I have a question about the cross member for my ZF swap. My donor transmission was already removed from the truck when I got it, so I didn’t have a chance to get that frame piece. I went looking for one in a junkyard, and realized I need more info before I spend the time to pull one.

The first truck I looked at was a 1991 460 CID F450 Super duty stake-side truck with the driveshaft brake ZF (so the same as a 4x4 ZF). The cross member was relatively straight across, but the frame was wider under the cab that it was at the engine bay or under the bed. So, the cross member would be too wide for a regular pick-up frame. I looked in the pick-ups, and found one under a 1993 460 CID F250, but it was a 2x4 ZF. That cross member was slightly “C” shaped, curving around the aft end of the transmission housing. This made me wonder if the 4x4 and 2x4 versions of the ZF used different cross members.

I suppose I should have pulled both of them anyway and tried to make one work, but both trucks still had the transmissions in, and it would have been a job to get out the cross members. The main frame piece isn’t so bad, but the two angled braces on either side look like the cab has to be lifted to get the bolts out, or else the bolts need to be cut. I didn’t have anything to cut them with, and that would have been a LOT of work if it turned out that I could not use either cross member. Can someone send me a picture of the “correct” ZF cross member for a pick-up frame 4x4 ZF?

Is the ZF cross member really so different that one cannot modify the old T-19 cross member to fit it? If the ZF and T-19 are so similar in size that you can use the same drive shafts it seems like the cross member should be really close too. I guess I’ll know why once I get the chance to compare the two…

 

The 4x4 one is different so the front driveshaft will clear it.

Depending on how bad the body mounts are, you may or may not have trouble reaching the nuts on top of the frame. With my truck I needed to pry the body up a little to get a wrench in there, but at the time the body mount bushings where shot. The good news is that the body would hold the wrench in place while you removed the bolt.

I don't know about the t-19 cross member, but they might be the same, just with different holes to mount the tranny mount. *shrug* someone else will have some more details.

 

Thanks. Glad I didn't spend the time to pull that one! I doubt I will be able to find the ~right one at any of the junkyards around here, but I'll keep looking now that I have a better idea what I need. Otherwise it's fabrication time

 

You can use the t19 cross member for the Zf. A member by the handle of Cheaperjeeper did this conversion several years ago. https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/6...body-lift.html In post 7 in this thread, he tells of what he did to use the T19 cross member.

 

Thanks! That was an overall GREAT thread for me to read for my ZF conversion, and confirms that the T19 cross member will work. I really don't have much to work with in the way of salvage yards (the one where I found the two wrong ZF cross members is a 3 hour drive from my house!) so I am particularly glad to hear that I don't have to continue the cross member goose chase...