No clue here sorry, but I can bump ya.

 

The differences:

Front case half/lever shaft assembly with the "rooster comb".

Find a salvage/wrecking yard 271 front case half and you're golden (or just find a good used 271 if you don't feel a transfer case disassembly/reassembly is in your skillset).

The hardest part of the swap is finding and installing a good shift lever boot and punching out the glued-in floorpan plate where the lever comes through the floor. Also, the switch wiring that "tells" the dash bulb and PCM that you're in 4x4 or low range is non-existent in an electric shift truck where all that information comes from the GEM oor the 4x4 Module (depending on the year 99-01 or 02-03).

It's NOT a straightforward swap and is not for the faint of heart if you want it done right.

 

I wasn't aware that there was an input to the PCM for 4x4. If someone converted from 2wd to 4x4, would they need a new PCM? I was about to do this to my '97 before it got whacked.

 

The only reason the PCM cares about the transfer case mode is for low range so the shift points can be adjusted accordingly. Manual transmission pickups aren't so finicky.

 

 

So if you already had your answer, why'd you bring it up here?

 

What about a manual-to-electronic conversion? Has anyone done this?
I would not mind losing the floor shifter...

 

Read Cody's first post (#3): You'd need to do the opposite, which actually sounds even harder. Finding the dash switches, GEM or 4x4 Module, the floorpan plate. I suppose all the automatic hub stuff if you've manual hubs - don't know if electronic shift was available / possible with manual hubs.

 

 

 

Not going to work on a 273 without a functioning GEM/encoder. No place for the manual switch from a 271 either.

 

• Stop at the bottom of the mountain to lock my hubs each time I go home, and again each time I go out
• Drive with them locked which costs fuel economy

I think I would have to swap front axles and buy a bunch of other parts to convert, which would cost more than the fuel I'd save.

 

I'm an old school kinda guy, I don't mind getting out and turning hubs when needed. What I do miss is the LS rear from my '97 2WD F250, never needed 4x4 then. Now I get stuck in my driveway - open diff in this 4x4 truck - but I think it tracks better on snowy roads. The 2WD drive was fun on exit ramps, I could always get that back end sideways in the rain!

 

I have LS, and there is one curve climbing my hill where I spin both rears in 2WD, Need 4WD to pull around that corner without sliding sideways into the ditch.