Can someone 3D print me a part?

[Irving]

Hello group,

I'm in need of a part replacement for a part that no longer exists in the wild. I have the broken pieces. My go to for printing is in the middle of a move so I need to reach out here and see if anyone can help me. I only have two weeks until I leave for Moab, so I'm kind of under time pressure.

The part is a piece from my shifter.

The piece is this small plastic cap that fits on the end of the shifter. It's the one all the way on the left, out of focus. The large plastic one is actually broken as well, but that one isn't causing a problem.


I got a shifter from an older year, but it has a slightly different style, which I had to cut one side to remove. I tried to heat the plastic so it would stay in place once reinstalled, but it didn't last.



Anyway, this is the part. You can see that it is one piece, with three gaps to allow it to be snapped in place. I removed it one too many times and it broke at each of those three relief areas.


I really struggled trying to glue it back together, but nothing I've tried has held.



Can anyone help me with this? I can drive the vehicle to you and take everything apart so we can measure the ring on the transmission that this bushing rides inside, the ball it fits onto, plus the part itself.

[bradbn4]

I don't think a 3d printed part will stand up to the intended use. My guess someone with a lathe + drill press/mill might need to do the work with nylon.

[Circuits]

If you've got a solid model for it, I'll load it into the printer - no guarantees it'll last.

Good suggestion from bradbn4 about having one turned from free nylon or delrin.

[Wulf202]

Order a piece of delrin and chuck it in a drill and shape it

Or buy that mini lathe

[Erni]

I don?t print Nylon yet and this should be made out of nylon. I can do PLA but at trans temps that would be a bad idea as it would deform.

You could redneck it for now by making a small groove on the outside and using some thin wire. That should last a while. In the meantime take measurements and I can cad you up a nice part you can sent to a shop or an online 3D print or machine service.

[Irving]

I think I can get my guy to model it. That'll be a start. I have some delrin laying around.
Does the transmission get over 350 at the top where the shifter is you think?

[bradbn4]

now you can print with some of the materials that should last a bit - and there methods like ez-bake the item to increase strength. The last time I tried printing with such materials it nuked my print bed when I tried to remove the part. However; I would say that specific part seemed to be sold and would last...that reminds me, I need to upgrade that printer with a new removable print bed.

PETG might have been the stuff I used because of the lower temp requirement and no need to run the printer into an enclosure.

[DFBrews]

What is the trans make and model. And rough dimensions
I can print in pla petg and abs but no nylon.

Have the little lathe too

[Irving]

It's an AR5, which shares the same main body as the AX5, R150, and others. I'll have to dig up more info later.

[Erni]

Irv no clue on temp but PLA gets soft in the dishwasher so will not last. ABS? Higher temp and I think it might be oil compatible.