Originally Posted By: asand1
Anyone have a ZF and like it?
A ZF would be preferable to the M5OD, but will entail more fab work.
As far as I know, the M5OD is the only manual Ford offered in the '97-'03/'04 F-150/F-250 LD, so that's going to be the only relatively bolt up swap for this truck. The M5OD is a pretty light duty transmission to put behind a 5.4, which may be why Ford did not offer that combo.
A ZF with a modular bellhousing pattern will be out of a Super Duty. At the very least, you're looking at fabbing up a crossmember/mount for it. If there are clearance issues with the floor of the cab, you're also looking at a body lift for the truck. As mentioned before, you'll need the computer out of the donor truck. I'd also plan on a custom driveshaft at the least.
The parts you will need for this to be a relatively clean swap probably aren't things yards will just give away. Granted, this is the South, but the only Super Duties I see in yards are either badly wrecked, or totally ragged out 400K mile 2WD 5.4 autos. There aren't an abundance of trucks with the parts you need, and even fewer winding up in junkyards.
It sounds like what you are after is effectively a Super Duty 4x4 manual. If I got a free 2WD F-250 LD with a bad trans, and really wanted a Super Duty 4x4, I'd probably try to find a used trans for the LD and sell it. Even if you can fab things up, have plenty of work/storage space, etc, this sounds like a real headache of a swap to be honest, even if you're going for a trail rig/beater. The parts you need have limited availability and a $150 pile of parts probably won't get you far. You also have to keep in mind that your base truck has features like 4 wheel ABS and such that will need to be eliminated/bypassed/modified. If you're looking for the challenge, that's one thing, but I don't think you will get a good working HD beater with just a few hundred in parts...you will have to invest a lot of time, and are probably looking at thousands of dollars in parts in the end. Personally, I'd buy a Super Duty 4x4 and go from there.
Anyone have a ZF and like it?
A ZF would be preferable to the M5OD, but will entail more fab work.
As far as I know, the M5OD is the only manual Ford offered in the '97-'03/'04 F-150/F-250 LD, so that's going to be the only relatively bolt up swap for this truck. The M5OD is a pretty light duty transmission to put behind a 5.4, which may be why Ford did not offer that combo.
A ZF with a modular bellhousing pattern will be out of a Super Duty. At the very least, you're looking at fabbing up a crossmember/mount for it. If there are clearance issues with the floor of the cab, you're also looking at a body lift for the truck. As mentioned before, you'll need the computer out of the donor truck. I'd also plan on a custom driveshaft at the least.
The parts you will need for this to be a relatively clean swap probably aren't things yards will just give away. Granted, this is the South, but the only Super Duties I see in yards are either badly wrecked, or totally ragged out 400K mile 2WD 5.4 autos. There aren't an abundance of trucks with the parts you need, and even fewer winding up in junkyards.
It sounds like what you are after is effectively a Super Duty 4x4 manual. If I got a free 2WD F-250 LD with a bad trans, and really wanted a Super Duty 4x4, I'd probably try to find a used trans for the LD and sell it. Even if you can fab things up, have plenty of work/storage space, etc, this sounds like a real headache of a swap to be honest, even if you're going for a trail rig/beater. The parts you need have limited availability and a $150 pile of parts probably won't get you far. You also have to keep in mind that your base truck has features like 4 wheel ABS and such that will need to be eliminated/bypassed/modified. If you're looking for the challenge, that's one thing, but I don't think you will get a good working HD beater with just a few hundred in parts...you will have to invest a lot of time, and are probably looking at thousands of dollars in parts in the end. Personally, I'd buy a Super Duty 4x4 and go from there.
