[Cory]

Originally Posted by Adam.garcia

I have very little experience with pneumatics, so this may be a fairly trivial question. But, from what I gather, when the piston is extended (or retracted) and hits a gear before it completely extends or retracts, the piston will remain locked into that position.

Adam. If the center distance is shorter than the stroke length, will a problem arise of the system jamming or the free spinning dog gears being pushed out of place?

What engineering thought should go into the dimension for those center distances?

The system won't jam but you will greatly increase your odds of shearing the pin that links the dog to the shifter shaft.