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picked up a zf5 ford to swap out my t-19 on my ‘86 f350, problem is, extension housing was removed because it was cracked. Thought it was a good buy at $100, but after calling 6 different shops, I’m starting to get worried. Anyone have a source for these? It’s the 4x4 housing 460 version. Thanks!
Problem I’ve come across actually looking for this trans is that the 2wd superduties with the same housing as 4x4 seem to not make it to junkyards. They just dissappear somewhere, that’s why I can’t even find a local yard that has a zf-5 or the extension housing. I’ve been searching for a zf-5 for about a year, and this housing for about a week now, no local shops, junkyards, Craigslist, Facebook, or national transmission rebuild supplies seem to have them. A lot of the answers I got were they don’t make them anymore (obviously) and they don’t have one. Did they break that often that they’re all dried up or hoarded? I saw one on eBay for $750....
another question is...are they succeptible to breaking? Are there any preventative measures, or top causes for failure? Or is my internet searching just giving me bad news?
Extension housing? You mean the back half of the transmission? I was under the impression that can't be removed without disassembling the transmission. They don't have separate adapter like a T18 or C6.
Extension housing, back half, transfer case mount, 4x4 adapter, rear assembly...yeah...that thing! They are awfully proud of them on eBay now. Especially when I see websites list them for ~$300, but when I call, they don’t have anymore. Supply and demand is kicking my butt.
My son, a tech for Mercedes Benz in Denver, had the same issue while repairing a ZF in a 97 460 he'd purchased for me out that way. He said the e-bay ones where drop shippers, and after he paid them, they returned the $ a week later saying they could not supply the part. It happened twice. He finally found one from ZF in Germany, cost him around 350 as I recall. That was a year ago, about this time. During the trucks down time, he purchased a used 5 spd from a Denver U-Pick for $75 and threw that in to make the truck mobile. It's dead quiet, shifts perfectly and so he stopped the overhaul project. I have the original 4wd trans here in a couple of tubs and believe I have the tail housing, although I told him to resell it. I'm not sure. I have no idea how to post a private message to include email and phone numbers, so need help there. I'll check with my son to see what happened to the housing. I've been driving this combination for over 25 years, with over 500,000 miles on a couple of them and have never heard of this issue, so don't feel the need to hang on to it as a spare. I've the factory tools for this box and have inside several over the years, mainly for syncro issues on trucks I've picked up for my farm.
Mike - here's pics of new housing + part numbers. I'm not sure of what fits what, maybe they'd be of some use for you. I'm not parting with the new housing. I do have a 4wd ZF out of my ol 89 here on the farm. The trans/transfer case work flowless, and I've cleaned up the internals of the shifting lever on this vintage 1356
01-22-2019, 11:10 AM
