Back In The Mustang Club

In 2005 Ford mounted the shifter to the underside of the trans tunnel to reduce N.V.H., the drawback is when the trans torques sideways under heavy load the shifter linkage does not line up correctly anymore causing side loading on the linkage and syncros and thus premature wear and eventually syncro failure. Any aftermarket shifter for the MT-82 six speed manual will not solve the shifter issues. The only solution that actually works is the blowfish racing shifter support bracket. It mounts to the trans mount and supports the back of the shifter housing allowing it to move with the trans preventing hard shifting under load which can damage the syncros. It also incorporates a NHRA approved driveshaft safety loop. Only down side is it only fits the factory shifter, but ford racing makes a short throw shifter the fits into the stock shifter housing, thus allowing the blowfish support bracket to be used. Don't know what the steeda shifter costs, but the ford short throw runs about 250 and the blowfish bracket runs 250.

This was the first mod I did to mine right after I bought it. After the 2 guys at work who've had trans problems with their S197 stangs, I decided this needed to be done ASAP. The s197's also have the MT-82 from 2011 up.

There is another fix but it will run you 3-4K and that is switching to the tremec T-56, it has internal shift rails and a shifter that directly mounts to the trans.