magicsurfbus
Free Member
So there I am driving my MH back to the storage site prior to a Euro trip starting early next week, and my bloody gear lever knob crumbles and falls off in my hand before I've got out of the village.
Changing gear is extremely problematic with no knob, so I put it in knobless second and slowly find my way back home.
What next? Try eBay for 'Fiat Ducato Gear Knob' - nothing doing. No shortage of boy racer knobs, but most of those don't fit a lift/reverse gear stick, plus delivery time might be an issue. Try a wider Google search and all I get is parts suppliers offering search services - nothing actually for sale.
'I know' thinks I, 'It's going into the garage for new tyres on Monday, see if they can get one'. So I ring the friendly local garage, and to their credit they gave it their best shot, but the price quoted for a Fiat knob is over nearly £50 and it'll have to be ordered from Italy. It may not arrive until the day we set off to France so I don't want to be worrying about that for the next few days.
'I know' thinks I, 'Halfords has no shortage of knobs, I'll try there'. Well of course they're all pimped up boy racer knobs, and only one claims to be lift/reverse stick compatible and it's all shiny alloy. I have no choice but to buy it - £30 kerchiiiiing.
So I then spend an extremely frustrating hot afternoon trying to fit this item with its alloy mount and three tiny grub screws onto a gear stick with a lift/reverse spring pushing against it. At least one grub screw goes AWOL through the open cab door. Fortunately there are four in the packaging. I'm getting impatient with fitting it and re-fitting it, I over-tighten the screws, and the threads start stripping from the light alloy mount. One of the grub screws gets jammed. My knob goes all slack and dangly and won't stay upright.
'Bugger it' thinks I, 'There was a spare one left on the shelf at Halfords, I'll buy that, use its lift/reverse mount as a replacement then re-sell the rest of it (complete with its alternative mount) on eBay to recover some of the money'. I have no choice but to buy it - another £30 kerchiiiiing.
I get the second one home, open it and find there's only one bleeding grub screw instead of four, and no Allen key. Some sod has bought it before me and returned it minus grub screws and key.
Well to cut a long story short, I know have a new firm shiny knob in my MH, and a second bloody useless knob with insufficient grub screws sitting in pristine packaging in my kitchen.
Anyone out there need a deficient knob?
Hope you found it funny - I'm sure I will one day..
Changing gear is extremely problematic with no knob, so I put it in knobless second and slowly find my way back home.
What next? Try eBay for 'Fiat Ducato Gear Knob' - nothing doing. No shortage of boy racer knobs, but most of those don't fit a lift/reverse gear stick, plus delivery time might be an issue. Try a wider Google search and all I get is parts suppliers offering search services - nothing actually for sale.
'I know' thinks I, 'It's going into the garage for new tyres on Monday, see if they can get one'. So I ring the friendly local garage, and to their credit they gave it their best shot, but the price quoted for a Fiat knob is over nearly £50 and it'll have to be ordered from Italy. It may not arrive until the day we set off to France so I don't want to be worrying about that for the next few days.
'I know' thinks I, 'Halfords has no shortage of knobs, I'll try there'. Well of course they're all pimped up boy racer knobs, and only one claims to be lift/reverse stick compatible and it's all shiny alloy. I have no choice but to buy it - £30 kerchiiiiing.
So I then spend an extremely frustrating hot afternoon trying to fit this item with its alloy mount and three tiny grub screws onto a gear stick with a lift/reverse spring pushing against it. At least one grub screw goes AWOL through the open cab door. Fortunately there are four in the packaging. I'm getting impatient with fitting it and re-fitting it, I over-tighten the screws, and the threads start stripping from the light alloy mount. One of the grub screws gets jammed. My knob goes all slack and dangly and won't stay upright.
'Bugger it' thinks I, 'There was a spare one left on the shelf at Halfords, I'll buy that, use its lift/reverse mount as a replacement then re-sell the rest of it (complete with its alternative mount) on eBay to recover some of the money'. I have no choice but to buy it - another £30 kerchiiiiing.
I get the second one home, open it and find there's only one bleeding grub screw instead of four, and no Allen key. Some sod has bought it before me and returned it minus grub screws and key.
Well to cut a long story short, I know have a new firm shiny knob in my MH, and a second bloody useless knob with insufficient grub screws sitting in pristine packaging in my kitchen.
Anyone out there need a deficient knob?
Hope you found it funny - I'm sure I will one day..
British quality huh 
oh:
problem solved I used a mole grip for two years 
