Fixing annoying shift boot sag and my own (flawed) step-by-step.
Ever get that look of your manual (or potentially auto) shift boot sagging and exposed the metal road in your car? You’re looking online for a solution, and it isn’t readily available. If this found you, I hope it helps.
Why does it happen in the first place?
Shift boot sag can come from having an aftermarket short shifter, which may place the position of the shifter lower (for a shorter throw into gears). A shift boot normally is designed to stand upright looking like a funnel, and will collapse at a certain position or angle to keep its position flush with the shift knob.
In the case of my own car, I just installed a Buddyclub short shifter which not only improves the feel of entering gears, has decreased the amount of throw.
Contrary to my belief, the top of the shift boot is not always intended to slide under the shift knob. As seen in the example picture above, if the shift rod is at an intended angle, the shift boot will collapse or stand accordingly, which having a lower-mounted rod will cause the boot to not hold properly.
My solution (not original) works, somewhat, and will definitely need constant adjusting, and may not even look flush, but is an option over a priced one and will cost only a few dollars (and compounded hours of headache).
Alternatively, for a flush and no-nonsense setup, you may find an aftermarket boot shift collar from companies like ACUITY or Hybrid Racing, but those are a paid option that cost around 60USD.
Don’t waste my time
Sorry. You will need zipties and scissors, nothing more.
For the most part, you likely do not need to disassemble your center console (which would need more than just scissors).
This may or may not be universal, but in my own testing, I found it wasn’t necessary to tear apart the console and get to the shifter directly. But this is an option that will provide the best accessibility to get to your shifter rod.
Get your ziptie and ring it around in between the shift knob and boot. The premise is for the collar of the shift boot to clamp onto the ziptie and “hold” it in place.
With one or two zipties, try and force the shift boot upwards to force the ziptie to enter its collar. In my testing, two zipties were needed to semi-reliably keep the boot in place.
Alternatively, you may unscrew away the shift knob, position the ziptie at the thread of the knob and thread the knob back in place, pushing the ziptie into the boot.
My results came out as this, which both didn’t fix the problem and felt loose and would come out a few days later. However, after forcing it back in place, it seemed to have held far better and has since not dropped off, so it basically needs some precision (or winging it) to get it to sit right.
Placing a ziptie under the boot to prevent it from falling down may be possible but that ziptie should also be unable to slip.
Like that, the shift boot on your car should be sitting level with your gear knob and shouldn’t be too easily prone to slipping off. Mine has lasted me only a week and should hopefully last longer than that, but I won’t be able to confirm for the time being. If yours does last longer, let me know here, thanks!
~Efini
Read more: Fuel for Thought: Who made this wheel?
