late 99 7,3 F250 4X4 with a ZF6 my engine checked out late this past winter. Found a good running replacement to swap out and had hoped to get a few questions answered. The donor motor is from an automatic transmission rig can I assume I won't have a problem installing a pilot bearing? I really hope that I can remove and stab the engine without removing the tranny and T case, am I gonna get that lucky? If so, it seems I' would need to add some sort of support to hold up the front of the tanny assembly. Thanks for any tips and pointers!!

hold up the front of the tanny assembly.

 

Pilot bearing installs into the flywheel so no problem there. You can pull motor with trans still in but you have to lift front of cab up. Take all that cab bolts out except the back 2 then lift cab up by core support and wedge some 4x4s in the cab mounts at the firewall

 

Yikes!! I was really hoping to just pull the bellhousing bolts and leave the tranny in the truck, Yes, no, maybe? Pulling out the motor with the tranny and T case attached, seems like overkill?

 

No you leave the tranny and everything in place. Pull bellhousing bolts. But you have to life cab up in the front to lift the motor up high enough to get the input shaft out of the clutch. If you don't fit it up some the oil pan hits the cross member. You either have the jack the cab up or pull the transmission out first.

 

Oh, OK that makes sense, still sounds like a PIA but it is what it is. I have a week or so to get ready, I'll try to hunt down a you tube on lifting the cab, try to get it right the first time.... Thanks!!

 

Al you have to do is take out all the cab bolts except the back 2 then jack the front up. That's it. Your just lifting the front up a couple inches not lifting the whole cab.

 

Crewcabs SUCK. The bolts behind the front seats (under the carpet) are a pain. Regular and SuperCabs are cake!

 

I've never messed with them on a crew cab on these year trucks. I've done my supercab but not a crew. Did some bushings on a crew cab 2011 but the bolts come in from bottom on those. They were still a pain in the ***. lol

 

After 07 for the ugly front end change and horrible 6.4L, Ford got smart and started bolting from underneath since they figured out that any service work on subsequent models required cab removal to do anything.

The 99-07 Crewcabs have 8 core support/cab bolts and the carpet has to be lifted behind the front seats to get numbers 5 and 6. Like all of them though, the rearmost (easiest) bolts can stay put.

 

As for holding up the transmission bellhousing, I use a pipe cut to length that fits inside the frame rails but before that found that a ratchet strap works well.

 

Yeah, sounds like it's gonna be a real treat.... I should be able to use my two post lift to raise the cab I assume, probably lift it where the cab meets the fenders? In the grand scheme of things I wonder which is simpler, dropping the running gear, or raising the cab

 

I don't mess with raising the cab on crewcabs just because of the cab bolts. I pull the transmission.....my preference as interior work irritates me.

Regular cabs and Supercabs are so much easier to raise the cab. Remember, just the front comes up. I use a 2x4 stacked on a 4x4 on both sides of the core support at the front of the frame this gives 5" of lift and just keeps the bed from contacting the back of the cab.

Your call on how you do it though. Automatics are so much easier to R&R (and flat rate times reflect that).

 

I don't mess with raising the cab on crewcabs just because of the cab bolts. I pull the transmission.....my preference as interior work irritates me.

Regular cabs and Supercabs are so much easier to raise the cab. Remember, just the front comes up. I use a 2x4 stacked on a 4x4 on both sides of the core support at the front of the frame this gives 5" of lift and just keeps the bed from contacting the back of the cab.

Your call on how you do it though. Automatics are so much easier to R&R (and flat rate times reflect that).

 

I just lifted my crew cab to pull my motor on Friday, wasn't too bad but I pulled the interior out so I could sound deaden the floor at the same time, so the bolts were easy access. make sure you ratchet strap the back of the cab to the lift arms. Also while it up reseal the rear cab vents with some 3M marine sealant, so easy while its in the air. Once the cab was up I just disconnected the drive shafts and used a tranny jack to slide the trans and transfer case back and the motor came right out after a bit of struggle separating the trans. Don't forget both ground straps and watch out for the tranny shifter, mine was especially tight because of the short throw shifter riser, I would recommend just pulling the 6 bolts and covering the hole then you won't have to deal with it all. My thought was with a zf6 and having to loosen the cab bolts anyway just pick the cab all the way up and work like a gentleman, I mean thats how Ford built the truck in the first place and I didn't have to remove anything on the nose not even the Degas bottle, I just loosened the fan and put a piece of cardboard against the rad and used a bungie cord to hold it in there and that cord was also useful for holding the power steering lines and passenger side battery cable. I should have plugged the fittings on the abs block though, didn't like have to clean up the brake fluid oops. Oh and if you are running a Fumoto drain valve with the nipple and or the Big Donaldson filter remove those ahead of time unless your lift goes up wicked high, would have saved my self some time if I did that although I'm running 37" tires so crossmember to core support clearance was tight.

 

Turning into a real chit show, 20 years of Idaho, and Alaska HWY driving has wreaked havoc on the undercarriage. Didn't get past the front bumper before I had my first frozen nuts. Driveshaft bolts were next, followed by crossmember... gone be a real knuckle buster. Should have the tranny dropped tomorrow, hopefully the engine out as well. As far as lifting the cab? No, hell no, all I see are more problems, took a peek at the cab bolts, yeah they're saying.. good luck wit that buddy