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Anyone resolve rattling Billetworkz short shifter?

12320 Views 65 Replies 13 Participants Last post by BynkRZ, 2 mo ago

Subience

Discussion Starter · 8 mo ago

Mine is rattling when I rev the car above 4k rpm or when I cruise in 6th and give a bit of gas.. It's driving me crazy to a point where I want to sell the shifter and go back to stock. I'd rather try to get the rattles fixed and keep the shifter because I love it!

I've done some troubleshooting and the rattle seems to be coming from the bottom half of the reverse lockout mechanism. I see the top portion of the lockout has O-rings to absorb shaft vibrations, but that doesn't seem to help with the bottom portion rattling.

I tried adding more grease to the shaft where reverse lockout mechanism sits on. That made no difference unfortunately.

Anyone else have more ideas?

1 - 20 of 66 Posts

Shroomie

· #2 · 8 mo ago

Glad I’m not the only one having rattles with the billetworkz short shifter.

I haven’t had time to look, but I think it may be with c-clip and washer that connects the shifter that’s causing my rattling. Again I haven’t had time to look. It drives me nuts and the car feels sluggish when it makes that rattling sound.

I did email billetworkz about the issue and he said he was going to send me some plastic washers since he mentioned it might be that part that’s rattling (reverse lockout plate). I never recieved anything by in the mail and I didn’t bother to email him back yet.

I still think it’s the c clip part since when I reinstalled mine the washer was slightly bent and the c clip wasn’t on there tight.

Subience

Discussion Starter · #3 · 8 mo ago

Shroomie said:
Glad I’m not the only one having rattles with the billetworkz short shifter.

I haven’t had time to look, but I think it may be with c-clip and washer that connects the shifter that’s causing my rattling. Again I haven’t had time to look. It drives me nuts and the car feels sluggish when it makes that rattling sound.

I did email billetworkz about the issue and he said he was going to send me some plastic washers since he mentioned it might be that part that’s rattling. I never reverence’s anything by in the mail and I didn’t bother to email him back yet.

I still think it’s the c clip part since when I reinstalled mine the washer was slightly bent and the c clip wasn’t on there tight.

Are you referring to the retaining clip that holds the bottom half of the reverse lockout? I thought that might be it and mine is currently completely covered in grease. 😂

joelteon

· #4 · 8 mo ago

Dang, I was going to install mine this weekend. Hopefully it doesn't rattle. I found out about this issue after buying it.

timetravelerx1

· #5 · 8 mo ago

i installed the billet short shifter months ago. its such a big improvement from stock. i've had no issues, no noise so far.

if something rattles, possible something is loose or not tighten properly? i use very little lithium grease when i installed mine.

good luck, i hope whatever issue it is, it gets resolved. cause the short shifter shifter is such a joy to drive.

timetravelerx1

· #6 · 8 mo ago

make sure to follow the install instructions / video exactly. those little snap rings were a pain to get on and off so get yourself a good pair of snap ring pliers. everything else is easy.

jsmongeon24

· #7 · 8 mo ago

@Shroomie @Subience Yes, mine rattles as well. I've taken it off the connector probably 10 times just trying to figure out the rattle. I've narrowed it down to inside the actual shifter. I'm still not sure what inside is rattling but it isn't the reverse lockout plate for me because that sucker is tight on mine. Now if only I can undo a stripped hex bolt 🙃🙃

joelteon said:
Dang, I was going to install mine this weekend. Hopefully it doesn't rattle. I found out about this issue after buying it.

Don't let this deter you from not liking it. It is a fantastic shifter and it feels really good

Reactions: 1

zenmaster

· #8 · 8 mo ago

Any update on this issue? I've been wanting to purchase a short shifter.

Subience

Discussion Starter · #9 · 8 mo ago

zenmaster said:
Any update on this issue? I've been wanting to purchase a short shifter.

I haven't had a chance to take my car out and do some digging.. I might email Billetworkz and see if they have any suggestions.

jsmongeon24

· #10 · 7 mo ago

Kind of reviving this thread...but I emailed Billetworkz last week and told them about how it rattles. They changed their design of the shifters so if you purchased them before xx/xx/xxxx date (can't confirm as they didn't tell me when they did change it) then you have the old model. But they are shipping me a new one in the new model to help eliminate the rattle. Will update when it arrives and gets put on.

Reactions: 1

Shroomie

· #11 · 6 mo ago

jsmongeon24 said:
Kind of reviving this thread...but I emailed Billetworkz last week and told them about how it rattles. They changed their design of the shifters so if you purchased them before xx/xx/xxxx date (can't confirm as they didn't tell me when they did change it) then you have the old model. But they are shipping me a new one in the new model to help eliminate the rattle. Will update when it arrives and gets put on.

They just sent you the new one? I was one of the first people that ordered. I’ve been bugging them for a while and pretty much stopped hearing back from them.. I pretty much just gave up.

Definitely interested to see if this “new” design still rattles.

Reactions: 1

jsmongeon24

· #12 · 6 mo ago

Shroomie said:
They just sent you the new one? I was one of the first people that ordered. I’ve been bugging them for a while and pretty much stopped hearing back from them.. I pretty much just gave up.

Definitely interested to see if this “new” design still rattles.

Yea, I just emailed them with video and described the rattle to them, a week later they answered and are sending one my way. I didn't ask for a new one, all I did was ask what the noise was and what they suggested to do to fix it.

jsmongeon24

· #13 · 6 mo ago

3

Shroomie said:
Definitely interested to see if this “new” design still rattles.

Update for all:

I got my shift rod in from Billetworkz. Granted I've taken this thing apart, not lying probably 5-6 times trying to figure out that rattling, I've gotten pretty good and efficient at it. In total it was a 25-30 min job to take the entire set up apart, switch shift rods, put it together, and put the car back together.

A couple things I noticed about the set up. 1) the new rod doesn't look anything different from the old one. They weren't saying it was a change in design, I'm not sure what I was looking for really lol. 2) the change is in the connector. In the photos, you can see the old shift rod had one O-ring in it and the new one has 2. I'm not a rocket scientist, but I know kind of common physics. The old one was more of a see-saw in the connector and when in some gears, the linkage could tilt in a certain direction and rattle against the shift rod. The new shift rod with 2 O-rings looks to stop that teetering and I can report, after only a 30 min drive to work this morning, it does help tremendously with the rattle. It does rattle a little at high rpm's, about the 6K mark, but its substantially less than what it was. To eliminate all rattle, I would probably go 3 o rings: front, middle, and back, but I'm not complaining about it as of now. Hopefully y'all can get the same fix!

Side by side (new on left, old on right)-

Hand tool Musical instrument Tool Wood Flooring

Old shift rod with single O-ring

Hand tool Wood Tool Finger Household hardware

New shift rod with 2 o-rings

Tableware Kitchen utensil Finger Tool Wood

See less See more

Reactions: 2

Shroomie

· #14 · 6 mo ago

Thanks for updating.

This is exactly what I suspected it was rattling on mine. I figured it was the c-clip being loose.

I’m try reaching out to billetworkz and see if I can get an updated one also.

jsmongeon24

· #15 · 6 mo ago

Shroomie said:
I figured it was the c-clip being loose.

That's what I thought as well, maybe it wasn't seated in the groove and thats the rattle but turns out it was internal that was the issue.

Hope you get it fixed!

jsmongeon24

· #16 · 6 mo ago

Shroomie said:
Thanks for updating.

This is exactly what I suspected it was rattling on mine. I figured it was the c-clip being loose.

I’m try reaching out to billetworkz and see if I can get an updated one also.

Update, the rattle came back 😕.

I did something that might just solve everything. Personally opinion here, I think that the design of Billetworkz bushings and the other "sleeve" in the connector. What I have done is take out the grey bushings from the billetworkz shifter and replace them with the bushings from the stock shifter. The stock ones are much longer and don't require an O-ring or a sleeve - space holder basically - in the connector.

After a 2 hour round trip ride, much less movement and shaking with the shifter itself and the rattle was virtually nonexistent. I think that you don't need to ask for a change in model or anything, just replace the bushings with the stock ones after clearing out the o rings and sleeve in the billetworkz one.

Theoretically, I think this would make it like stock in terms of noise and shaking.

Hopefully this helps!

Reactions: 1

Subience

Discussion Starter · #17 · 6 mo ago

jsmongeon24 said:
Update, the rattle came back 😕.

I did something that might just solve everything. Personally opinion here, I think that the design of Billetworkz bushings and the other "sleeve" in the connector. What I have done is take out the grey bushings from the billetworkz shifter and replace them with the bushings from the stock shifter. The stock ones are much longer and don't require an O-ring or a sleeve - space holder basically - in the connector.

After a 2 hour round trip ride, much less movement and shaking with the shifter itself and the rattle was virtually nonexistent. I think that you don't need to ask for a change in model or anything, just replace the bushings with the stock ones after clearing out the o rings and sleeve in the billetworkz one.

Theoretically, I think this would make it like stock in terms of noise and shaking.

Hopefully this helps!

My stock shifter started developing the same rattle in the reverse lockout mechanism which is why I wanted to get Billetworkz shifter because every review I watched had said there's no rattle hah.. so reusing my stock plastic bushing might not work out for me.

It's definitely an interesting discovery though because all install videos I watched reused stock plastic bushing and I did opt for Billetworkz's installation kit because I didn't want to mess with the stock parts. Makes you think.... Hmmm

Reactions: 1

jsmongeon24

· #18 · 6 mo ago

Subience said:
My stock shifter started developing the same rattle in the reverse lockout mechanism which is why I wanted to get Billetworkz shifter because every review I watched had said there's no rattle hah.. so reusing my stock plastic bushing might not work out for me.

It's definitely an interesting discovery though because all install videos I watched reused stock plastic bushing and I did opt for Billetworkz's installation kit because I didn't want to mess with the stock parts. Makes you think.... Hmmm

Hmm interesting! My stock one didn't rattle so that's what made me think of doing it. Are your bushings cracked or not touching or anything? I too used their installation kit so I didn't think of this until now

Subience

Discussion Starter · #19 · 6 mo ago

jsmongeon24 said:
Hmm interesting! My stock one didn't rattle so that's what made me think of doing it. Are your bushings cracked or not touching or anything? I too used their installation kit so I didn't think of this until now

Just did a quick visual inspection on my stock shifter and the linkage bushings look totally fine. I might give them a try and install them on my BW shifter. Will post an update if I end up doing that. My garage is cold and I don't really feel like getting under my car atm lol

Reactions: 1

Kamber

· #20 · 5 mo ago

Any update? Was anybody able to determine a definitive rattle fix?

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