M5OD-R1HD Shift Knob/Longer Stick?

Hey guys!

1998 Ford Explorer Manual Transmission: I am sick of my plastic knob flying off. Just today it flew off and now it won't even sit in there nicely it just spins and actually FALLS off now! I am done with this push on stuff; I would much rather have something that I thread onto it. I would also like a longer stick (wouldn't we all?).

I would like to purchase just something that I could take the old one off and bolt a new stick with a thread on it so I can put any type of knob on it I want! I am just looking for something I can do while sitting in the car, no dropping of the tranny or anything crazy like that. Is there such a process? I do not want to thread my current stick.

Drill/tap the old shift knob horizontally and put a set screw on it.

The stick assembly just comes out from the top, so you can remove it without much trouble after pulling up the boot and cover. You can remove the stick from the input shaft, so you don't even need to pop it out of the tranny.

If you don't want to thread your current stick, you could just buy another, and thread the top of that. Since you want a longer stick, you might even be better off getting a threaded stick, cutting off the threaded top, then welding it to the extra stick, then you'd have a longer stick with a threaded shaft for a knob.

I just used black silicone to stick the factory knob back on when the factory adhesive went. Its stayed on for the last several years with no issues.

Superglue that bad boy back on. The only problem is if you're rough on it the plastic inside the knob will break and it'll come off again eventually.

Those knobs are just pressed on, there is no factory adhesive. They just get loose after awhile from the sun & cold and finally pop off.

I threaded the inside of the hole at the top of the stick on both my trucks and put a screw in there to hold the knob on (you'll have to Dremel out the inside of the little gearshift pattern disc for the screw head though).

If the hole in the stick is too big to thread, scuff up the inside of it a little and fill it up with JB Weld (jam some paper down in there a ways if needed for the JB), thread a sheetmetal screw into the JB after it has partially set, then follow as above after it's fully hardened.

Hurst makes a shifter for it, but it's kinda pricey. Check Summit Racing online.