Dang I should not have opened this thread! D: Now I really want to manual swap my Excursion more...

That looks like a really great truck! Congrats on a sweet score.

 

Thanks! The ride went great. I'm used to daily driving a dually with 4:10s and I found out how badly I missed having 3:73s for cruising on the highway. It was really nice to have the RPMs lower while cruising @ 70.

Otherwise, I found myself catching on to the ZF-6 quickly.

Once I got within a few miles of home, I quickly learned that hill starts are a little challenging. I live in a pretty hilly area. Those are one thing that I am still working on perfecting.

 

Thanks!

I am totally in love with the ZF-6. I have to admit, it was a bit of a leap of faith to go from always driving an auto truck straight into a manual. I have wanted a ZF-6 truck for a while, and wish I didn't wait so long to find one.

I don't miss driving my 4R100 truck one bit! I just love having total control of the truck and I never had that with the 4R100. It just wasn't always doing what I wanted it to when I wanted. And especially when towing in hilly areas while it just didn't always shift when I wanted it to and etc. I am pretty much surrounded by hills here in Eastern PA.

I have learned that hill starts can be a bit challenging but I am starting to get a little bit better at them. There are lots of intersections around here with uphill approaches.

 

 

It's not that hard to start out on a hill, just put it in first and let off of the clutch until it starts to pull then let off of the brake and go. I can do that with 3.73s and 35s, it should be no problem with stock tires.

 

 

Congrats on your purchase, getting rarer to find such a good truck still available with a ZF 6 speed no less. I found doing the accelerator pedal's TPS mod allowed easier go pedal/shift timing. As far as fluid I run 5w-40 Mobil 1 diesel engine oil in my 340K mile ZF 6 speed, I found it lessens the "gear rollover" noise and is easier to shift in cold weather(central Florida can get into the low 30's) as compared to the bit heavier 15w-40. The 5w-40 oil has MUCH better lubrication abilities compared to ATF. Once again congrats on your purchase.

Here is a link to the TPS mod I spoke of, really helps with shift/accelerator pedal timing: https://www.thedieselstop.com/conten...%20Pedal%20Mod

 

Time for the long overdue update! I've been meaning to update this thread this spring but as we all know, sometimes life just gets busy.

I haven't really missed my 4r100 truck at all since driving the ZF-6, traffic here and there can get annoying however the control with the ZF-6 is something I've always wanted.

Ol' Reliable has been treating me quite well. I've put about 5,000 miles on her since I've purchased her and she never let me down on the coldest days this past winter. I have a short daily commute to the college I attend and drive around 20ish miles a day. I was concerned with not being able to use the block heater since my apartment complex has no outlets outside, but she always started without much fuss.




Since the truck was only driven 3,000 miles since 2014 and sat in a barn, I figured at some point the brakes were going to need attention. One of the front calipers started to stick one day, and when I took a look at the crusty pistons, I decided that it was time to replace all 4. I'm very happy I did, the truck seemed to accelerate and roll down the road with ease after. Besides the calipers, it's only needed a clutch safety switch.





When I changed the oil for the first time in March, the PO told me it was last changed sometime in 2014. I sent out a sample to Blackstone labs for analysis just to see where the engine is at health wise and it came back with good results but they recommend I send another because the first analysis was more than anything a baseline test.















In other ZF-6 happenings, my friend who runs a small landscaping business was in the market for a small dump truck back in May. The truck he found was a relatively rust free 66,000 mile 2000 F-450 with a ZF-6 in southern Maryland. Since he hasn't driven stick before, he had me come with him as he was pretty keen on pulling the trigger it if it checked out. I gave it the mechanical once over for him and he pulled the trigger on it. I drove it the 140 something miles back to Pennsylvania for him. Afterwards, I gave him lessons on driving the ZF-6. He has grown to love the ZF-6 and really likes how he can now control the speed better going up and down these PA hills with 10-12 yards of mulch in the dump body.

















In the meantime, I've been using Ol' Reliable to pull my 18' landscape trailer and haul lawnmowers and small tractors and such in the bed this summer. I will be installing the tow style mirrors off that were off my friend's F-450 since he upgraded to the '08 and up style mirrors. Otherwise, she is due for a coolant flush. I am looking to flush the system and switch from the green coolant to either CAT or Shell Rotella ELC. I have also been looking into adding a coolant filter. The Dieselsite filter setup seems to be a good bang for the buck. Is anyone here running the Dieselsite filter? Just curious as to how you like the setup.

 

Cool update man. Dug the read and pics. Good luck with the business..your buddy dump truck was a creampuff find.