hey there folks,

1977 ford f150
6cyl
2wd automatic
when I try to shift into any gear its very very problematic
I end up having to finagle around with it to get it into gear.
shifting into reverse i have to hold the shift lever firmly or it will slip out or only partially engage the gears (ie grinding)
when I look for 1rst or second there just not there, i only seem to have D R and N
also sometimes I have to play around with the lever to get it to start in P, although it will start readily in N
also get some serious cab movement when shifting into R or from R to D


side notes that may be possible causes or additional help for diagnosing

im assuming the tranny is stock, looks about as aged as the rest of the truck
vin starts with f15bey*****
the cab mounts are definitely going and the PO had blocked them up with wood
Ive rebuilt the suspension as the PO had chopped the front coils, flipped the rear axle over the leafs etcetc
Ive restored the rear and replaced the front coils but still need to put new shocks on. so im wondering if these factors coupled with the bad cab mounts might be affecting the position of the linkage somehow?
any help would be greatly appreciated.
and thanks ahead of time
Shane

 

anyone please? Ive got some time today to work on it and was hoping for advice

 

It woul appear that the cab has fallen down on the mounts and the shift linkage is now too long to engage any gear other than drive. It is almost impossible for an automatic trans to grind. SInc eit is, it is probably the transmission failing to find park and it is ratcheting on the park detent.
Since the cab is moving and the column is attached to the comlumn, and the trans is on the frame, the adjustment is way off.
You will have to fix the body mounts in order to find a remedy for the shift linkage.
You also mentined some wood in there. Holy smokes, get that fixed before you move on. This could be a problem that leads to greater issues.

 

thanks I put the vehicle in P, disconnected at the kickdown lever, placed the tranny in N, placed the stick lever in N, reconnected and torqued down. sure enough everything shifts nicely now. ya I agree I need new cab mounts the cabs rotted at the mounts, ill need to pull the whole cab to repair and im just not fiscally or equipment/space equipped to deal with that right now...thats likely going to have to be a "after Ive moved" project.
thanks again