Gear Shift Knob

Last year sometime the gear shift knob came off in my hand. It was just pushed on the gear shift lever and the plastic inside the knob had broken.

The pieces should be inside the knob all in one piece.

I looked for a replacement knob at a couple auto parts stores and couldn't find one that was right. Most of them were screw on ones. So I just used electrical tape to put the pieces back together and some on the shift lever and put the knob back on.

Today I made a quick shift from first to second and the knob came off in my hand again. I stopped at NAPA and the only knob they had was a screw on one. On the way home the knob came off a few times as the pieces had fallen out. I noticed there was a hole in the end of the shift lever, so I thought maybe I could tap some threads into the shift lever and drill hole in the knob to use a screw to hold it on.

If it comes off now I will have a real problem!

I would have preferred a new knob, but this is a good fix for an old truck (17 years old).

Addendum: I know I could have gotten a new knob from a Ford dealer, but I'm still kinda pissed at the local Ford dealers because if you buy a Motorcraft battery it has a longer warranty than the Motorcraft battery that comes in a new car. The battery died in The Old Lady's car after 3 and a half years, but it was only covered for 3 years under the car warranty.

Running Boards

Many years ago when running boards that you could add to a modern truck first came out, I thought they were kinda stupid. I thought at the time if you wanted running boards get an old truck that had them as original equipment. Then as I had a truck that had running boards on it when I bought it and I got used to them. It did make it easier to get up into the truck. After that truck I bought one that didn't have running boards and after a while I started thinking about getting running boards for it. The problem was that getting up into the seat wasn't as easy as when I was younger. If I got my ass up high enough to get on the seat, half the time I hit my head on the top of the door opening. When I mentioned I was looking for running boards to a friend, he said he had some that I could have. Turned out they were the kind I was looking for and the price was right, FREE!!

Then it was just a matter of figuring out how to mount them on my truck as there wasn't a mounting kit with them. Thought I could bolt angle iron to the frame, but then I needed something to support the angle out closer to where the running board would be. Was thinking of doing a strap from the angle to the body, but then thought maybe a long bolt would work and sure enough that worked.

Now I can step up on the running board and sit down on the seat, no more hitting my head on the door opening.