M5OD bushings too tight...? | Ford Explorer Forums

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M5OD bushings too tight...?

GeekyTechyCool

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City, State
Dunedin, FL
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Currently on the hunt
So I've got a slight problem, I replaced the bushings in my M5OD because my shifter was all kinds of sloppy. Well, it tightened the sifts right up...and in my opinion TOO tight. I can't grab the shifter in neutral and shake it around, then have it return to the center of the shift pattern like every other manual I've ever driven. Do these bushings take time to wear in, or did I make some kind of mistake upon installation I missed?

Sorry for anyone that subscribes to my build thread for the double post but I need this answered sooner than later.
 



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Did you re-install with the tension spring on bottom and the clip-on metal washers on both the top and bottom bushings?

The bushings will be tight initially, and should loosen up some over time, but shouldn't be so tight that there's any trouble shifting.

If the only problem is the shifter doesn't wobble enough in neutral, that'll probably fix itself over the next few days once the bushings wear in some, or until some ATF splashes up and gets where the bushings are.
 






The kit came with new bushings, a spring for the top bushing, new seal for the top bushing, new "dust cap" with screws, as well as new pins. I installed all the new equipment and torqued the "dust cap" to the only spec I was able to find on the interwebs. It isn't hard to shift at all, it feels like it shifts the same but has a much better "feel" to the stick.
 






Normal. It will loosen up some. Actually after about a year or so it will feel sloppy again. Mine does.
 






Well thanks for chiming in, I'll run it and see if it loosens up a bit over time.
 






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