I have done several (more than 12) zf's swaps over the last 10 years in both my 1979 F350 and bronco, and my 1989's f350 and F250 crew cabas. I have converted all mine to 4wd also from c6's. I learned a few things along the way. Timken bearings are the way to go period. Timken does o0ffer a kit for this but we found the timken seals are not as good as the nationals. Sometimes it easier just to but a seal and gasket kit and then get the bearings direct from a timken source. I have the link to the timken catalog is you need it. lastly, the small parts should be gotten from Midwest as I have found them to be the best source. The snycro's are very tricky because noneof the aftermarket stuff fits well. Stay away from the bronze syncro's ..they are poorly manufactured and will cause you nothing but problems (will have to replace in the first year). Try to find a ZF set of syncro's if possible (yes they are expensive).Happy new year and, once done correctly, the ZF will last you at least a decade and several hundred thousand miles).

 

The GTP site has zero info. I'm waiting until Monday to call and get info and price, nor have I been able to contact Midwest by phone yet to confirm the quality of their $300 kit. Some members recommend Midwest, so I'm sure that either Midwest or GTP will have quality kits. I will soon find out and port what I learn.

Again, thanks to all for the valuable and helpful info.

 

Thanks, Lisagoud! I will be sending you a private message when I get back into town. May I leave the subject of this thread for a moment to ask about steering? I'm having a tough time getting my steering correct and safe. I've rebuilt the column, installed everything possible new, king pins, bushings, tie rods, rag joints, redhead box, etc., and still I have just enough free play to give me bounce steering that scares me on the freeway. Can anyone offer a bit of advice here as well? Much appreciated. k

Clutch master: I've been told that the throw is critical, the amount of movement into the cylinder to insure full engagement of the clutch, so I'll be paying close attention to that. I've also been told to use a quality line to the slave.

 

[QUOTE=F-250 restorer;15907997]Just wondering about brands. Is the Luk gold a good choice?

Luk is a stand-up company (Valley City, Ohio). I used to be in management in both GM & Ford Parts. Luk would buy the OEM clutch from me, run their tests on it, find several fail points etc.. Then they sat down and developed their product to overcome all the OEM short comings, issues & problems. I've NEVER heard of anyone having a problem with a Luk product, period!

 

Checked out Luk's website as I heard sometime back another company bought them. I was looking up an alloy flywheel & clutch kit and noticed they have a service bulletin out for the ZF5. Not sure if it pertains to you or not but wanted to make you aware of it. RH top corner of the page (yellow shaded area) when you click the link. Good luck with your swap!


Schaeffler Group USA Inc. | Online Catalog Search Results=

 

Tuesday, January 5th, 2016

*I want to post some info for those who are searching for ZF kit info in the future.

This morning I was able to call GTP in Chicago. I'm happy I did. I found that they sell zero aftermarket parts or kits. All their stuff for the ZF is made by ZF in Germany. That left nothing to be said. I will still call Midwest tomorrow and see what the difference is and compare quality, but I'm certain no one will top ZF for quality. However, If, say, I find a kit with Koyo or Timken bearings for considerable less, then I may go that way, but I doubt it.

GTP rebuild kit #1307 (large kit) with seals, gaskets, bearings, needle bearings, but w/o syncros $250

The syncro kits are interesting. Either you can buy an entire kit of the syncro rings (1307-sk) for $225, or three separate assemblies of the syncros with springs and contacts, for $175 each. They come with first and second gear assembly, third and fourth gear assembly, and fifth and reverse assemble, each for $175. I need to look at diagram to understand what the springs and 'contacts' are. I'm sure GTP did not say 'contacts,' but I can't remember the term/name he used.

Tomorrow I'll post the info I get from Midwest. k

 

You will want to replace ALL the syncronizers

 

Yes, but are the springs/kits for the syncros needed, or just the rings?

 

The individual kits include the slider rings and hubs in addition to the synchro rings and springs. I bought these instead of just the synchro rings because of wear on the dog teeth of the sliders.

 

Good morning. I just got off the phone with Midwest Transmissions and was a bit surprised. I was told that their bearings, in their kits, are 'from all over.' The woman said that they also use Chinese bearings sometimes. That startled me. I was also told that the syncros they sell are brass.

I was very surprised to hear this since Midwest was recommended. That is why research is so important. "Why is there never enough money to do a job right, but always enough to do it over."

It seems that GTP (General Truck Parts, in Chicago) is the only source I can find with top quality parts. I should also mention that I am not opposed to using aftermarket parts. But inside a trans is not something easily changed. If the Chinese bearings/syncros will take a turd in a year, then I'm happy to buy top quality ZF parts.

The amusing thing is that the ZF parts are not much more expensive than those from Midwest.

Kit from General, with all needle bearings and standard bearings: $250
Kit from Midwest, minus the needle bearings-----------------------: $134
Midwest needle bearing kit---------------------------------------------: $67.96

The Midwest bronze syncros(that one member said would last a year $178.70
General ZF syncros kit-------------------------------------------------------: $225.

I want this build/trans to last, so I'm going to General with my $$

*I just wanted to add that I was surprised at how unconcerned Midwest was about Chinese bearings. The person I spoke to did not give a rat's ... about the quality of their parts.

 

Personal experience with LUK brand clutches says that they are good quality. I put one in a Camaro for a friend (LUK Gold was OEM for the LS7), one in my Dad's 4.3 S10, and one in a 4.7 Ram I had (OEM was also LUK). Never any issues. Rock Auto has them very affordably as well. I have also used Sachs clutches with good results.

Personal experience with Koyo bearings as mentioned above is also that they are very good. I rebuilt the 205 in my highboy with a kit that used them. I prefer Timken/ National/ SKF, but Japanese bearings are good. I'd avoid products made in Taiwan, China, or Korea.

I contemplated a ZF swap in my highboy, but ultimately though the NV swap would be simpler. Sold the truck before I got that far, though, and bought a '97 that came with a ZF5.

 

Not to high jack, but hopefully this will add to this thread.
I have been looking to swap a zf into my 92 f150, and was wondering if the clutch for my t-18 would work with the zf?

 

I've had some cars with horse power in the past and have always used Center-force clutch kits. They will take quit a beating and keep on gripping! They are designed to have way more grip and still have an easy pedal pressure. Don't know but I'm sure they have them for our trucks.

 

I believe I will order from GTP before they decide to use Chinese bearings. Hopefully that won't ever happen, but ....

 

Hey guys, I'm spending too much money on this and becoming an expert on how to hide it from my wife. I converted the truck to 4x disc some years ago, and now need an ebrake since I'm going from C6 to ZF. I found several of the ebrake drums for the zf on ebay, but am hesitating to make sure it will work with my 2x zf.

Does anyone know if it will? The ones I see on ebay look as though they have an extra section added to the rear of the trans, which mine does not have.

Thanks all.