HAS ANYONE INSTALLED A LATE MODEL ZF 5SPEED BEHIND A EARLY 6.9, SUCH AS THE ONE INSTALLED IN MY '83 FORD F350? IF SO, WHAT PROBLEMS DID YOU HAVE AND ARE SPECIAL PARTS REQUIRED? ANY AND ALL RESPONSE ARE WELCOMED.

 

I am also interested in any infomation on this type of trans swap.

 

I just spent about an hour chatting with a fellow who has tried all sorts of options on transmissions and motor's from the ford series. I was particularly interested in the zf 5 speed/6.9 hookup. He said he has tried this swap. Problem #1 ...the ZF apparently has needle bearings at the input shaft. When hooked up to the diesel, these don't hold up by themselves. The most early diesels with the 5 speed got recalled or else fixed. The fix wasn't to put ball bearings in as one might expect but to add a harmonic balancer otherwise known as a dual flywheel to the back of the engine. Problem # 2... these harmonic balancers (or dual flywheels) are very expensive new... $500 . Problem 3. There are aparently some plastic parts involved with this harmonic balancer that if the clutch heats up from slipping too much... they melt. Apparently this fellow was under the impression that all zf tranny's had this needle bearing problem and thus the harmonic balancer. His suggestion was to go with a 4 speed t-19 and use a spicer tri-speed gear box. This was aparently made in the 50's thru the 70's for midweight trucks (F600, International 1700, etc.) He aparently put one in a 2 wheel drive and has 3 gears four speeds to choose from. He didn't know how to hook this up to a 4X4 with the transfer case, so he suggested one of the two speed overdrive units.(u.s. gear...etc)
Thought I'd share this info... I Would apreciate other comments concerning such transmission swaps and related items.
Tony

 

what about using the 5 speed from an 88 and up 7.3? any big problems there?

 

Being that the 6.9 and the 7.3 use the same crankshaft you should have no problem hooking this up. You will however need to have all the parts. Flywheel, clutch etc. It will bolt right up.

Dave

http://a2ztowing.homestead.com/a2ztowing.html

 

that sounds good. a buddy of mine has a 90 model f-350 pretty much like mine except newer and he rolled it. he has sold most everything but still has all the manual trans equiptment. I really prefer a manual anyway.

Brad