I have an 82 F150 with a 4.9l 300, it has a 4 speed transmission with a granny gear (needless to say, this sucks on the highway). Does anybody out there know which 5-speed I can swap out for my 4 speed. I am interested in picking up a 5 speed transmission for it. I have to change out the clutch fork and the pilot & throwout bearings anyway, might as well do the transmission at the same time if I can. Please let me know.

-cp

 

I did this swap from a 4 speed none OD to a ZF5 speed OD in my 84 F250 with a 460 it was a fairly easy swap to do any ZF 5 speed from 88 to i think 94 or 95 will work. You dont want a ZF that uses a electronic speed sensor for the speedometer or one with the clutch slave cylinder on the inside of the bellhousing any ZF from a 300 6 to a 351w powered truck will work for your truck and if it is a 4wd then you will need a ZF5 speed with a 4x4 output shaft housing for your T case if its a 2wd then you just need one out of a 2wd truck The truck i swapped it into was a 2wd so it made things easier

 

If you got the bucks, the best option is the gear vendors overdrive, but expensive at about $2,600.

 

Low on bucks, it will probably be a junkyard find to be honest. I have called almost every tranny-shop in Vegas only to be told they can't do anything for a truck that old. (Yeah, I'm not buying it...) But all the same, if I can find a ZF5-Speed for a 2wd, I will be a happy guy. My 4-speed with the granny gear is killing me on the highway and I don't really need to be able to tear stumps out of the ground. I would however, like to be able to keep up on the highway and get a little better gas mileage at high rpm.

 

I have another question for you guys... is $1150 a good price for a remanufactured ZF with a warranty?

 

First of all the Zf in the 300 six and 460 was the only one that had the external slave cylinder. And a 460 will not fit behind a 300 so you may hafta go to the internal set up.

 

Not to be stupid, but what are you talking about? You mean the one off of a 460 won't fit behind a 300?

 

Is your tranny dead? If fuel mileage is the concern it will take a long time to save $1,100 on fuel. I would only expect a 10-15% increase in economy at best.

If you drive 20,000 miles a year and get 12 MPG @ $2.00 a gallon you spend $3,333 on fuel. If you increase your mileage to 14 MPG you will save $476 a year.

Just a thought

 

To swap a ZF into an 82, you're going to need a set of pedals from an 83-86 truck with a hydraulic clutch. You'll need to invest in a new clutch too, the small block ZF's(300/351W) use an internal concentric clave cylinder, and your old clutch will not work properly with it.
And, no, a 460 transmission won't fit behind a 300.

 

Here's the problem... the truck has been through some changes. Originally it was getting 18-20 on the highway. That engine crapped out and I got the truck as a non-running entity. I put a new engine in it (25K on it) and have since put in, new clutch, new exhaust... now it gets 11-12 mpg. It has 35 gal. worth of tanks on it and I am only getting about 400 miles out of two tanks. Also, the speed on the highway it's capable of is something just a little above a crawl. I feel like I'm driving the short bus everytime I enter the freeway and can't get above 60. So, a friend of mine recommended that I change out the tranny (which is most likely getting to the end of it's life anyway at almost 400,000 miles) for a 5-speed without a granny first. That way I don't have to start out of 2nd everytime I shift, and I will have more range in the speed. I don't do a lot of towing and having granny 1st doesn't get used. I can recall once in the last year when I was removing a tree from my girlfriend's front yard.

So, I want to make the swap rather than replace the one that is in it for the same thing. $1,000 isn't a lot to me to save over $500 a year in gas since I don't ever plan on getting rid of this truck.

 

I have heard that there is a 5-speed that is a straight swap, any idea what that is? I have a new clutch in it, I don't want to have to replace it and pedals, and everything else.

 

How about a lower ratio rear end?