Shift Boots for Both Shifters

General discussion about our beloved Tercel 4WD cars
Post Reply
jimijuma
Member
Posts: 33
Joined: Wed May 05, 2010 2:47 pm
Location: Southeastern Arizona

Shift Boots for Both Shifters

Post by jimijuma »

Guys,

First off, this site is such an awesome resource. All of you guys have helped me tremendously and I thank you! I wanted to contribute something that may be helpful by passing on a few suggestions concerning shifter boot replacements. Before going any further, probably the best thing to do is use the old deteriorated ones as patterns and sew a new set. However, for those of us who do not have the time or talent I have some after market suggestions. For me, these fit nearly perfectly.

The main shifter is more forgiving. I used the following boot and it looks factory (my interior is black):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0006 ... UTF8&psc=1

It sits in the console opening perfectly, and the slack just bunches up under the console and pushes the boot up for a more flush fit. Moving the shaft-opening of the boot higher or lower on the shaft will change the shape and fit. After playing with mine a bit, it looks factory.

Now the 4wd shifter isn't as forgiving. Before proceeding with my solution, be sure you are committed on replacing it. In my case I tried to take the old boot off and save it, but I still ended up bending the bracket to where it wouldn't have fit exactly right if I tried to reuse it. I looked all over the place, and this is the boot I used:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2 ... UTF8&psc=1

I had to play with this one a bit more to get a factory like fit. The console opening will only accommodate the top tier of this rubber boot. The other two tiers get crammed under the console and push the whole boot up. You won't use the steel bracket that comes with it. With this one I had to move the shaft-opening of the boot down low on the shaft so that the boot wouldn't bunch up in the console, if that makes sense. The hole in the console is actually a bit small for the top tier, but I was able to make it work. After playing with it some, it looks nearly factory in my Terc and is much better than the deteriorated old ones. I don't have the ability to post pictures but both new boots look great; sooooo much better in my opinion.

On another note, if you are going to go through this you might as well replace the main shifter bushing and seat, especially if you have a lot of play. There are plenty o' threads on this, however I will offer an additional tidbit. The diameter of the OEM replacement bushing is actually slightly larger than the original. So that can be problematic when you go to reassemble and put the shifter back in. MAKE SURE that ring clip is down all the way and in its groove securely before reassembly, otherwise the opening where the bushing sits in (remember the replacement bushing is a bit bigger, so it doesn't fit in there as easily) will push back on the shifter. If that ring clip isn't in all the way, it will pop out and everything will come apart. This particularly sucks after you have regreased everything.......ask me how I know. It happened to me not once, but twice......**hangs his head in shame**
User avatar
garyfish
Highest Ranking Member
Posts: 889
Joined: Sat Nov 19, 2005 4:22 pm
My tercel:: 1985 Tercel SR5, stock; 1987 T4WD DLX wagon, manual tranny
Location: North Coastal California

Re: Shift Boots for Both Shifters

Post by garyfish »

JJ, thanks for the info!
1985 Tercel SR5 4WD wagon, 300K
1987 Tercel DLX 4WD wagon, 6-speed manual, 274K -- got this one running Jan. 2015 (had been sitting for 2 years); this has been my daily driver since 2016
Post Reply