Pro Stick I had a Winters and when I was all the way down in 1st and had to panic reverse it was a row-fest to get back to Reverse. IMO if you are not a reverse valve body either cut out all the gates in the Winters or just do the modded Pro Stick so you can bang reverse from any gear.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Bumping an old thread of mine. I still have the Junk Lokar shifter & have been waiting for an excuse to rip it out & get the Winters. Well I just found the excuse last night when I installed an aluminum B&M trans pan & my cable bracket will not work with the new pan. Any offset I make will put the bracket into my driveshaft.
So the question I have is if any of you have used the Winters on the th400 while using the aluminum B&M pan. From what I can see the bracket that bolts to the pan is very different than Lokar's, looks like it might work better.
This is the deciding factor before I make a phone call
 
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