The Taco Shop Custom Shift Knobs

I'd like to see how it feels in hand.
Looks like it may not be all that comfortable compared to the OEM knob.

 

I can't disagree with that based on what I've showed so far lol, but after I get a physical knob in hand I'll know which corners to round off and where to make it smoother. The end product won't have any sharp edges/corners like the current renders might show.

 

Sounds like you have a good plan.

 

This is sick

 

Alright kiddos, prototype time. Before I share the pictures there are a few things I want to say. First, there are a lot of things that I have learned about the design and how the model translates into the real world; some things work better digitally than they do printed out. I'm referring to things like the nasty seam running around where the top and bottom halves join, and the pop-in installation idea I had for the front lattice piece; it just looks ugly. So both of those things will be addressed in the next go around. Second, both of my concerns that I talked about earlier were both legitimate. The top lattice piece is pretty weak, it would probably be strong enough to not be an issue daily driving, but I'm not going to sell something that can be so easily identified as being so weak; easy fix though and should be stronger next time. My other concern was the surface quality. With any 3D printing your object is going to have surface imperfections straight out of the printer; with FDM printers your main problem is layer lines, but with resin printing (what I'm doing) the main issue is removing supports without leaving small craters in the material. Both of those can be solved with some sandpaper and patience, but even then you're left with a pretty unflattering finish (in the pictures you can see some of the imperfections, I didn't bother sanding or anything because it's a prototype). Inside my Tacoma I have sprayed pretty much all of the chrome/silver accents with truck bed liner, which has given them an a pretty cool (and durable) black textured look, and I will probably experiment with that on the knob; I know they make a clear variant of the liner which I think would be cool as a textured clear coat over whatever color you want the knob to be. I'll post again probably tomorrow to show what that looks like on the knob. Last thing, @MESO and I talked about how the knob would thread on to the shift post, and I said there would be a cavity within the knob holding a couple lock nuts to give a secure mount. That discussion happened after I already designed what you see in the pictures which has the nut dropping all the way through; the next iteration will have the hexagonal hole replaced with a hole just big enough for the shift post to run through, with the nuts secured at the top within the knob. Enough blabbing here are the pictures, and remember, its a prototype .

 

Kinda cool, front row seats to R&D!
Also very cool of @MESO to offer assistance!

 

look forward to watching the progression of this.

 

Printing the updated version tonight fixing (hopefully) all the bugs from the last one, should have another update tomorrow. Got some cool ideas coming later too.

 

Love the progress and I need one in quicksand! Keep up the great work. Subbed

 

Update!

We're making progress folks, I had a list full of revisions to make from the previous version to this one, and I've got a slightly shorter but still significant list of revisions to make from this one to the next one. Just like I did with the first prototype, I'll give my list of disclaimers and everything I don't like about this revision up front so you all don't soil your pants and unsub when you see something you don't like. First, this version shows you all the textured finish I was talking about, so definitely give me some feedback on what you think about it; I personally really like it and I'm really excited to see how it would look in quicksand or army green, which will be how I do the next revision (coming hopefully tomorrow). Second, there's plenty to hate about these pictures. The next version wont have that disgraceful welded looking line running between the two halves, It'll have a cleaner seam running around where the front lattice portion sits in its cut out, the TRD's on the sides will finally be protruding like the renderings, and I'll continue to strengthen the top lattice. Things that I do like about this revision, it's definitely a lot cleaner/more polished in hand, the circular thru hole with the buried nut up inside the knob, the top is alot stronger than before, and I changed the overall size a little bit so it feels more substantial/solid. Tell me all what you think and I'll hopefully be back tomorrow with some more pictures!

 

Liking the progress, excited to see one in BRM!

 

UPDATE

For those of you who are like me and have been waiting desperately for something that (almost) looks good enough (almost) to spend money on, we're finally there. With this iteration I completely changed the top lattice section and remade it to where its much stronger (I cant break it), it looks better, and its more ergonomic in the hand. I made the whole thing 5% slimmer which makes a little less boxy feeling, and some other small changes to make it look cleaner overall. You can still see some marks in the pictures from the printing process that I didnt bother to clean up but obviously those will get cleaned up on the finshed products. The only problem still left to solve is the finish/paint, which I knew would be a problem as soon as I started this project; nothing wants to stick and I want to be able to color match the knobs with the different tacomas so I dont think the raw print surface will work. Ill keep experimenting but I definitely welcome any ideas you all have. Here's your pictures, and shout out to the green taco boys in the audience.



Also, the next things on the to do list are implementing the piece that will hold the leather boot on the bottom, implementing some buttons, coming up with alternative designs that will replace the lattice/web to give some variety when it comes time to build your own, changing the design a little bit to make the knob modular allowing the different pieces to be seperated and swapped out (mAxImUm cUsToMiZaTiOn), and I have some really cool ideas for some LEDs inside the knob. I have more resin and some LED stuff coming on sunday so you can expect another update (hopefully it'll be the best one yet) early next week. Thanks guys!

 

I haven't worked with consumer resin printers before, but I would imagine it can't be that different from regular PLA. I've finished plenty of parts from commercial SLA printers and PLA, ABS, PETG from FDM printers. The biggest thing is giving it a good scuff sanding and applying a quality primer. Where you will run into problems is cleaning up the lattice areas. For this I would try to avoid painting and see if you can limit the colors to 3 or 4 available resin colors (black, white, red...) and focus just on painting what you can more easily sand.

The other concern with painting in general is that the shift knob is used every time you drive the truck, and no paint is going to stand up to the abuse that a manual transmission is going to take. It is going to get nicked up by fingernails, smartphones, drink cans/bottles/cups. Then people are gonna clean it with harsh chemicals. If it develops a nice patina over time, that's ok, but just make sure that your base resin is made to account for paint failure (quicksand paint peeling to expose a purple resin is what I would consider undesirable)

Finally, have you mounted the versions you have to see how they look and feel in your truck? The top looks really flat, and it needs a little more lean to the back like the image below. Hopefully this helps, it sounds like a cool project to turn into a fun little business, and I wish you the best of luck.

 

Thanks for the insight, honestly I completely forgot about the manual tranny tacos out there lol, but assuming the threads and boot clip are the same it should work with both stick and auto. As for the paint you definitely make good points, the next knob I print I will try my best to sand the whole thing as good as possible and see how much better the paint adheres.

Also, I have mounted the knob in the most recent post in my truck, which is an automatic, and I love the way it looks and feels. I definitely like your take on it though and would be more than happy to make a version like that if there's people that want to have one.

 

The manual and auto have different thread sizes/pitch.

Edit: From what I can gather, M/T's are 12mm x 1.25 and Autos are 8mm X1.5

 

Very very useful info thanks

 

Subbed

Nice progress OP

 

I'd be down for a quicksand version!

 

Alright update time again,

School started on Monday so the past few days have been bananas figuring out how school and work are going to fit together, but I've been grinding on the knob every chance I get. As of right now, I hope/plan to have a fully functioning, fully stocked, open online store where you can design and order your knob setup by the end of next month at the latest. By that point I should have multiple different designs to choose from should you favor any of them over the lattice design that Ive been showing so far, I should have the option to include at least one button (I already have it modeled and printed but I would like to have the option to add 2 more), all of the knobs should fit right onto the leather boot like oem, and I hope to have some really cool LED features that you can add should you want (imagine an RGB aura effect glowing through the lattice portions at night ). Assuming I can get all of that done in the next week or two then I can work on some other things to stock the store with like custom apparel, decals, etc. but obviously none of that will happen until the knobs are 100% ready for sale. In the end, I would like to use the knobs as a launching point for a small business, selling things that nobody else makes and I wish I had on my truck. I can't thank you all enough for the attention and support, and I'll continue to keep you all updated as I make progress. I've got RGB diodes, microprocessors, and buttons coming tomorrow, and as soon as they come in I'll be dying to get an rgb knob set up, so hopefully the next update will be soon.
Thanks guys