Hey guys,,, so my transmission is gettin old,, not sure if the clutch or the input shaft are causing my issues. I've decided to let the transmission stay til it's broken,, but I am about to put my 582k mile clutch back in to rule out the south bend clutch as my issue. Which my truck always went into gear, and was silent until the south bend was put in. Right now it feels like I've got a spring or 2 messed up on the clutch dish. It clunks when torque is applied,,, there was an issue avout an improper size pilot bearing,,, yeah,,, dont ask!!!, i think im good with over 700k outta my ZF6, so im wanting to see how far she will go. Theres a big Zf6 dealer close to me called Inland Truck Parts that im planning on letting them revuild it, but not til she breaks. but ne ways,, onto my question about the transfer case. I'm pretty sure the floor shifter equipped trucks have a neutral setting. But those of us with esof,,, don't. Are the two transfer cases different? I ask because I'm gonna get a towbar. I had one with my 06 Dually and I just dropped the driveshaft when I used it. It makes for a very inexpensive tow truck. I highly doubt the tranny will give way when I'm close to home (and most of you know how often I am close to home).

So if the floor shifter trucks, and the esof trucks have the same transfer case (which is my first question) , is there a way to get an esof truck transfer case into neutral??? Thx all.

 

They are two different transfer cases and the one for the ESOF does not have a position for neutral.

The manual shift case is a NV-271
And the ESOF case is a NV-273

 

Reading in an RV tow guide somewhere back in the dark ages, Ford offered a retrofit kit for the ESOF transfer case that HAS a neutral position. It was designed so that people with ESOF could tow the truck behind their RV with all 4 wheels on the ground.

A cursory google search reveals that the Dodge version of the NV273 actually does have a neutral position, while the Ford version does not.

-blaine

 

i remember a kit offered for ranger and explorer but dont recall one for the f250+ but its possible there is or was.
zf parts are not cheep. imo if its a little broke and worn out now it maybe cheeper to fix it before it self distructs

 

Right on!!! Now were gettin somewhere. I won't be home until Tuesday,, more stuff to research. Lol. Thx Blaine.

 

I asked ITP about doing a refresh on it and it get said 1500-2500, with a rebuild costing around 2700. But there's zf6's on eBay for 1700. It sux that I just think the wrong sized pilot bearing that south bend said they gave me, caused my input shaft bearing to loosen up. I was told that the bearing can't be replaced without a tear down. The tranny is silent, and has never jumped outta gear. I hope to pull the sb clutch next week n inspect. Just a bummer that I never had an issue until I got the new clutch.

I also could use the neutral position in my line of work. Towbar the truck back if we're runnin with any friends. I've proved it many times,,, one truck pullin another,,, beats the mileage of both trucks running.

Its also is like insurance against any unforeseen breakdowns. Plus they make universal hookup plates for the blue ox that are fairly small and unintrusive. I can bolt them onto the ranch hand. I have pics of them on my last truck,,, just looked n couldn't find them.

I'm anxious to see if the stock clutch helps first. SB did give me a new design clutch that the started making. So it could be something they need to adjust on their r&d. They are good people and in sure they will stand behind it.

 

I'm hunting around on this, because it's always "bothered" me that I didn't have a Neutral position for the transfer case.

Like Moe said, the Ford kit was only available for the small vehicles, never for the F250. And it was, for a while, discontinued. It consisted of a reflash of the PCM and an idiot light.

HOWEVER.

I'm reading a bit about the PTO option on the F250+ trucks, which apparently DID have some sort of neutral, but wasn't widely available.

Apparently the user-preferred solution to flat-towing a truck this big is to crawl under and disconnect the driveshaft. These trucks sit high enough so that it's an easy reach, and it's only 4 small bolts. The Explorers and CUV's that have the neutral disconnect, no so much.

-blaine

 

Yeah, Disconnecting the ds is what I always did,, but it'd be cool to not have to tho.

I'm not spending that kind of $$$., but doesn't a gear venders have neutral??

 

you can also yank axels