Hello all,

The truck: 1976 f250 Ranger 460 Auto 2wd with power steering.

The problem: It does not shift into the lower gears, only neutral, drive, reverse and sometimes park. I can no longer feel the gears as I shift through them, either with the truck running or off. The truck never stays in park, it slides into reverse. (common problem).

About a year ago I had a new transmission put in. I don't ever drive the truck, so I have forgotten all about this issue. If I remember correctly, I believe the mechanic told me that I would need to replace the shift tube. Any ideas on what the fix could be? with the new tranny install all of the linkages from under the truck are all intact, and I can feel the gears shift from the linkage bracket under the truck. Thanks for the help.
-Brice

 

I could be the shift tube but, before you go throwing money and parts at something, it best if you do some troube shooting first.
The shift tubes do occasionally go bad but the most common problem by far is the shift socket at the top of the column. Most people call it a shift collar, that's the part that the gear shift lever goes into. It's a zinc die casting and has a built in weak spot, the bridge between the outer collar and the inner socket. This cracks and eventually breaks leaving you "shiftless".
Pull the steering wheel and remove the turn signal switch and flange. You'll see the shift socket and can visually check that the bridge is either cracked or okay.
Replacing either the socket or the shift tube isn't particularly hard but it can be frustrating. The reason is the two square headed bolts that hold the flange to the steering column can be a royal pain to get in position and tighten. Everything else is pretty straight forward.

 

 

To be sure, I would have to tear into the column to see.
I don't think it would be shift tube related. Usually the only thing that goes wrong with the shift tube is the lugs that are spot welded on either end break free and no longer move the shift arm.
The shift tube is pretty simple. It's a hollow tube with a "key" spot welded on each end. The one end is keyed to the shift collar and the other end is keyed to the shift arm at the base of the steering column. When you move the shifter, you turn the shift collar and this in turn twists the shift tube. At the other end of the tube, that key engages the shift arm. When you twist the tube, that moves the arm. When the tube goes bad, one of the keys breaks off.
As for not feeling the shift position, there are two additional possibilities. On the underside of the flange is a detent plate. This keeps the shift lever from slipping out of position. Another possibility is there is an issue with the valve body of the transmission. You can check this fairly easily. Crawl under the truck and disconnect the shift rod from the shift arm on the transmission. Move the arm from the park to the low gear position. If everything is okay in the valve body you should feel distinct "clicks" in each position. If you don't, then there is an issue with the valve body.
Here are a couple of pictures of the shift tube key and one of the shift collar and flange.

 

The last time I replaced the turn signal switch, I remember seeing that key on the top end. It was not welded down to anything. If it not welded on, I should just replace it.

 

Here are some more pictures. The first is the detent plate on the bottom of the flange and some additional pictures of the shift tube and NSS actuator and how everything is laid out.

 

If they key has broken loose, that's your problem.