Thor Forums

[TomAndLindaRogers]

While backing into a RV site, our Hurricane 29M gear shift hung up in “Drive”. I could move the lever to any gear, but it was still in drive. When I shut the ignition off, not the smartest thing to do, I could not restart the engine because it will only start if the transmission is in “Park”. Did I mention we were partially blocking campground traffic?

I removed the steering column top cover. On the left side of the steering column behind a wiring bundle, I found the gear shift cable. As I moved the shifting lever the entire cable moved. That shouldn’t happen. Just below the cable I saw the bracket that the cable was supposed to be fastened to. I put the cable back into the bracket, shifted the transmission into park, started the engine, shifted into reverse, and backed into our site.

Then I canceled the tow truck. That’s right, I wasn’t as cool and calm as I made it look above. The first thing I did was call roadside assistance. I was looking at an 80-mile tow to a Ford dealer and then, of course, an undetermined wait time for the repair. The point of this thread is, if you drive a F53 chassis and you can’t shift the transmission, there may be a simple repair.

I did go back in to secure the cable to the bracket with a zip tie. I figure if it slipped out once, it could happen again.