Rattling Hurst, Need input.

bynumj

Member
May 21, 2007
77
2
6
Portland
I installed a Hurst shifter in September. I did not have any problems with it after I installed it, but now that the cold weather has passed for the most part I took my car out for a spin and the shifter makes a rattling sound now. I checked all the bolts under the car and they are tight. The shifter does have approx. ½ inch play in it moving up and down. When I have it in gear and take my hand of the shifter and accelerate, it rattles like crazy. If I put my hand back on the shifter is quiets back down. Has anyone experienced this? Any ideas? Thank you for your input.

(FYI, this is requesting info about this problem and not requesting info on other shifters or why you don’t like the Hurst and why I should buy something different).
 
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Having just installed a Hurst, the design is fresh in my memory. If the shifter lever is moving up and down, then the spherical bearing used as a pivot point must have an issue. there is a snap ring the keeps it in place,, perhaps it has popped pout?
Should be obvious if you remove the shifter and have a look. PITA for sure., But it's not likely to fix it self.. So take the 20 minutes required to pull it out and have a look, or just buy a new shifter, and skip having to deal with it. Either way should work.
 
Having just installed a Hurst, the design is fresh in my memory. If the shifter lever is moving up and down, then the spherical bearing used as a pivot point must have an issue. there is a snap ring the keeps it in place,, perhaps it has popped pout?
Should be obvious if you remove the shifter and have a look. PITA for sure., But it's not likely to fix it self.. So take the 20 minutes required to pull it out and have a look, or just buy a new shifter, and skip having to deal with it. Either way should work.

The snap ring is in place. The movement up and down looks to be independent of the bearing itself.
 
I've replaced 2 of the Hurst shifters over the last 6 months for this same exact issue. A member here (Dennis) had me replace one mid 07 as well.

That half inch of up and down play is not supposed to be there, as mentioned the sperical bearing itself has created space and rattles. Dennis' started doing it within a weekends worth of use. Hopefully he will chime in.

Dennis arranged his replacement, not sure if his was covered by the location he ordered from or by Hurst direct. I know for a fact the other two were replaced under a warranty via hurst and no problems since..
 
I believe Steeda also makes an insulator piece that you slide between the handle and the base attachment point which is supposed to cut down on vibrations that get transmitted through the shifter.

Mine rattles a bit after 4K RPM at full throttle.
 
Finally some answers

I talked to someone at Hurst (B&M Automotive Products) and they said that it is possibly a faulty bearing assembly. They stated that this was a problem with early production shifters and assured me the issue has been fixed in the new shifters. They said that they would send me a new shifter if I send them the old one; I am waiting to find out what do. I am going to try and arrange for them to send me the shifter first so that I only have to get under the car and make the change once. I will keep you all up to date.
 
I talked to someone at Hurst (B&M Automotive Products) and they said that it is possibly a faulty bearing assembly. They stated that this was a problem with early production shifters and assured me the issue has been fixed in the new shifters. They said that they would send me a new shifter if I send them the old one; I am waiting to find out what do. I am going to try and arrange for them to send me the shifter first so that I only have to get under the car and make the change once. I will keep you all up to date.

Well it has been awhile, I got a replacement shifter from Hurst. The new shifter does not have the up and down play in it. However, there is still a slight rattle in it. From everything that I have read, I think this is something that has no fix. I am continuing my quest to rid the shifter of the rattle. Hell, if I can find an engineered solution for cheap, I a make a killing on it. It appears that every Hurst shifter made for theses cars and the corvettes have this rattling problem. I think that there is a slight gap in the bearing design or loose tolerances. I used some oil on the bearing and it stopped rattling for an hour. When the weather gets better, I am going to get it out and come up with a bulletproof fix to this problem. I will be the hero of all Hurst shifter owners:hail2:
 
Rattling Hurst - fixed it this way

I had the same problem and it drove me nuts. One night I pulled the leather boot up and squeezed a bunch of lithium grease into the shifter, then put the boot back on. That was a year ago. It has not made a sound since.