So you wanna build a custom shift knob? (Flight Stick Shifter with Pics)

I hunted high and low but I couldn't find anyone that was selling the kind of shift knob I was wanting. So what to do when you can't find what you need? You figure out how to build it. And since I did a lot of the work, I wanted to put it all together for others if the urge ever struck them. The main thing you need to know though is for the automatic shifter on the 3rd gen AT Tacoma, it is threaded in 8mm x 1.25 (M8-1.25). So if you get a threaded insert for whatever you're wanting to use as your shift knob, that is the size you need.

So, starting out, here is what I wanted for my shift knob.

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So I jumped on ebay and ordered an old computer joystick. Cost me like 7 bucks even after shipping. Got it to the house, took it apart, and ripped the guts out of it except for the buttons themselves (may wire those to various accessories later). Once I had the inside cleaned out, then I needed something to put inside of it to fill that empty space. So I grabbed a chunk of 2x4 I had in the shop leftover from another project and my knife.

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And then I just sat half of the joystick on the block and traced out the outside pattern. The main reason for this isn't so that I have the size that I need down. It's so that I can go in with a chop saw and knock off as much as I can. Then I can get it the rest of the way with my knife. I set up a box to catch the shavings in the living room and spent the night watching TV while I whittled away at it. Not only do you need to whittle it down close to where it fits, but you also have to make sure whatever you are gonna use works as a shifter even if (in my case, the plastic) part of your shifter breaks off. I kept a good chunk on one end to hold on to while I whittled the rest of it. The end of night one looked like this...

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I took a saw and knocked off the "head" that I was using as a handle while I carved and finished it up the next day with getting it to where I thought it would fit snugly in the handle, then drilled out the hole in the middle of it for the screw holding the casing together to go through. I also pulled out my belt sander and finished out any areas that weren't quite fitting like I wanted it to. Don't worry if you overdo it and the handle you've made is loose inside your casing. You can wrap that particular part in electrical tape if you just need to tighten it up a bit. Before long, I was set.

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Now, the hard part is done. My hand carved handle fit inside the flight stick casing perfectly. I pulled the buttons out of the flight stick and hit the black parts with a few layers of plasti-dip just to revitalize the old plastic and to give me a little more grip on it. I set the assembled shift knob on top of the shifter shaft so that I could see where the hole needed to go and what angle it needed to be drilled at for it to be comfortable both in park and in drive. Then comes the scary part. You've gotta drill out a hole to be able to mount it to your shifter. Now, I had an 8mm x 1.25 threaded insert (or T-nut) that I knew fit already. And in order to get that to fit, I had to drill it out with a 5/16ths bit so the 8mm threaded insert would slide down inside the hole. Now, the reason this is terrifying, is because if you screw up the last bit and drill it at the wrong angle or drill too deep into your handle, you're gonna have to hand carve another one to fix it. So this is for sure one of those "measure 37 times, drill once" moments.

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And it was a success! I could only go so deep before it it was gonna drill a hole outside of the wood where I had made it a little thinner to fit around a button in the casing. So I measured how deep the bit was going to be able to go and then took electrical tape and taped off my drill bit at that length. That way I know when the wood hits my tape on the bit, I've gone as deep in it as I can and to stop drilling. Now all that was left was to put it together.

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It screwed right on and gave me exactly what I wanted. The plasti-dip got scratched up a bit during the assembly process in the end, but it's barely noticeable. And it's nothing for me to go back later and redo it. The only thing left is I intend to order 7r41lbr34k3r's boot clip that he is having made for the bottom of this. That will connect it to the factory shifter boot. But that's somewhere down the line, whenever they become available and I can manage to grab one. If you're picky like me and want something that no one seems to do, don't think you can't make it yourself. It just takes time and tools. I'm extremely happy with how this turned out and it makes me feel good that I have something that I hand carved in the truck.

 

UPDATE: So the Plasti-Dip on this didn't work as well as I had hoped. It was just a matter of it not holding up to being touched all the time really. It's possible I just needed a whole lot more coats on it to get it to work, but that wasn't work I was willing to do. So I pulled it all apart, pulled the leftover Plasti-Dip off, and then just spray painted it matte black. I taped off the "grip" areas and filled those in with a great red color I picked up from a hobby shop. And then a bit of a black wash on the red to give it a bit of a weathered look. And to keep the red from being so bright.

I got that plastic connector in to attach it to the factory boot clip. 7r41lbr34k3r really came through with the design on this. Now it's hard to tell that my shifter didn't come stock on the vehicle.

 

Thats awesome! Looks really good man.

 

Did they fix the passenger side floor mat on the 2018? Yours looks like it clips in or did you mod the mat?

 

It does clip in. I've got the WeatherTech mats that came with it from the dealer.

 

Very cool

 

Nah...A dildo would look better as shifter. Chicks would love it. Literally.

 

That looks awesome. The only problem for me is that I would want one of the triggers to really work for people that cut me off in traffic!

 

Well, funny you bring that up. I left the buttons themselves in the stick. All I have to do is solder some wires to the contacts. Me and a buddy are going to eventually sit down and wire up the buttons to different accessories. Rack lights, sound effects and a PA system, etc. We were talking about how to do it over the 4th. lol. But that is WAY down the line right now.

 

Why don't you wire up the ECT button or maybe the 4WD controls?



Engine start/stop might not be such a good idea though lmao!

 

Well, I've got 4 buttons to play with. And I'm running low on switch space. So for the time, they are gonna have to be used for later accessories that haven't been added on yet. I work with a cosplay group that does a lot of charity work with Make-A-Wish, the local children's hospitals, fundraising events, etc. And this is basically being built as a Bat-mobile that we can use for the kids to be able to be in parades and such. So the amount of gadgets and bells and whistles that end up in this are going to be staggering. I'll need every button and switch that I can. lol.

 

Awesome!

 

Aww yeah, glad I could help out.

 

Wow, great job! And clean install! I definitely think you should wire up some accessories to the switches

 

Right? I feel like at this point I have to.

 

If you figure something out for ECT, let me know ... Definitely want to integrate that feature into my AT knobs at some point.

I'm no good with wiring, definitely something I would need help with.

 

Oh for sure. It should be relatively easy. All you would have to do is take the wires running to the ECT now, clip them near the switch, and then wire that into whatever button you wanted to use. As long as the button was set up for one press = on, next press = off you would be fine. Something like this...

$9 Ulincos® Latching Pushbutton Switch U16F2 1NO1NC SPDT ON/Off Black Metal Shell with Blue LED Ring Suitable for 16mm 5/8" Mounting Hole (Blue)

https://www.amazon.com/Ulincos-Latc..._5?s=automotive&ie=UTF8&qid=1531406691&sr=8-5

It's already set up to be wired. So you take the hot wire you clipped from the ECT, wire that to the positive contact on the switch the switch, same thing on the negative side, and the button replaces the ECT switch. Search on Amazon for "Push Button Switch" and you should see an assortment of ones you may want to try.

Hell, find a switch you like and give me a holler. I'll help you wire up a prototype.

 

Cool. That is cheap, I'll just order it and then figure out a way to shoehorn it into the knob. I'm guessing the top is the most obvious location for my typical sphere. It is enough to get started, anyway. I will definitely have to elongate the knob for something like that, but probably not too much.

 

Funny thing is, the trigger on the flight grip is for the radios. First click is intercom, second click are the active external radio(s). Guns and Rockets are the push buttons.

 

Joystick functions are aircraft dependent. For example, nosewheel steering engage/disengage is the pinky switch in the T-6, but it is on the right side of the stick near the trigger on the F-16. Coincidentally, the F-16's trigger does fire the gun in both A-A and A-G master modes.