Hey guys so I have a 94.5 f350 2wd and I am wanting to convert it to 4wd and I have heard that it is easier to just find a 4wd tranny which makes a lot of sense but it is costly to just go and buy a new transmision, I have heard you can convert the transmission but it doesn't sound as simple as just swapping the tail housing. Wondering if anyone on here has any advice it would be greatly apreiciated. I believe tranny is a zf5s42

 

Welcome to FTE.

By the time you get done, you are going to wish you horse traded your 2wd for a 4x4.

The ZF tran loads from the front. Stand it on the tail and pull the guts out the front end.

http://s5.photobucket.com/user/kawam...00179.jpg.html

Not simple, not just the housing.

You don't have a tailshaft mounted parking brake do you? That makes it simpler.

 

No it has a standard parking brake. So its probably not worth the trouble for an inexperienced person like my self then?

 

I would say no. The entire 4x4 conversion process is beyond the novice mechanic as well. First off, you need a donor vehicle. So now you have two trucks anyway. If you get lucky and find a low-mile gentle roll over that no one has touched, good for you. Usually is a bad wreck, high miles, rust etc or some combination of the 3 which gives you some, but not all, of the parts needed.

There are posts on here about conversions. It is possible but it is not practical nor financially sound in most cases.

Some of the trucks use a different frame for the 4x4. Not sure about yours.

 

Ive done the conversion. Its not that hard. It took me a long 4 day weekend having all the right parts and doing it by myself. If you have help installing and grinding then you should be able to do it easily. My only advice is order the parts first before working on it. I hated that my truck is down for the amount of time it was.

 

Did you have a donor truck or buy the parts individually?

 

Unfortunately I had a donor truck. You can find everything at an auto wrecking location. What do you have now? (as in parts)