hurst/fx4
 

In the "how to" section there are to threads, one on the hurst shifter : https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ead.php?t=8344

and the fx4: https://www.ranger-forums.com/forum2...ead.php?t=8214

I was wondering if I could use the hurst from the arm down, and then install the fx4 arm instead of the hurst. (i like the look of the fx4 better)
that way you get the shorter throw, and the fx4 look.
possible? anybody done it?

I have never seen a FX arm. Is it solid steel? I would think you could weld a flat plate with two holes on it and bolt it to the hurst guts. The boot would hide the hideousness of the connection.

I guess anything is possible, but it wouldn't be easy. Both use a totally different mounting style. If you really wanted to I would guess that you could cut the bottom of both shift arms off and weld the hurst piece with the 2 mounting holes onto the the fx4 arm. It actually wouldn't be that hard now that I think about it.

The Hurst arm is a flat billet, and the FX4 is hollow polished round stainless. You could try to weld them together, but chances are it would come apart when you need it the most. Is it the Hurst shift arm you dislike or the shift ball? You could always use a longer Hurst arm and fit the FX4 ball to it. When I tested the unit, Hurst sent me a longer arm that worked much better than the short stock one from the kit.
http://silvertank.batcave.net/Hurst2.html

That's nice work SilverTank. How long since you did that and when's the last time you inspected it? The reason I am asking is because I did dynomat like you did. The heat melted all of it and it made a big mess. I was under the truck and there was a drip line of tar coming down the transmission. I removed the boot and all the dynomat was just aluminum foil. The tar stuff melted away and made a big mess.

I even used dynomat in between the arm and mechanism similar to that neoprene gasket they gave you. Same thing.

I say dynomat, but it was actually a different brand. I have used this brand on the entire firewall of my race truck and it has held up.

I dont like either the arm or the hurst ball, I just want the stuff below the arm (short throw)

You cant just blot on the fx4 arm? maybe i should look at it again...

The attachment points are different. The Hurst shift cup has a short arm that comes out with two holes. The arm mates to that, and the bolts hold the two together.
Ford uses a weird cam bolt to lock the arm to the selector rod. It's a nice design, but darn hard to reverse engineer. You would have to cut the FX arm apart, and find a way to make a square base out of the bottom. Problem is; there is a big cylinder at the bottom where I believe Ford installed their sound dampening.

Stock and FX4
http://silvertank.batcave.net/images/fx1.jpg

Hurst
http://silvertank.batcave.net/images/hurst25.jpg

Wayne, The dynamat around my old Hurst cup melted just like yours. Fortunetly, I had wrapped some high heat plastic around the cup, so it didn't make a big mess. The FX4 shifter doesn't generate the heat like the Hurst, so the dynamat under the console has stayed solid. I also used dynamat extreme, which has a higher melting point.

regardless if the different arms are flat, round or hollow, they are all steel and can be welded quite easily. The mounting point of the hurst could be cut off or a similar piece could be made very easily out of a piece of flat stock. It would take all of a few minutes to either cut the bottom off of both arms or cut the bottom off the fx4 arm and weld a piece of flat stock to it. If you do not have a welder, many local shops should be able to do it for you.

The FX4 arm costs around $150, while the Hurst kit is $200. If you want to cut up $350 worth of perfectly good parts just to make one unit; be my guest.

Especially considering that the FX4 ARM doesn't look terribly different than the Hurst Arm. I dare say that with the FX4 knob adapted onto it, no one would really notice that the arm says HURST on it.

Blake, if you attach this to the arm it will mount to the Hurst mechanism. It's very sinple to make. Just take some thick steel and drill a couple of holes. If the arm is thick enough it could be welded on for little $$:

http://underdog-performance.com/id78.html