Recently, a volunteer organization in my town purchased a fully loaded 2005 Ford F350SD XLT 6.0L Diesel, Automatic, Crew Cab pickup. The truck was purchased through another company that deals with emergency vehicles and was "supposed" to be optioned like a Lariat, except not having leather seats of course.

They missed 1 option however, the pushbutton 4WD. Of course this was discovered a little too late and the emergency truck company had already cut holes in the bumper and well as drilled 4 holes in the roof for a lightbar, so returning the truck was out of the question.

At this point, everyone is basically blaming everyone else and taking each other to court but its looking like the volunteer organization is going to have to eat it on the '05 truck.

My question is, would it be possible to purchase the correct transfer case and dash switch to resolve this issue, assuming its that easy?

I would have to imaging Ford does not have a seperate wiring harness just for the electronic shift trucks, so there "should" be an unused plug under there, as well as behind the dash cluster.

Does anyone have information as to weather or not this would work and/or how it would be handled?

Any information would be appreciated, thanks in advance.

-Morgan
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Morgan,

I don't know anything about what's involved in making the change from a manual to an electric shift but I will tell you that I would prefer the manual ANY day. There are a lot of issues with the solenoids that shift the transfer case and they always seem to go out when you need them the most. Is there a particular reason the company needs the pushbutton transfer case??

 

I cant really say what their justification for it is, other than perhaps between driving and talking to other vehicles or dispatch, its a lot easier just to push a button. They have a 1995 7.3PS 4x4 as well as a 2001 7.3PS 4x4, I know at least the '01 has the pushbutton so I guess they just liked it.

Ive been researching this a little more since I posted as well as had a few friends of mine who have friends at various Ford plants kinda doing a daisy chain to get some information back to me, but at this point, i "think" ive figured out that you can use the existing Transfercase, however it will need the electric motor installed in it. The brake pedal position switch as well as the digital transmission range sensor should already be in the truck. The front hubs will need to be changed from manual locking to auto-locking, which will require whatever assorted vacuum lines and solnoids associated with that setup. Last....(so far) cause its probably not gonna be the last thing needed, is the actual switch panel for the dash.

At this point it might be a little more than they wanna try and do, but Id at least like to give them another possible option.

 

Surely there are more important issues in life.

 

great post, that helped a lot

 

As an "emergency" vehicle I don't think it would get a lot of miles. Just leave the hubs locked. I doubt if anyone will even notice. The one feature the auto has over the manual is that it will not attempt to make the transition from one mode to the next unless the conditions; speed, trans position, etc. are correct. However you should be dealing with trainable adults who can be trained to properly operate the manual system.

 

I am not sure about the F350, but on the F150(of which I am currently working on) You would have to Change transfer cases to accomplish this task. The manual has a shift lever which comes into the front of the T-case and the auto has the motor inserted in the rear of the case. Now there is a place in the casting for the motor to go on the manual version, except the holes for the shift shaft and motor mounts have not been machined. It could be converted, but the expense of having someone machine it and buying the internal parts and the motor to convert it would not be cost effective. I am sure selling the case you have(or trading it to a 4wd shop) and then purchasing the electric version would be the way to go. I am not certain about the electrical portion of the conversion. As for the hubs they are readily available from aftermarket sources, or some individual converting their rig in the opposite direction.

 

sounds like to me they are either lazy or too picky to shift that lever. We have a ford brush truck with the powerstroke, manual transmissin, floor shift 4wd and manual hubs and there isn't moaning or complaining going around our fire dept about it. I prefer the manual transfer case and hubs anyday. It's a lot less parts to go wrong.

 

I'll second the recommendation of encouraging you to stay with the manual lever shift - less complicated and it will always work.

You can have any decent shop replace the front manual locking hubs with automatic hubs, they do exist for the Superduties. Just like the older trucks with automatic hubs, you switch into 4wd with the lever and the hubs lock. To unlock, you switch the lever to 2wd then backup about 10 feet and they're disengaged.

If you want to convert to electronic pushbutton 4wd, you can, its a matter of adding the wiring, the control module, the switch panel, and the relays, and purchase a new transfer case that has the electronic "shift" motor built into the assembly. The transfer cases are different, manual to electric.

I don't believe there is an extra connector and wiring for this built into the truck, since the option wasn't ordered with the truck. Some options are always wired whether you acquire them at purchase or not, I don't believe this is one of them. But, tearing into the dash will let you know for sure, as I'm guessing based on my ownership of several older ford trucks over the years. I stopped buying new trucks once they hit the $45K range for crewcabs.

 

well if it was my fire company, we would have the manual floor shift 4wd as well, but its not, as a matter of fact im not even involved with the organization that his the "problem truck". As far as being lazy or picky, its completely irrelevant to my question, I simply asked if and how it could be done, everyone has an opinion, it doesnt change the fact that they ordered a $40,000 truck, someone screwed up and now they dont want it.

thanks for the input. I still have yet to speak with the "owners" but if they are interested id like to at least give them hope that it is possible.

Thanks for everyones replies. If this project does end up happening ill be sure to keep everyone posted.