Ok, i feel like i've been posting that "i'll be doing my auto to zf5 swap soon" for close to 6 months now, and hopefully that still is the case :-), though i have some things i'd like to run by you all as i near my start on the project.

Being unsuccessful in locating a donor truck for the swap, i have gone about acquiring all the needed parts piece by piece. i have the trans, pedals, shifter, and floor plate all sitting in my barn right now, and i'll be buying the single mass flywheel and clutch as well as a pre-bled hydraulic setup. Howver, i'm still short the a set of zf5 extended cab driveshafts, a manual pcm, and the transmission support frame crossmember...

i still have a junkyard run or two in my future, but trying to do this on as low a budget as possible, my plan for the remaining needed parts is as follows:

- rear driveshaft: make a rear-drive spacer so that i can use my auto driveshaft - a pretty straitforward job since i have the flange connection on the 4407 t-case. i know that i can have my driveshaft lengthened for about $100 bucks, but making the spacer would only cost me about $30 in material, and i can make it perfectly balanced in the shop here at work. my question regarding this is, does anyone have an accurate number for the length difference in the E40D and ZF5 transmission so i can make my spacer up ahead of time rather than taking precise measurements once i can stand the E40D and the ZF5 next to each other and measure? Bill (ReBilld), i know you gave me a number of ~3-5/8" or something like that in a PM, but i've since deleted the message when my box filled up. mind providing again?

- front driveshaft: pick one up cheap if i can before i do the swap. otherwise, just leave it off after the swap and get my auto one shortened once i'm convinced the whole manual trans setup is functioning properly.

- tranny support bracket: i'm thinking i should be able to pick one of these up from a junk yard as it should be the same from any truck with a zf trans and 4 wheel drive. if i can't find one, though from my research so far, it appears that transmission mount support surface on the E4OD bracket sits a little lower than the same spot on a ZF5 bracket and that the right side of the bracket is different from the ZF5, with the left side being identical in mounting holes. so worst case, i take some measurements from my 2wd zf5 truck, drill some holes to be able to mount the 4x4 auto trans crossmember forward the required amount (using the left side holes as my guide), and make a spacer up for under the rubber transmission mount to get the tail end of the transmission sitting at the right height. a little bit of fab work, but by taking good measurements, using some bar stock, and end mill and a drill bit and i should be able to get the geometry just right, i'd say.

- pcm: leave it exactly as is and deal with the start-up lope until the zf is in and confirmed to be functioning correctly. then, send it out to DPtuner for a manual trans flash and re-pin/re-wire the reverse gear sensor and transfer case connectors as needed.

ok, i think that's all that's left to deal with. any feedback on all of this is much appreciated. i thought about tacking on to BuckHammer's epic tranny swap thread, or one of ReBilld's threads, but figured a new thread might keep things a little cleaner for future searching by other folks...

thanks again guys!

 

When my PCM had automatic programming with the manual transmission, it was stalltastic. I had to be really careful with the clutch when taking off. Then when I had DPTuner reprogram it for a manual transmission, it was quite a bit better about that.

 

good to know - thanks. i'm trying to find a spare PCM between now and the swap so that i can have one auto and one manual. i guess i'm just trying to leave myself an out in case something goes wrong with the swap and i need to go back to the auto trans. i sure hope that doesnt happen though. i was cleaning the zf5 on the barn floor over the weekend it running it through the gears sure felt alot better than that dumb auto-tranny column shifter...

anyway, thanks for the bump. now, i'm just waiting for Bill to log on and post his drive shaft measurement :-)

 

I forgot the measurement, but if you have a local hot rod shop with a balance and the auto drive shaft is longer than you need your new one, just have it cut down.

 

You cannot afford to miss where the carrier bearing lines up with the chassis. When I first did mine, I was using a donor shaft from another ZF truck, and the carrier bearing was off by about 1/2" or less from where it should mount into the chassis. I figured it was close enough and just sort of stretched it over. WRONG. I chewed through that carrier within 500 miles. Had to have the shaft remade to the correct length.

 

The ZF is 5 3/8" shorter than the E4OD. I wouldn't make a spacer that long, no way. If you can do drive shafts at work, just lengthen the front half of the rear shaft (between t-case and carrier bearing), and cut the front one down, then balance them. I'm just worried that making spacers to put in the drive line will cause you problems later. Honestly the best way to go is to cut the shafts

 

5 3/8" that was the measurement i was looking for, Bill. Thanks.

As for the 'spacer,' plan, i'm not completely sold on it myself, but i can't see why it wouldnt work. it wouldn't be just a 5.375" hunk of material with 4 holes and ~6" long bolts, through it. the issue is that i have access to good machine shop equipment at work, but not a shaft balancing setup. but as long as i use a dial indicator for all my machine setups, the resulting part will have to be perfectly balanced.

Since the 4407 t-case on my 96 has the 4 bolt flat flange to flat flange d-shaft to t-case shaft joint, my plan would be:
- order a 6" length of round DOM tube, with the OD just a bit bigger than the 4 bolt hole pattern on the flanges, and the ID just smaller.
- face both ends on the lathe, bringing the length down to 5.375"
- check both inner and outer round surfaces with a dial indicator for runout and concentricity. turn down and bore as needed.
- set it up on the bridgeport in an indexing head - getting it perfectly centered with a dial indicator
- drill and tap the 4-bolt pattern from the flange connection in both sides of the tube.
- drill the threads out of the flange on the t-case side of the current setup in the truck such that the resulting hole is as close as possible to the OD of the bolts.
- insert the 'spacer' between the t-case and drive shaft and insert 4 bolts through each of the original flangse into the tapped holes on each side of the spacer.

by doing it this way, the tension and shear setup on the 12.9 bolts will not change, there'll just be 4 more than usual.

and plus, my total cost this way will be ~$30, compared to $150-200 i've been quoted for the lengthening of the rear driveshaft.

ok, i am honestly looking to debunk this plan. i'd rather hear good reasons why this won't work now, than find out the hard way that i didn't think of something. i jsut can't find any issues with the plan right yet.

 

Ahh, I thought you had a way to balance drive shafts, my mistake.

 

no worries - i wish i did have a rotary balance. i can think for alot of uses for it!

i did do some measuring and staring out under my truck yesterday and it seems that most of my plans won't work.

1. it doesn't look like i can get DOM tubing of the correct OD/ID easily and boring the center out of a solid ~5" bar doesnt make much sense as the bar stock itself is close to $100. i'll check a few more suppliers, but it looks like i'm back to the need to find correct-fit shafts, or having mine modified

2. while using the old auto trans support member could certainly be made to work, it doesnt look like any of the holes will line up when moving it forward the required distance. drilling the holes in the outside of the right frame rail and the bottom of the left one would be easy. it seems that making the top holes on the left side would be a rear bear. they'd either have to be drilled with the tranny already installed, or i'd have to mark the holes, remove the tranny again, drill the holes, then put it back together a 2nd time. probably easier to just keep searching craigslist/junk yards.

Oh well.