I have the factory Hurst shifter in my 2002 Z28.

I have heard lots of people say that they changed out their stock shifter for a Pro 5.0 (generally with Lou's short stick) and it made the car much more fun to drive.

Has anyone driven cars with all three (factory standard, factory Hurst, and Pro 5.0)? Is upgrading the Hurst to a Pro 5.0 worthwhile? How much shorter is Lou's short stick than the Hurst shifter?

Let fly with the opinions. Thanks!

 

My car came with the factory hurst. I put a short stick on it. It was an improvement in the respect the throw was shorter and it felt more notchy going into gears. The down side was increased vibration and moderate buzzing at higher rpm.

I bought a used pro 5.0 and replaced the hurst. Another modest improvement to shifting location and perhaps the feel but nearly the same amount of vibration and buzzing. I did use a gasket between the transmission and shifter to reduce the buzzing but it is still present. The biggest improvement with the pro 5.0 is bragging rights. I have the finest shifter available according to other pro 5.0 owners.

 

In what way does the location move? Lower?

 

I should have made that more clear. It just feels like I'm able to locate the gears more precisely. The factory hurst has the stick isolated in rubber to eliminate the vibration and buzz. A new short stick or the pro 5.0 does not have this rubber encasement and therefore the shifter feels like you are moving it into notches as you select gears.

If I can make a suggestion; unless you simply want the best possible feel for the gears, regardless of price, go for the pro 5.0. If money is an object, then get one of those short shifter sticks off ebay like I initially did and install it in 15 minutes. If you don't like the harsh feel you can put your rubber insulated hurst stick back in and only be out $25. To me, the difference between the pro 5.0's feel is small compared to the hurst with the short stick. But that is just me....

 

I'm also starting to hear of some quality issues with the Pro 5.0's and them not returning to center.

I've run one for 5 years now, and have put about 50K on mine, and it just started to show some wear and feel notchy; part of it being the tranny has bad syncros and is being rebuilt currently.

 

Hmmm... I'll have to find somebody local who has a pro 5.0 installed so I can compare. Sounds like it might not be worth the money.

 

I have the Pro 5.0 and love it. Only thing I have to do is tigheten the bolts on the shaft on the shifter twice. Guess I should put some loctite on them.

 

I have the factory HURST on my SS and I put the short stick on it and loved it. The only problem is the HURST has no adjustable stop's so if you shift very hard like I do eventually you will brake a key or the 3-4 shift fork in the trans like I just did and I've only put 2k miles on the car since I bought it. I will be buying the pro 5.0 for that reason alone along with a tranny rebuild and clutch that I did'nt plan on doing yet...

 

The T56 has internal stops I thought???

 

Personally, I think the change to my Pro 5.0 was a great improvement.

I always had 2-3 (ended up in 5th all the time) misshifts when really running through the gears with my factory Hurst shifter. The Pro 5.0 with Lou's Short stick eliminated that issue completely. It does buzz and vibrate, but that doesn't bother me because I don't rest my hand on the shifter much.

The top of the **** is no more than 2" off the top of the console.

If I were to buy another F-Body, the first thing I would do would be to order another Pro 5.0/short stick.

 

I don't know if it has internal stop's but I know I f@#ked up something in the 3/4 shift mechanism and when I spoke to Rockland Standard Gear they said it is a pretty common failure when you powershift these tranny's. I won't chance it again and Will have a positive stop on whatever shifter I put in before I race this car agian!!!!! I wish I put a better shifter in before I went to the track but with the short stick and factory Hurst I never had a problem hitting a gear and thought it was fine. Now I'm digging in my pocket's for billet key's carbon synchro's and steal shift fork's and whatever else I broke along with the Pro 5.0 shifter. And while the tran's is out it would be silly not to change the clutch with 45k on it. SO THE $300 FOR THE SHIFTER SOUND'S LIKE CHEAP INSURANCE!!!!

 

I have a car with the factory Hurst with a UMI Short stick. LOVE IT. Helped put a Pro 5.0 into my buddies car, and don't like it as much. It's nice, no doubt about that, but for the money a factory hurst with short stick is the way to go for me.

 

I have seen them new for much less...
http://makeashorterlink.com/?S3A421BDC

 

Aye, I've been debating this Pro5.0 upgrade since I blew out the keys on my tranny too. I run the factory Hurst and LSS and have always liked the feel of it. Had no problems hitting 3rd, noise wasn't bad, and the notchiness was excellant. However, about 2 months ago I shifted into 4th pretty hard while running a stang and blew the trans. The keys, fork, and 3rd and 5th gear were wasted. Didn't know how since I never ground a gear and was constantly double clutching and rev matching on downshifts.

I had heard that the T56 does have internal stops, but the Pro5.0 is double insurance, and the post I'm quoting gives me some insight to why mine went out. Guess I will be getting one too since I just paid $1250 to reapir and upgrade mine.

 

I had a 5.0 in my car, and thought I was selling it so I switched out shifters with my dad, which is a hurst with a short stick. They both have basically the same feel, I can shift just as good with either one. I'm going to get another 5.0 for my car though because of the added insurance of stops on the shifter, I don't want to chance bending a shift fork....