I have bought a few thing from B&M, and they all worked great, looked good, and installed w/o a hitch. Yet everytime I ask a question about B&M stuff people say "oh B&M yikes" or something to that effect. I dont get it Many people have a problem w/ the mega shifter, it's like they cant figure out how to install it? I dont mean to be a jerk, but geez how hard is it to follow instructions Well if some one knows a reason why B&M sucks soooo much PLEASE tell me/

 

I don't know squat about the shifters, but I won't touch a B&M Shift kit with a 10ft pole. Very half-a$$ed way of "improving" a shift.

 

Yup yup, I love my shifter, but their shift kits, aren't the route to go.

 

well the fact they dont have a direct fit shifter for my 1991 formula i dont like that!! o well the regular one is fine i guess..

also their shift kits are not that good.. i would get a transgo..

however they do make a good converter and tranny coolers..

 

Actually their converters are garbage. The coolers are good but they don't actually make them, they just put their name on somebody else's.

 

My brother had good luck with their 3k stall in his Monza a few yrs back. My friend also like his that he has in his 66 Stang.

I was thinkin of gettin one.

 

I dont like B&M shifters, IMO there sloppy and the componets are garbage dont expect an aftermarket shifter to last as long as a factory one. The shift improver kit is a good try but no real thought went into it. Instead of accumulator spacers that stop the accumulator function completly they should have used firmer springs and dropped the line bias blocker option and there would be far less failures due to thier shift kits although it wouldent fix problems like Transgo and Superior kits do. Transgo is better.
The stall converters are alright but they use the same method now as they were 30 years ago, just cutting out impellers until it stalls at a higher RPM, no R&D into new technology. The coolers are good but like mentioned there made by someone else, Leo posted who but I forget.

Good things! Thier drain Plug kit RULEZ, best $8 I ever spent and I dont say that lightly! Thier upshift Valve is good! Thier Lockup kit is good!

 

i have to B&M shift kit in my 91 and it has squaked the tires going into 4th. What a ****ty shift kit hey!

 

Yea we all say the thread you started earlier about your B&M shift kit.https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=143446
I noticed you didn't come back and reply to any of the comments by knowlegable members who know a little bit about transmissions. Like they said come back in 6 months and tell us how good that shift kit was. :lala: :lala: :lala: :lala:

 

It's been just over a year that I put mine in and I haven't had any problems at all (except a cracked radiator).

When I first put it in, I had a peg leg rear end and that RR tire would squall like hell. Now I have a posi and it's great. Nice firm shift and no tire squeal at all. Every once in a while I'll get a little squeak when I turn corners and I throttle up coming out of the turn, but that's more from my PowerTrax locking up than anything.

I sit here and read every day about how "horrible" the B&M kit is, and I believe it, about as much as a $3 bill.

BTW, 184K miles on the tranny total. Put in the kit at 170K.

I'm not saying it's better than TransGo. I've never installed TransGO so I don't know about them, but I have yet to here an actual case about someone with a B&M kit that has actually ruined their tranny by installing it.

AJ

 

Count your blessings.

 

People say that hte B&M shift kit will damage your trans. And I kinda believe them. I have the shift kit in my car and my trans only last about a year or less O_o and this is with race clutches and everything. Yet it still goes out in a year or less.

 

i dunno about the b&m parts for 700r4 cuz i won't even consider one of those tranny's for my car but i had a b&m shift kit and convertor for my th400. the shift kit was in for 2 years and the convertor was for about a year till i bumped up my heads and cam and went with a tci 3400-3800 super street fighter. i never had any problems out of the few b&m products i have had the pleaseure of using. but like i said, i am a th400 user.....i guess it is kinda hard to f#ck up a design that is almost 50 years old

 

i've got a pro-ratchet shifter 3years old no problems. ashift kit and a 2400 holeshot no problems but the parts are in a th350. cheaper way to go.some of my friends say to stay away from b&m but its just that they here they are bad.

 

I've had my B&M shift improver kit set on street/strip for about 5 years now and have no probs. Tranny has over 170,000 miles on it too.

 

I do. I am blessed to have saved a lot of time and money installing the B&M kit, as well as adding the PowerTrax locker.

Again, don't take that as "B&M rules". I'm not saying that. What I am saying is all I hear is "B&M sucks" and "B&M will tear up your transmission". I have yet to hear (in the 1 ½ yrs I've been on this board and the 15 yrs I've been driving Chevys) "my tranny WAS DESTROYED because of the B&M kit".

Could it be when people were installing the kit in the "lesser quality" earlier TH700R-4, and that tranny was junk in the first place so the aggressiveness of the kit further shortened the already short life of that tranny?

Or could it be that anyone who puts the B&M kit in their tranny is the one who's being HARDER on the tranny?

I appreciate you're respect for the TransGo kit for the fact that they address the 'problems' of the TH700R-4, but that DOES NOT disregard the fact that B&M has taken a less costly, and simpler approach and built a different version of their kit.

So, i.e., is the B&M the problem, or is it the TH700R-4? Building a kit for a junk tranny with crappy clutch paks makes the B&M kit bad? I guess that makes Hastings moly rings bad since they fit stock, cast pistons? Or makes Baer cross drilled, slotted rotors bad because they can be installed with the crappy brake system on our cars (with the exception of the FireHawk )?

AJ

 

Well I'll tell ya I don't have a prob. with the mega shifter. I like it a lot. It wasn't user friendly installing it but afterwards it is worth it I think. I haven't used any other B&M parts and from the sounds of things I probably won't, but I am fond of my shifter nevertheless.

 

GOOD BURN!!!!

Gotta because it is.


SSC

 

B&M ratchet shifter rules. I love it.

also use a B&M 2400 Holeshot, and a B&M Th350 shift kit.

Easy to install, worked right the first time. all of them.

Now, some people... like my good friend Aaron... installed the B&M Shiftkit and suddenly... his tranny wont go into third! turns out a spring supplied by the kit was too healthy (i think?) and kept the tranny from shifting... that and the fact his tranny sucked. poo.

I think that B&M might be out of buisness by now if all their stuff was garbage. its about as good as TCI's stuff...
Now i had a TCI street fighter 10" converter and HATED IT! its NOTHING compared to a nice 9.5" ACT lockup converter...
*** i went from 3 MPG to 22 MPG from just a converter swap!

 

The B&M approach is to make hard shifts (especially at light throttle openings), they "never" mention how to solve the inherent problems with this unit, or any other unit for that matter.. So, i.e., is the B&M the problem, or is it the TH700R-4?, as stated earlier, B&M all the way. Their approach is "bass ackwards".

 

Dana, I wouldn't even waste my time. They don't understand. When the tranny gets tore up, you might just get another sale

 

I can vouch for the fact that B&M shift kits suck! People usually don't say/admit that a piece that they used in their car sucks.... but this one does suck!

Shifts too hard under part throttle..... not good for it, you can just tell. Even engages the gears really really hard. You move from 'P' to 'D' with a huge clunk. Makes the car sound/feel cheap.

Edit: Just read Pro-Builts response. I don't take many people's word as gospel, but they deal with the 700R4 on a daily basis and have an extensive knowledge about it so...

 

<b>Shifts too hard under part throttle..... not good for it, you can just tell. Even engages the gears really really hard.</b>

I can vouche for that. Yes my gear engagment sucks and clunks, as well as my part throttle shifts.

I usually let off when shifting 1st to 2nd then when i feel it shift i step on it again. makes it soft. But under WOT i never let off, of course.

Trans-go all the way, but if you have a stock TH350 and just want a cheap/quick "shift improver kit" and dont expect to keep the tranny long, you cant beat B&M or TCI for ease of install and immidiate response. But as stated in all other posts, dont expect to have the tranny long or like the way it shifts anytime your NOT under WOT.
This is my opinion.

 

My B&M megashifter is falling apart at the seams and its only 2 years old. The threads for the handle are all stripped, the gear indicator cable is stuck, the little POS orange sticker they used on the gear indiactor fell off, the cable rusts over in 2 months and breaks, and the detent lever sticks. If this thing fucnctioned well it would be the best mod ever but all this BS has really turned me off to B&M. I also have one of their shift kits in my swapped in TH350. It works ok, but im still worried about it. I asked the shop that built the trans to put in a Trans-Go kit but he said they are junk and he wouldnt warrenty the trans with one. Hes a moron. I had Trans-Gos in 2 of my old 700R4's that worked great, too bad the weak a$$ stock parts in the 700R4s didnt hold up.

 

I thought I was the only one, guess not.