Hey guys, I've been eyeing the shift knob to the Japanese Fit RS for a while now, and I finally got my hands on one. I bought it off a guy on ebay that sells JDM parts. He didn't have an auction listed, but I just messaged him and he was able to get it for me. It was $96 with shipping from Japan, which only took about 5 days! I ran into some issues with it, since it's not exactly compatible with our USDM Fits like I thought, but here's what you need to do to install this beauty.

Here's a closeup of the knob and its part number: 54102-TF0-R02ZD.



Another glamour shot.



Here's the before shot with the old stock knob. To remove the knob, you pull down on the silver shift boot holder/grommet (not sure what to call it, it's that little silver piece right below the knob). Once that's loose, you just unscrew it.



Here's the two side by side. You can see how much bigger around the JDM one is.



From this shot you can also see how much taller it is.



The old knob weighed in at 62 g.



The new knob is about 2.5 times as heavy, at 159 g.



Here's where I started running into issues. From here, you can see that the JDM knob is obviously fit for a different shift boot holder/grommet (notice the little tabs sticking out in 4 separate directions that the old USDM knob doesn't have).



Here's another shot of the tabs. They have to go if we're going to get this installed properly.



Here's the other problem I ran into. The locking tabs for the JDM knob stick down about 8mm more than the USDM knob. That means when I install it, the shift boot holder will have that much of a gap between it and the knob. I couldn't think of a way to get around this.



I took a dremel to the tabs on all 4 sides to remove them, first using a cutting wheel to shave them off, then a grinding attachment to smooth it out.



Here's the new knob installed. It looks pretty, but there's that damn gap below it.



Here are a couple more shots of the gap. I'm not sure how to get rid of it. I was thinking about trying to superglue the silver piece to the bottom of the knob, but I'm not sure it would hold. Plus it could end up ripping the leather wrap off of the knob, since that's where the leather starts, and it doesn't seem like it's held on very tight.





The new knob shifts wonderfully though, and I like the size and heavy feel. I highly recommend this knob, even for the price and work needed to make it fit. Enjoy!

 

Nice, glad you finally got the knob! You should have bought the jdm shiftboot instead of dremeling, imo

 

Yeah, I thought about that, but it would have probably cost me another $80 after shipping. Not really worth it to me.

 

Agree with Tofu the JDM shift boot is a must. The gap would make my OCD go nuts...

 

I'm going to just glue it once I get ahold of the correct adhesive. I'll post pics when it's done.

 

Gorilla glue?

 

Just lift the center console up and wrap electrical tape and a thick ziptie around above where the little L goes. It will probably pay to have a helper to hold the console up or prop it up or something. It will take up the extra 1/4 inch and keep the boot from falling. You won't be able to see it. I say use electrical tape because the outside is rubbery and the ziptie won't move at all.

You won't be able to take off the shift knob easily but it will be the same thing as if you were to use adhesive or glue, except it's not permanent and if you want to take off the knob all you have to do is lift the console, snip the tie and take a blade to the tape.

Source: Me because this is what I do when I brake my boot's collars, and I ALWAYS find a way to break my collar somehow.

 

Consider this or something similar:
TWM Performance Shift Knobs - Shift Knob Hardware

 

Awesome post and sweet upgrade. I added this to the ever growing list of accessories haha. Can you PM the name of the seller?

I'm wondering if instead of chopping those fins off completely, maybe you can use a dremel to reshape them into makeshift locking tabs? I haven't looked at anything except these pictures so maybe that wouldn't work at all, just my first idea.

TofuShop might have the right idea with that adapter too though.

 

I think going with the JDM boot would be the best route for a seamless fit. He can probably give you a quote on that and combine the shipping. His ebay username is plijokkjiu46521kkjh. Then doing the entire install would be similar to this video:

 

I'm probably going to use Amazing Goop Household.

 

a drop of epoxy on each side of those prongs would work, or just put a zip tie around each prong + wrap in some kind of soft tape. Even double sided tape would work around the prong. You just have to add something there to make the prong "shorter".

 

If you're going to glue it I would say epoxy is the way to go for a permanent glue job. What I would do, though, is use hot glue. just put a small bead around the boot ring and hold it up to the shift knob for about 10 seconds. It would probably hold just fine, but if you ever want to remove it, you can scrape it off with your fingernail.

 

I LOVE this knob - night and day compared to the silly little knob they put in the American version. I'd agree the right route to go would be to replace the boot as well if that's what it takes to get a proper fit. Anyone recommend a reliable seller for these parts, or is EBay pretty much the only option currently?

 

I like the leather knob, but the acura rsx type s shift knob is also a direct fit, it comes with its own shift boot ring, nut, and shift lever cover.

 

Nice, but looking for the look and feel of a leather knob, to match the oem leather steering wheel. So far I'd say that stock rs shifter takes the cake for that.

 

If i had the leather wheel i would probably agree. I don’t at this time so i like the titanium knob better. But if i go with the exl wheel i might change my mind.

 

I can verify that my local Honda dealer was unable to order any JDM parts, even gave him the part number from this thread.

 

Yeah, for the seller I went through ebay, but didn't buy through ebay. I just saw that he sold JDM parts, and sent him a message seeing if he could get the knob. He gave me a quote, and I paypal'd him the money without actually doing an ebay auction. His ebay user name is plijokkjiu46521kkjh if you want to contact him. Also you could try contacting the guys at japanparts.com Make sure you specify that you don't want the orange/red stitching though, you want black stitching if you want the exact same knob as above.

 

maybe a dumb question, but how do you remove the stock knob? The ring twists with it. Do you just pull the ring down? I don't want to risk breaking the clips if this is incorrect.