I have a 37' Class A motorhome with a 460/C6 powertrain. I have a 7.3l PSD from a 1997 4wd 5 speed manual pick up available as a donor.

My eyes are bugging out from researching transmissions. I looked at using the C6 since it is already set up with the drum parking brake on the tail of the tranny and I HAVE to keep the parking brake.

Any help out there is appreciated. Is it possible to use the C6? Since the donor 7.3 psd doesn't have vacuum like the 460 has, am I better off (cheaper) to just go with the E4OD?

E4OD from what I read had the drum brake on some installations. Would the tail of the C6 with the drum brake bolt on to an E4OD?

I need an expert! I'm ready to ditch the whole idea and live with the 5mpg a 460 gets. But I'd rather have the diesel.........

 

i'm not sure you know what your getting your self into. you'd be better off putting in a 6.9 or 7.3 idi for ease of installation. the psd, you will have a mandatory wiring nightmare to make it work. an idi would be very easy and you could use a c-6. put a turbo on it and it will outperform the 460 bye leaps and bounds and get double the fuel economy. pete

 

The trans is the least of your concerns right now.
If/when you get the wiring, dash, etc for the 7.3 PSD figured out, then just keep the E4OD. It's a better trans than the c6 and has OD to boot.

You can get the tailshaft parking brake for the E4OD if that's really want you want/need. They came on the '94 - '97 (and earlier actually) F-Super Duty commercial chassis trucks. They are actually a 4wd transmission but in a 2wd truck.

 

The donor truck is a 4wd 5 speed. I don't have an auto yet, that was really the reason for the post. I guess it's not the ideal donor for this swap since it doesn't have an auto and an ECU programmed for the auto. But, I could take any pieces from the truck I needed such as wiring, dash etc......

The motorhomes ONLY parking brake is the one on the tailshaft....that was why I specified that in the original post. I guess a 18,000# GVW is why they don't use the usual parking brake pawl.

 

Pete, the fuel economy is what I was really after. With the 90 gal fuel tank that it has already, I was drooling over the potential range it might have on a cross-country trip. There are a lot of RVs parked, with fuel prices so high.

 

You can certainly make it all work, but I'd use the E4OD over the C6 if nothing else because of OD. You can put a C6 behind a 7.3 PSD but if your'e going that far, go for the E4 and grab a E4 wiring harness and PCM to run it. Or just ahve yoru 5spd PCM re-flached.
You'll need a 4wd E4OD, or if you're stuck with a 2wd E4, have it rebuilt and have them swap the tail shaft and leave the tail housing off. You can sometimes find the tailshaft brake on eBay.
I'm not sure but maybe the C6 brake you have now will bolt to a 4wd E4?

 

It is possible to use a C6, just not the one you have. You need a C6 with a case that will mate to a 7.3L, yours will not. You can install an electric vacuum pump and a vacuum control system from a C6 equipped diesel Ford. I expect parts for that are getting rare, the last one Ford build was 17 years ago.

An E4OD or 4R100 would be my choice, but they are both electronic and require wiring and a computer, but you will already have them with the engine. You'll also need to do something about getting a vehicle speed signal from the rear axle if you want the trans to shift.

 

Mark and Jim, this is the kind of info I was after!!!!!!! And from 2 experts........THANK YOU to both of you.

I wish I could afford to stuff a 6.0 in there, because I'm a huge 6.0 fan. But since that's not an option I have to go with the next best thing.

 

Now you're talking.
I don't see it much different than doin the 7.3, other than possible initial cost for donor truck.

 

If you're interested, I've got the E4OD in my truck, its a 4x4 version so it would work with your parking brake. I'm doing a 5 speed swap come August, so maybe we could help each other out. Swap all parts straight up, or some cash one way or the other, depending on condition of parts, etc.

I'm not far from Newnan either. I'll send you a PM.

 

Hmmm....need to check on that. It's a Dana 70HD, more research and reading to do.

 

This guy had an interesting method of getting his VSS to work on an old Ford 9". I'm no expert, so idk if its a good idea or not... Seemed to work. New Guy with a '96 PSD Centurion Bronco Project - Calling OBS Turbo Diesel Gurus... - Page 5 - Ford Powerstroke Diesel Forum

 

Guys have been using that small tone ring deal for years, probably since the darn rings started appearing in the axles. Mostly when using military axles.
But I'd have the tone ring up at the trans somehow and not down in the elements at the rear axle.

 

Quick 9" spring perch width and VSS relocation questions - FSB Forums
Good info here on the tone ring setup at the tranny

Project: Moose-Knuckle - The Ranger Station Forums
Info on calculating the number of teeth on the tone ring

The post all this came from...https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-electric.html

 

That's an impressive setup for low$ and looks pretty easy to do! Really good info in that post.