3 speed column help

[67 ford f100s rule]

I have gotten the parts for my column and put it back together. But when i am driving it doesnt want to shift into second well. Could my 1st and reverse arm be out of line?

[flyboy71]

'splain what you mean by doesnt shift well. Does it have issues all the time? Are you shifting too fast? Does it bind? Does it get stuck in 2nd? Is it too tight? Are the link arm bushings ok? How are your cab mounts? Any one of those can cause issues.

[TNIceWolf]

I will double up on the shifting too fast. A column shift requires a two step slow shift into second from first.

[67 ford f100s rule]

It stopped trying to go into second.

[fordman]

what was wrogn with it before it was rebuilt?

[Mach428]

Sounds like the shifter arms are either misaligned or there are burrs between the two shift arms. The shifter "pawl" is engaged via spring tension so that when you shift from first to second, the spring tension moves the pawl into the second third shift arm. If there are burrs or the opening for the pawl is not clean, the shifter will hang up / be difficult to engage. This is quite common due to wear over the years.

If the problem persists after your best effort, replace the shift arms and make sure to properly align them

[trukcrazy]

It stopped trying to go into second.

Is it still in first gear or stuck in first gear? Can you clear it up under the hood at the shifter levers on the column? That is what I had to do to mine until I learned how to shift it. They do require some finesse because of the wear in the cab mounts, linkage, etc. If this is the case, it could be any of the points made earlier. The cab may have settled to the point of putting everything out of alignment in the linkage.

[sargentrs]

I rebuilt mine but didn't replace the spring in the bottom of the shift tube and wish I had. Works fine but does require a little, as trukcrazy says, "finesse". The spring doesn't return the shift tube to neutral solidly so I have to pull forward on the lever for reverse and 1st. I intentionally shift slow and hit pause at neutral with every gear. If I try to go from 1st to 2nd it'll lock up and I have to pop the hood and jiggle the levers to neutral. If I'm going from 3rd to 1st I always hit 2nd on the way through. I do have an issue with the 2nd/3rd shift lever on the transmission's nut backing off. Usually in the middle of the night, a rainstorm or on a dark lonely back road, of course. I keep saying I'm going to crawl under there and put a jam nut on it but then it works loose, I tighten it to get home and forget about it for another 6 months till it happens again. Get a buddy to help you and lay under there and check out the levers as he cycles through the gears slowly and see if they're binding anywhere. I had to fiddle with mine, adjusting the linkage, for 30 mins before I got it smooth.

[shortstack]

My truck used to do the same thing. It was simply the nut that holds the linkage on the side of the trans. coming loose. Replaced the nut with a lock nut, and it worked perfectly, until I switched it out with a hurst floor shifter.