JonnyW

Hello everybody! I hope you were able to see my last review on the Steeda CAI, BAMA tune, and Boss 302 Manifold. In this thread, I will be discussing the MT82 and addressing important mods to get smooth-as-butter shifts.

We all know how sloppy the shifts are when everything on the stang is stock.. add in more power and it only makes the driveline worse. The MGW shifter is commonly known as the answer for the MT82 in terms of better, firmer shifts. I don't disagree at all, this thing is the Holy Grail of shifters. It took about 3 weeks to get this piece in and it was worth the wait and every penny spent. Not only do shifts feel firmer and more precise, they're shorter and quicker. I am currently using the track bushing for extra performance and it really does the job well. I cannot attest to the standard bushing as I have not used it.
The only mod I had before the MGW was the Steeda CAI and tune, which set my redline to about 7200 rpm. At this point I had not experienced any gear lockouts... until I installed the Boss 302 Manifold and attempted to shift at 7600 rpm. The MGW is amazing for feel and precision, but will not save you from the dreadful gear lockouts that you WILL experience. Now on to fix this issue.

Next I quickly installed a Steeda clutch line. This almost gives the clutch a mechanical feel. The engagement is much smoother and blends extremely well, although I do experience some pedal sticking even after this mod. The line definitely helps with a floored pedal, but not completely. I will be replacing this line with a JHR clutch line, due to the fitting being larger which allows for better flow and transfer of fluid. I'm hoping the JHR line will be an improvement over the Steeda. I'll give another review of this later on.

After the clutch line, I replaced the tranny fluid with Royal Purple 75w140 MaxGear, then 5w30 XPR, and finally Synchromax. I DO recommend Synchromax out of the 3. This fluid is awesome and makes shifts much less notchy and also helps with ease of engagement. Make sure you have the car tilted with your jack stands when adding fluid so you can get the 2.7 qts in. I recommend measuring the fluid and adding .1 - .2 quarts extra to accommodate for leftovers.

After these two mods, shifts improved greatly in feel, swiftness, and engagement. Missed shifts are impossible, no overstatement. But I still wasn't satisfied.. because really, who doesn't want better?

I'm a Ford fan, however I'm not cheering about some of the parts they used to support the driveline. Remember guys, stiffer = better. You will experience a slight increase in NVH with these next mods, but I promise you its more than worth it.

The first mod I picked up was the Whiteline MT82 bracket insert. All this is, is a $35 piece of quality rubber that you jam into the mount that supports the MT82. It helps keep everything from rotating under hard acceleration. Right after installation (20 minutes including jacking car) I noticed a slight amount of NVH increase around 2100 rpm, this was where the NVH chimed in, but everywhere else in the RPM band was about stock, maybe 10% louder. I also noticed that shifting was much smoother. It was a touch less notchy and quick to engage. Well worth the purchase, and AmericanMuscle.com has the best prices and fastest shipping.

Although this insert helps the shifting issues, its not a complete solution. Thats why JHR stepped up to the plate on this one. I went and purchased the JHR Hardcore Motor Mounts. These mounts are beast. They use T4 aluminum and urethane bushings. These mounts REALLY made a difference in overall feel of the car, clutch, and shifting experience. With a bit more NVH (still not bad at all, maybe 20% more NVH at times but more sound than any kind of rumble) these mounts made the clutch engagement smoother and more precise, helped with body roll during turns and hard acceleration, and almost fixed the redline lockouts from 2-3rd. THE INSTALL ON MOTOR MOUNTS REQUIRES A DREMEL. I'm SERIOUS you guys.. I spent 16 hours trying to remove my engine brackets, then reinstalling the bolts, then dropping my K member to rip those stockers out... and then the next morning I realized I could have cut the stock stud bolt that sticks up past the engine bracket from the bottom. This is the piece that will prevent you from pulling the mounts out.. cut that bolt and you can get these mounts installed in 30 minutes.

Also note that these brackets have 4 bolts in total that mount to the engine, there is a ground on the passenger side bracket that is a total PITA to get off. If you're installing headers, I HIGHLY advise you to drop your K member/have a BMR K member to replace the factory one with for better clearance and more room to work with (what I'll be doing).

Anyways, buy the mounts and cut that stock bolt when you install. These mounts kick *** and allow you to be more in tune with the car. The extra NVH that these mods add were a plus for me, because I love sound. The 30% increase of NVH may seem like a lot, but really, whats 30% of hardly anything to begin with?

This is still a work in progress, and I do still experience some lockout at times, but it could be because of the stock clutch, the driveshaft, the clutch line (again, hoping better results with JHR), and even my shifting technique. The MT82 doesn't like to be forced, and I may have been forcing it too much to get into gear. I'll continue to experiment with this and keep you all updated. I will be replacing the clutch and driveshaft soon as well, so this will be yet another review.

Thanks again for checking out my threads and reading the reviews I have to offer and happy shifting!

KEEP WATCH FOR VELGEN WHEELS AND NITTO NT05 TIRES. I have the wheels, and the tires will be in sometime this week. I'm going to stock Pirellis with 26,000 miles (LOL got my money's worth on these suckers. Yes, the rears are basically slicks) to 275/35/20 front, 305/30/20 rear. I'm SO pumped, because I haven't been able to fully hook since last summer. After the wheels and tires, in comes my full StainlessWorks header exhaust. Hopefully their H pipe will be finished soon, because the only thing I'm waiting on is to hear the sound clips between the X and H before I pull that trigger.

Feedback and suggestions are always welcome!