i didnt see any threads on this, so here it goes...
i ordered them about a week and a half ago because they seemed like a cheap useful mod. I've been driving manual tranny cars since i started driving and i've noticed that the older my cars get, i will tend to mis shift when there's no reason. the 06 tC is no different. I figured it was worth a shot since the item was like $32 shipped to me.
i recieved them in the mail yesterday. they're brass machined bushings and include C-clips and cotter pins to finalize the install. all i had to do was take out the airbox to get enough room to work. but i ran into 1 problem: the rubber bushings have a brass center that slides over the steel pins to keep them in place and one was corroded on. i went to town on the darn thing for over an hour with different wrenches to try and pry it loose, but all i did was rip the rubber off.
well, with the old bushing shredded and the new one not able to be installed until the old one was completely off, i started to rip my hair out. i went through my entire tool box (14 drawer craftsmen chest) 4 different times and thought i exhausted all my options. it was 90 degrees out, i had sweat pouring over me, and i was hunchback from leaning into the engine compartment for so long (still recovering). i almost thought all hope was lost, until i saw a little red box i overlooked time and time before. i opened it and regained a splinter of hope: a craftsmen stripped bolt remover set. basically a socket set with reversed threads inside of it that grab a screw/bolt/whatever and pulls it by the edges. i grabbed the 3 smaller sizes and was able to loosen the corrosion so it spins freely, but with all the beating i did on it the brass molded tight enough that i had to use a small locking plier to yank it off. with success tasting sweeter than the gatorade i was sipping, i finished the install and cleaned up my workspace in a hurry... time for a test ride!
once i got in the car, a few runs through the cage at a stop told me that a majority of the slack has been removed (once the old bushings ere removed, they felt like they were squishier than they should have been). once i started driving, i asked myself "why doesn't toyota put these in their cars instead of cheap rubber?" i did some slow driving, smooth driving, "spirited" driving, heck, even some completely sloppy driving which included different engagement/disengagements of the clutch versus shift points (if that makes sense, i'm too tired to get really technical) and i can happily report that not 1 mis shift. was it worth the money? well, as long as it saves my gear syncros from an untimely demise then its the best damn mod i've bought so far... which isn't hard cuz i've only bought 2 mods
but you get the point!
here's the install manual if you wanna take a look. they use the same manual for a bunch of different toyotas. all i had to do was remove the lower portion of the intake box.
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06 Flint Mica
~Current mods: Mod Express 6000k HID, TWM Performance shifter bushings, Eibach Sportline springs
~ Waiting on: Tokico Blues, strut bars, TRD Sway bar, Enkei RPF1 Special Edition Black
Fri., May 09, 2008
TWM Shifter bushings installed!
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