Hi guys,
I'm new here so be gentle. LOL I've aready hijacked a couple of threads on here that are dealing with this subject but I thought I'd start my own thread.

I own a 92 F350 7.3 dually crew cab that I bought brand new. It has been my baby. It curently has, all of, 50,000 miles on it and it's alway been garaged. I've added a Banks sidewinder turbo to it so it has plenty of power but the problem is that I'm on my third E4OD transmission. I do work it pretty hard by hauling a pretty large overhead camper and pulling a 20 foot enclosed car trailer at the same time but that is why I bought the truck. The truck is great in every respect with the exception of the tranny so I'm going to change over to a manual trans. I've been looking for a used/wrecked 92 diesel 5 spd donor truck but I'm having a hard time finding one. My question is will the pedal assembly and all other components from an 88-94 interchange with my 92? I do custom metal fabrication and streetrod work for a living and own my own shop but I do not do mechanic work as such. I will probably even hire my transmission guy to do the installation but I want to resource all of the parts.
I have also heard a rummer that there is an Allison 6 spd trans that can be used behind the 7.3. Has anyone heard of this?
Thanks to all of you for your help. There are some very knowlagable people here and I appreciate your imput
Thanks in advance, Walt

 

If the rumor on the allison 6 spd is true i'd like to hear more about it. I'd rather drive a 6 spd any day of the week over an auto.

 

To go to the ZF5 you need a donor truck to make it affordable. All the parts should fit, pedal, cylinder, etc... may need a new valley pan where your shift lever comes thru the cab.

ZF5 is a good standard tranny, I got it on my 93' turbo, love it.

Don't know about the 6 speed Allison tranny, ZF makes a 6 speed for both the Ford and Chevy Diesel Pickup Trucks starting in 2006. It will fit to your motor but the rest will be a custom job. Given the cost of the ZF6 plus cost of modifications it will get expensive, too expensive from what I could figure.

Should be able to switch to the ZF5 for less than $5,000 if you put some of your own elbow grease into it.

Have you done all the upgrade mods offered by the aftermarket guys into your E4OD automatic. The E4OD is not a strong tranny, but there are upgrades available to make it stronger so you can actually do some towing. For heavy continues towing I agree the E4OD is too weak.

 

The local salvage yard sells ZF 5's for 1500.
The ZF 6 is 2500.
The ZF 6 was available in 99 behind the 7.3 Power Stroke.

Should be able to do a ZF 5 for under 2000 if you already have a manual tranny.
The ZF 6 will be more because you have to change, cut and adapt a few things like the cross member and drive shaft. If it is a 4x4 you also have to swap transfer cases to a BW 283.

 

Thanks guys, I will continue to look for a donor truck but it would help if I knew if years other than 92 would be compatable. I figure if it will cost me $5000, that is still cheaper than a new truck and besides, I have no idea which truck to buy. I've been a ford lover most of my life but after this truck I kinda feel let down.

Hamberger, when I took my truck in to the tranny shop for its 30,000 mile checkup they told me that the tranny was shot. when they went through it they said that there were 21 updates that needed to be done, including the center bearing on the main shaft. It cost me over $3000 for the rebuild job but i thought that I was good to go. 10,000 miles later when the trans failed again they did a bunch of after market modifications to it including a better torque converter and I not sure what else. When the transmission failed again 8,000 miles later I said screw it and took it to another Trans shop, thinking that my tranny shop didn't know what they were doing, but there is still some things screwed up including on occassion the torque converter stays locked up when you stop. The computer has been replaced 3 times and all of the sensers have been changed several times. All of the wiring has been tested thouroughly. It's been quite a learning experiance for me but most of this, I didn't want to know. This has been the "Readers Digest" version of my story with this truck over the past 14 years but maybe you get the picture.

So..... to say the least, I do appreciate all of your imput and thanks for helping me to get my baby working again.
Sorry for the long-winded posts, Walt

 

For the ZF 6, the mods to crossmember and driveshaft isn't that big a deal, i have access to all the tools and a little help from a friend who has taught me how to fabricate a lot of things. But my question is on the pedal assemblies and if their are electronics, and what i'm gonna need. Installing and fabricating come easy to me, i hate wiring. And was 99 the only year or could i use one from 99-02? Thanks

 

yeah.............. what he said. lol Is the 99 ZF6 the only one that will bolt to the 7.3?

 

I'm thinking any year after 99 (with the 7.3 PS) will work. I'm sure someone will chime in and confirm.

Also, being in CA, I've read that http://www.picknpull.com/ is a good place to look, in case you haven't tried there.

 

[QUOTE=bentring]I'm thinking any year after 99 (with the 7.3 PS) will work. I'm sure someone will chime in and confirm.
.[/QUOTE]

Don't confuse an old guy OK!!!!!! Do you meen before 99????

 

After as in year made. 99-03 I believe.

 

The ZF 6 off any 7.3 Power Stroke will work, I am not sure about the ones behind the 6.0 motor.

The cross member and other small mods are requires.
The ZF 6 transmission does not have provisions for a speedo drive.
So if you are transplanting it into a pre 92 truck you also loose the speedo.
92 thru 94 trucks use the VSS in the rear axle to drive the speedo.

If you are transplanting into a 4x4 you also have to get the 283 transfer case that was used behind the ZF 6, the 1345, 1356 transfer case input will not fit over the much larger output shaft on the ZF 6. There is one other transfer case in there that the number has eluded me for the moment

 

Thanks Dave,
You are such a wealth of information. My truck is a 92, 2 wheel drive. So if I understand you correctly the speedo pickup is in the rear end on my 92. I'll have to look for it. The speedo is probably electronic, right? If this is the case I should be able to run a 6 spd. I don't mind making modifications to the crossmember. That is as long as the 6 spd is as strong as the 5 spd.
With your help, I just may get this figured out. Are there any books out there that I should buy to get some of this info?
Thanks again, Dave and every one, Walt

 

Volksrod,
My source of info in the transmission area is a good friend of mine.
He owns the best driveline shop in the state of WV and surrounding area.
The ZF 6 is much stronger than the ZF 5.
With what I do with my truck he talked me out of installing a ZF 5 due to the weak aluminum case. But I have to do much more to convert my 86 to the ZF 6 since my speedo is driven from the transfer case.
Fuel is 3.00 a gallon here today, so I may have to make a switch sooner than I was anticipating.

 

There's a ZF 6 in the FTE classifieds. Low miles, 38k, clutch bell housing master cylinder, all there. It's in Missouri and as of the middle of last week he still had it. Really nice guy, the number is with the ad. Out of an 02 if I recall correctly. ZF6 in a search pulls it right up.

 

Today I located a 5 spd from a 91 F450 but the yard said it will not work on my F350. The only difference that I'm awair of is the e-brake on the trans. Is there any othe reason that the guy would have said that? He was a real *#"*! The one thing he kept saying was " It's real expensive" . When I asked how much he said $1200. I told him no problem. But he kept telling me it won't fit but he wouldn't explain why. I think he senced that I'm not a mechanic. I'm not a mechanic but he should see the cars that I build. I've got a feature car just about to be finished. That's why I've got to get my truck ready for the 2007 show tour.


Some people are just ennoying.