What Does Pinion Angle Do to the Suspension?
Pinion angle doesn’t directly drive suspension motion it’s not a geometry setting like control arm length or spring rate What it actually does is set up or fail to set up a clean phase relationship between your two U joints and that relationship determines how much load and vibration your suspension links…
Sprocket vs. Gear: What’s the Real Difference?
A sprocket and a gear are not the same part with two different names they’re two genuinely different ways of transferring rotational power and the visual resemblance both are round both have teeth is where the similarity ends A gear’s teeth mesh directly with another gear’s teeth A sprocket’s teeth never touch…
How to Change a Gear Shift Knob (All Three Attachment Types)
Changing a gear shift knob is a simple job once you know which of three attachment methods your car uses threaded screw on set screw clamp on or push on friction fit Look at the base of your current knob before you order a replacement the wrong assumption about attachment type is…
How Does a Sprocket Work — and How Do You Properly Install, Align, and Maintain One?
This article is about the mechanical sprocket in a chain drivetrain the toothed wheel that engages a chain to transfer power in bicycles motorcycles and off road vehicles If you’re looking for the HP Sprocket portable photo printer this isn’t that the products just happen to share a name
Symptoms of a Bad Shift Linkage — and How to Tell If It’s the Bushings
A bad shift linkage shows up as a shifter that feels loose or vague gears that are hard to select especially first or reverse a gear indicator that doesn’t match the transmission’s actual gear or clunking noises when you shift Whether the root cause is the bushings specifically rather than the transmission…
What Are Bungs? The Threaded Tube Insert Every Fabricator Should Know
A bung in tube fabrication is a short thick walled metal sleeve with an internal thread welded into the end or through the wall of a tube so that a rod end heim joint or bolt can be threaded directly into what would otherwise be a thin walled tube incapable of holding…
How Much Does It Cost to Repair or Replace a Shift Linkage?
What drives the cost of a shift linkage repair isn’t the vehicle so much as how much of the system needs to be replaced In the US a bushing only fix typically runs 50 300 a full cable or linkage replacement runs 300 600 and a job that requires dropping exhaust shields…
How to Use Threaded Inserts
A threaded insert is a small fastening component that creates a strong reusable internal thread inside a material that can’t reliably hold a thread on its own soft metal plastic wood or a 3D printed part Instead of cutting a thread directly into the base material you install the insert into a…
How to Install a Shift Linkage Bushing and Adjust the Shift Linkage
Installing a shift linkage bushing is a two part job replace the worn bushing at the connection point then re align the linkage so the shifter and transmission agree on where neutral or Park actually is Skipping the adjustment step after a bushing swap is the most common reason a fixed shifter…
What Does a Tube Coupler Do?
A tube coupler also called a pipe coupling or pipe coupler is a short fitting that joins two sections of tubing or pipe end to end so they function as one continuous run extending length sealing the joint against leaks adapting between different diameters or locking two structural tubes together depending on…
What Connects to the Shift Linkage?
The shift linkage is the physical bridge between the gear shifter in the cabin and the gear selecting mechanism inside the transmission On one end it connects to the shift lever itself on the other it connects to the transmission’s internal shift mechanism a manual control lever on an automatic or the…
What Does a Bump Stop Do?
A bump stop is a cushioning component usually rubber urethane or a small hydraulic cylinder mounted in a suspension system to absorb the final inches of travel before the suspension bottoms out Its job is to stop metal parts the axle and frame or a shock’s internal components from slamming directly into…