hello im new to this forum as i usally hang out in the 48-60 forum. i have 59 f100 4x4 that im rebuilding and i am considering adapting a 5 speed transmission into it. the zf 5speed out of the 87-96 f250/350 trucks was suggested to me as a canidate as i want a fairly low first gear and need a tough tranie. so can any one tell me more about these transmissoins like dimensions, how they are set up, clutch, strong pionts, any common problems, and some pictures would be great so i can get an ideal of how i would have to build a crossmember and how i would have to adapt it to my 292. thanks in advance.

 

The ZF is a bullet-proof trans. I recently rebuilt one and was amazed at the quality of engineering! They are truely tough to kill trannys.

They are a concentric slave cylinder and available in small block, big block, and diesel bolt patterns. You will want to keep your eyes open for a 4x4 and the back is different that the 4x2 housing. You can get the cross member from nearly any 150 of that era and trim to fit for your 59.

Everything is good on these and I am not aware of any downsides. I have pics from my rebuild. Email me and I will send them to you.

Mike

 

They also do come in an external-slave cylinder version. It was considered the more heavy duty of the ZF.

 

thanks were the external slave cylinder versions rare or not. what are the basic demensions on these trannies.

 

dont think they were rare, the ones that i've seen were behind F350 diesels and 460's, so I dont know that the external slave one came in a small block configuration or not, dont know dimensions really.

 

The external slave ZF was only on the 460 and Diesel transmissions. All the small block ZF's used internal slaves. Aside from the diesel having slightly different gear ratios, all three versions are internally the same. There are two different iterations as well. The S5-42 in the earlier trucks, and the S5-47 in the later years. Each of those two had versions to fit the three engines.

 

Here are some specs and dimensions for a 547. The 542 is externally similar.

http://www.zf-group.com/pdf/lightTruck/s5-47datasheet.pdf

One of the other members here, tdvjensen, built this crossmember for his ZF swap and was kind enough to post a pic in his gallery:

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...136094&width=0

The ZF and the Mazda M5OD manual transmission used the same crossmember. If you can find one of those crossmembers, it could be a starting point for building one for your truck. The M5OD trans was very common in the F-150 so one shouldn't be too hard to find.

The question I have for you is about your 292's bellhousing bolt pattern. The ZF bellhousing is integral. You would need an adapter of some sort to get it to mate to the 292 pattern if that engine does not have the same pattern as the 300 six/Windsor V-8, 460 big block, or diesel engines.

The clutch disk is a 10 spline by 1-1/16" center hub unit. I think the 292 was 1-3/8" center hub. The ZF disk was 11" diameter and the 292 was 10-1/2". I know some of the older trucks came with hydraulic clutches. You may have to install or modify a hydraulic clutch system. BTW there is no provision on the outside of the case for an external slave cylinder on those trannys that came with the internal slave.

 

If i remember, the difference between the external and internal was if it was desil or gas. I could be wrong on this.

Oh, EPN already said it. haha

 

well i am know considering swapping in a nv 4500 instead of the zf mainly because of the bellhousing is not made right on to the trannie on the 4500 it would be way easyer to adapt. ill have to look and see what i can find for a fivespeed for a reasonable price.

 

Does anyone know if the 4spd manual cross member in an '88 F150 4x4 is the same as the 5spd cross member? I got the 302 & 4spd combo and want to put in the ZF5. Also, does anyone know the gear ratios for the T-18 vs. ZF5?

 

Trans T18 ZF5 gas
1st 6.32 5.72
2nd 3.09 2.94
3rd 1.69 1.61
4th 1.00 1.00
5th 0.78

I don't know whether the T18 crossmember will work for the ZF. However, the 4X4 M5OD crossmember will work and they are relatively easy to find.

 

Looks like the ZF5 is almost a shoe-in for the T18 for gears 2-4 (even a little better), plus the benefit of the OD.