gear lever snapped off

[scottbott]

on my way home tonight the gear lever was feeling 'weird',well it snapped off and I had to drive home in fourth gear with a bit of clutch slipping,just ordered a replacement from Brickwerks,had to sit down when I saw the price of £183 plus postage,at least it is a solid gear lever,another job to do

[Ralf85]

Bad luck Gordon. The Brickwerks one won't snap that's for sure!

[mrhutch]

LHD/RHD 4 or five speed?

[scottbott]

5 speed RHD

[CovKid]

Cripes. Think I'd make one if mine went.

[silverbullet]

An hours work to prep and weld with a reinforcing rod through it

Ich fahre einen Bulli. Ich hilfe mir selbst...meistens!

[scottbott]

I will get my broken one modified to keep after I fit the new one,could not believe how it went,one minute I had a gear change and the next nothing,it threw me for a while could not figure out what the hell was going on,just lucky I could drive it home

[scottbott]

I think I know a man that can do the mod!

[sydny-punka]

Few years ago at mot station the mechanic refused my advice to let me drive van on the ramp, due to the 'odd gearing' of the T25..

He refused saying he had driven every car on the road and then proceeded to snap the gear stick in two as he attempted to find first gear....

Now Im usually quite calm.... ...What do you say ? I was lost for words..

To be fair he immediately welded it back together....

And it has lasted four years so far....

[Ralf85]

I don't understand how the lever can break. My van goes into each gear with a gentle finger touch. What causes them to break?

[Oldiebut goodie]

Having seen the way the MoT tester treated my gear lever on my Merc ( same dog leg gearbox) I can understand it. I had to get first myself for him! I am sure if I hadn't been sitting next to him he would have caused damage.

[mrhutch]

I got used to changing gear with molegrips..

[Smosh]

I don't understand how the lever can break. My van goes into each gear with a gentle finger touch. What causes them to break?

Metal fatigue I assume. Years of stresses on the same spot creates a microscopic cracks and slip bands. These weaken the material and eventually the cracks reach critical length resulting in a sudden failure.

[R0B]

Drilling them to fit a short shift can cause them to snap,if drilled to deep i have read somewhere.

[silverbullet]

It is amazing how bent thay can be, the last snapped 5-speed one I recovered was S-shaped, a real knuckle grazer.
Again, how do they do it? The bend seems to be from the lever being pushed forwards, so does that suggest a struggle to get reverse?
The break always occurs at the spring collar dimple from what I have seen (bar the ones that have been bodged up, the evidence is gone in those cases!)

Ich fahre einen Bulli. Ich hilfe mir selbst...meistens!