I recall running into that challenge on a non ac vanagon. We did that job
with front end up on stands, rod entering from vehicle front. I bet youre
doing this already but with good lighting, be certain that the rod is
getting inserted so it passes under the fuel tank crossover, etc. Have you
tried inserting the rod at a bit of an angle on a horizontal plane? ie
sideways angle? Sorry. Cant recall detail on how we got the rod in but we
may have tried turning the rod say, 180 degrees. (upside down.)

Neil.

On Wednesday, September 6, 2017, email99@bellsouth.net <
email99@bellsouth.net> wrote:

Is the Front Shift Rod reinstalled from the front or from the rear
> through the bushing hole in the cross member (with the bushing out, of
> course)?  This is the shift rod that bolts to the bottom of the Gear
> Shift Lever and has the plastic tabs on the fork.
>
> I was able to remove this from the front to replace the plastic tabs but
> it took some  modest force and it's not going to go back in that way.
> I'm wondering if the end with the plastic tabs will go through the hole
> for the bushing in the cross member?  Can this be done with the Vanagon
> on jack stands or does it have to be on a lift?  I'm having difficulty
> because the rear sway bar and the auxiliary air conditioning condenser
> seem to be in the way of manipulating the forked end of the shift rod
> through the bushing mounting hole.
>
> This is a 1986 2WD with a 4-speed manual transmission.  I would like to
> know how it fits in before I start taking off the parts mentioned above.
>
> Any helpful comments will be appreciated.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Ed
>

--
Neil n

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