The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Driveline Truck gets stuck in first gear (1955 first)

I am so close to getting my truck on the road. Yesterday I finally mounted the stock wheels with a set of Coker 16 inch Firestones. The improvement in steering (over the fat modern tires) is amazing. Well anyway I am having problems with the truck sticking in first gear and I was hoping to get some advice.

If I am just moving a few feet I am OK but when I go down the road I cant get out of first. I have read the posts concerning this and I believe it is the shift linkage. I put new bushings in the shift box arms and the shift box is smooth and looks good inside. The one area the does look sloppy is where the bellcranks mount on the shaft that comes out of the transmission. Also looking at the assembly manual for this area there appears to be a spring that goes somewhere between the bellcranks or on one end...I am not sure because its too hard to see in the book but mine is missing. I cant visualize how this could be my problem.

Thanks for any advice you can offer.

joe

The shifter problem seems to be OK now. I swapped out the shift rods and I put a spring inside the transmission bellcrank and shimmed it up so it wouldn't be so sloppy. I am not sure which actually did the fix but its good now :-)

Joe