Cat_rebel
New member
I decided to do a writeup on how to swap the shifter arm on our trucks because, I haven't seen a good one & people ask me this question alot. It really isn't hard if you take your time & is a good thing to know incase your OD off button quits working. In my case it didn't work for close to 2 years then just decided to ground out & lock out OD so I had no other choice but to replace it.
I have been getting PMs from a member on here asking how to go about replacing it & where to find one. Local scrap yards netted nothing for him, I knew he was in a bind & decided to check & see if one of my spare OBS levers would work. About 30 mins later I had installed it, checked & found out they will interchange & work. Not the best solution but it will work if your in a bind & can't locate one off a SD.
To start we locate a good working shift lever off an OBS-
Next step is to unscrew your tilt adjuster if you have one-
Unscrew the 3 screws holding the bottom cover on with a philips head screw driver, you may find that it's easier to remove your fuse/kick pannel for more working room--
Now comes the tricky part, insert the key into the ignition-
Now turn the key foward one notch so it unlocks the wheels but won't turn on your glow plugs-
Looking underneith there is alittle ball that needs to be pressed in to release the key fob, it will only release with your key in that unlocked position-
Get something like a allen wrench, pick, punch, ext to push that ball in-
Push that ball in-
Now gently pull outward on the key fob while turning it foward slightly- (gently is the word)
At this point you will have to turn it foward to the "ON" position & your glowplugs (& what else have you) will come on, at this point it should slide out, if not try turning it backwards or fowards a HAIR-
Make sure that you do NOT turn that fob while it's outside your collum or you will be chasing TINY springs & other parts around & buying a new fob.
Now just wiggle the top peice until it comes off-
Pull up & remove the rubber boot-
Pull it out of the way, you can re-use it on your new arm-
I have been getting PMs from a member on here asking how to go about replacing it & where to find one. Local scrap yards netted nothing for him, I knew he was in a bind & decided to check & see if one of my spare OBS levers would work. About 30 mins later I had installed it, checked & found out they will interchange & work. Not the best solution but it will work if your in a bind & can't locate one off a SD.
To start we locate a good working shift lever off an OBS-
Next step is to unscrew your tilt adjuster if you have one-
Unscrew the 3 screws holding the bottom cover on with a philips head screw driver, you may find that it's easier to remove your fuse/kick pannel for more working room--
Now comes the tricky part, insert the key into the ignition-
Now turn the key foward one notch so it unlocks the wheels but won't turn on your glow plugs-
Looking underneith there is alittle ball that needs to be pressed in to release the key fob, it will only release with your key in that unlocked position-
Get something like a allen wrench, pick, punch, ext to push that ball in-
Push that ball in-
Now gently pull outward on the key fob while turning it foward slightly- (gently is the word)
At this point you will have to turn it foward to the "ON" position & your glowplugs (& what else have you) will come on, at this point it should slide out, if not try turning it backwards or fowards a HAIR-
Make sure that you do NOT turn that fob while it's outside your collum or you will be chasing TINY springs & other parts around & buying a new fob.
Now just wiggle the top peice until it comes off-
Pull up & remove the rubber boot-
Pull it out of the way, you can re-use it on your new arm-
Last edited: