As with most things, if you have enough money to throw at it, I'm sure it could work. I don't know if they will bolt up without an adapter to start with, then the drive shaft will be different, then there's all the electronics that control it...............I'd just get a JW or BTS & be done with.

 

 

How heavy is your trailer? These things seem to be capable of pulling a lot of wt. If you have the money you can change your rear(s) and I've seen some action here just recently on an auxiliary transmission of some sort that gives another gear.

 

I haul a 11000 boat 9k 5th and have no distractions since my rebuild.

My wife ways 9k so I'm way over limit legally so I cut her seat belt so if she gets ejected, I don't get a ticket.


Kidding, she's 125'r . as young as the truck is, modifications are your call of course. I have my E99 that still hauls the mail like nobodys business on a rebuild with a tugger kit.

I also moved in to an 08 w a 6.4 and to be honest, the 6.4 will outdo anything my 7.3 will do...............However, I think I'm just crusty and use the 99 for all grunt work because I know it inside and out and I would absolutely have a breakdown mentally if I scratched the 8. (she's perty)

I have a TS 6pos switch and it really peeled the eyelids back in terms of shift points and desired applied power. If your not chipped, these trucks are like cattle, but will get you there.

I damn near divorced it a week after trading in from a chev dually with a manual 6.5 that was very snappy. Chipped it and I couldn't be amazingly happier at what these trucks can do.

Denny

 

 

For an automatic the 4r100 you have now is a very good transmission when built, in fact many people that drag race with 6.0 and 6.4 trucks will swap the 4r100 in place of the 5r110 because it shifts quicker and holds up better when built. If you really need more gears then the easisest thing to do would be to swap in a ZF6 speed, that's what I did.

 

Nobody makes a kit to do this, and I'll bet nobody ever will. It's far too involved to make this swap practical.

EVERYTHING is possible given enough time and money. If you have the time and money I can put ANY engine and transmission in ANY truck. I get to set the price and schedule, though. Oh, yeah, I don’t offer any warranty!

In the old days, before computer controls, if the trans would bolt to the engine it would work. If it wouldn’t bolt to the engine it wasn’t very hard to buy or make an adapter so that it would bolt up. While computers have made vehicles MUCH better (I’ll save the why that’s true for another article) it has made swapping engines and transmissions much, much harder.

Transmissions are now shifted by a computer. The 5R110 wouldn’t be possible without computer controls. The shifting is too complicated for hydraulic controls.

The 4R100 is an all non-synchronous design. This means that for each upshift all that happens is a clutch is applied. All you need to do is control the pressure to the oncoming clutch and you're all set.

The TorqShift is MUCH more complicated. The 1-2 and 5-6 shifts are the same as the 4R100, they are non-synchronous and all you need to do is control the pressure of the OD clutch. The other shifts are the problem.

The 2-3 is a swap shift. This is a special category of difficult shift. I believe Ford was the last trans maker in the world to produce a swap shift transmission. Others have put swap shift transmissions in production and then replaced them within a few years. To make a swap shift the TorqShift needs to release the OD clutch to downshift the OD gearset while applying the intermediate clutch to upshift the Simpson planetary gearset. This is an upshift and a downshift occurring at the same time in the same trans. From my experience these two shifts MUST complete within 30 milliseconds of each other or it's going to feel awful. If the OD releases too soon the engine speed will flare. The amount of flare is dependent on how much sooner it completes. If it completes before the intermediate has enough capacity the trans goes back to first gear! Then it has to make a 1-3 shift. A few WOT 1-3 shifts means the trans comes out to replace the intermediate clutch. Been there, done that. If the OD releases after the intermediate comes on you end up in 4th gear (1.09:1 ratio) then downshift back to third gear (1.54:1 ratio.) Either way it's really bad.

Now if you made it through that you need to make a 3-5 shift. 4th gear is the 1.09:1 ratio that is only used in special circumstances. The 3-5 is a synchronous shift. It's timing requirements are about the same as the swap shift, but there is no downshift. To make the shift the intermediate clutch has to release while the direct clutch applies. If the intermediate releases too soon you get an engine speed flare. If the intermediate releases too late you get a tie up. A tie up is when all three pieces of the planetary gear set are held from turning. This means the output shaft of the trans STOPS. That's not a pleasant thing to have happen when you have the go pedal on the floor making a 3-5 shift. You can lock the wheels on an upshift! I've done this, too. You can also break expen$ive parts doing a tie up. Been there, done that, too.

Now start thinking of the combination shifts that can happen. How about cruising at 55 MPH behind some slow poke on a two lane road? A passing zone opens and you floor it. Now you may want to go from 6th to 3rd gear. You need to release both the overdrive and direct clutches and apply the intermediate. That's a synchronous shift in reverse.

As you can see from just these few examples it isn't a trivial task to make one of these transmissions shift. It's what I did at Ford for quite a few years, three of them working on the TorqShift. I'd be really surprised if anyone makes a controller for the TorqShift that works really well. I think someone could make one that does some basic shifting, but getting one so that it shifts at least as well as a stock trans is going to be a HUGE task.

 

This question has crossed my mind before too, the simplest thing I could think of would be to swap in a manual ZF-6. I'll admit i don't know a lot about transmissions but my understanding is that the manual ZF-6 has no input at all from the PCM. if this is correct, why couldn't you build or have an adapter built for a newer manual transmission with more gears?

I know the project would be complicated but is it doable?

 

Yes the ZF6 sees no input from the pcm the only wiring on the ZF6 is the reverse light switch. The ZF6 is the newest manual transmission Ford used, there hasn't been a manual with more than 6 speeds put in a Diesel pickup from the factory, 6 gears is plenty, if you really wanted to you could get a custom adapter made and put an Eaton 10 or 13 speed in, there are a few videos of people who did that on Cummins trucks and it would be about the same amount of work to put one in a 7.3 truck.

 

 

I tow in cruise all the time with my 6 speed with the torque of the 7.3 I rarely have to downshift. I am from the Proctorville area across from Huntington WV.

 

I know the place. Not all that far from me. Maybe a couple hrs .

 

Just gotta say that I love having Marks input and assessments in this forum. We are truly lucky to have the information supplied by this individual.

I'm all'ready married and can't have babies (forum).

Denny

 

I just dropped in the HD4r100 about a week ago, Like it so far. Havent pulled anything but the bass boat so time will tell.