F450 2wd ZF5 same as 4wd?

[Kistthesky]

Just got around to starting my 7.3/ZF5 swap into my stock '85 and i realized the tailhousing on the ZF5 I got out of a '93 2wd F450 is the same as a 4wd F250-350 except with a brake instead of a transfercase, why did they do this and can I use this in my 2wd?

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[snicklas]

Yes, the ZF-5 from an F-Superduty (F-450) is a 4x4 transmission. The reason for the 4x4 transmission and driveline parking/emergency brake is the F-Superduty has a Dana 80 10 Lug rear axle with disk brakes. These axles and disk brakes have no provision for wheel mounted parking brakes, unlike the Sterling 10.50 Rear Disk axles in the 99+ SuperDuty trucks. To have a parking brake, Ford mounted the driveline brake you see to the transmission to serve this function. If you remove the driveline brake, the mounting surface that is left on the back of the transmission matches up to a transfer case. Many Medium-Duty trucks use a driveline brake, or some, like Rockwells have the brake mounted on the differential for a parking brake function.

Contrast, the above mentioned Sterling 10.50's in the 99+ F-250, and F-350 have rear disk brakes, however, inside the "hat" of the rotor, buy the hub, is a machined brake drum with a small set of brake shoes that serves as the parking/emergency brake system on these trucks. They are a 100% separate system with the exception of using the same brake rotor/drum combo. They do not use the caliper and screw in piston like many cars do.

Yes you can use this in your 2wd truck. You will just need to leave the brake installed to have a yoke to install the driveshaft. If you remove it, there is no way to connect a driveshaft. It woud not need to function as a brake, but there is some maintenance that need to be performed on them periodically because they do have bearings, and I believe do contain a bit of oil. Calvin (Towcat) is the one that knows about these brakes. He has run F-Superduty Carriers for years!!!!

 

[Kistthesky]

Sorry pic got cut off

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[Kistthesky]

So I need to start looking for a 2wd ZF5?

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

you have two awesome choices actually by using that.
1.simply leave the brake and use it also - they work awesome as parking brakes! when set,the diesel cannot even overpower them!
(if you wanted to use it along with your oem e-brake,you could just rig up a devoted handle.)
2. remove it and sell it - they fetch a pretty penny! (worth hundreds.)
3. if you opt to remove it,install a t-case in it's place.if you do this,you won't have 4wd without a front axle of course,but that's ok.you'll have a set of low gears to use which i personally make use of more than 4wd.it's extremely handy to make use of in town on steep hills with a manual trans (you'll need to pull over at the top and let cars by,but it beats rolling back into traffic lol.) but mainly is very useful to back up trailers slowly and easily.
4.you could have it converted to 2wd i suppose but it would costs some time/money.not a worthy option imho.
5.if the price is right,you could potentially sell the combo for more than a normal 2wd zf5 will cost you,and you could trade/make $ in your quest.

i personally would go with option 3 without even thinking twice.

 

[Kistthesky]

simply leave the brake and use it also - they work awesome as parking brakes! when set,the diesel cannot even overpower them!
(if you wanted to use it along with your oem e-brake,you could just rig up a devoted

So it's basically a drum brake? Ever need to adjust/replace the shoes?

 

[IDIoit]

I just put one of these in my F350. it was an awesome score for 250 bucks!
pulled the e-brake off and installd a transfer.
im sure they have some kind of brake pad that wears, but i wouldnt pull it apart if its not broke.

 

[madpogue]

I would imagine it would take a LONG time before the shoes on a driveline parking brake show any kind of wear. Unless you're screwing around, it's never used to stop a moving driveline, after all.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

well any "emergency brake" (often called "parking" as it's more used for such) is mainly there in the event of a hydraulic failure so you can manually control the brakes and stop a vehicle.in fact it's a requirement if you have state safely inspections (otherwise mine would be gone,and a 1356 bolted in it's place.)
however it doesn't work for crap.i briefly tested it going slow loaded up and again empty so that i would know what to be in for in the event of a hydro failure......in such an event,praying might be a better help at stopping than that thing going up in smoke.
if you had a manual trans and needed to leave the truck idling,you could trust your life with the thing as a parking brake though.

so in summery the 87-97 f450's are actually a pretty unsafe vehicle.they can legally gross 15k lbs.the don't have a way to manually engage brakes that would slow the vehicle in the event of a hydraulic brake failure,and in such an event,they don't have separated front/rear brake reservoir chambers.meaning you lose both front and rear brakes at once and you've got downshifting the trans as the only help really.
you better be dang sure the brake lines and hoses are in tip top shape lol.i should probably replace my hoses for good measure,front and rear but my hard lines look great (clean 2wd.)

 

[laserjock]

If you have no 4x4 plans, I'd just sell it all and find a 2wd. Somebody is ALWAYS looking for a 4x4 zf trans. Tcase option is a good one too. All depends on what you want out of your truck and how much of a project you want the swap to be/how soon you need it back.

You are however in the catbird seat though.

 

[madpogue]

It's a parking brake. Manufacturers stopped calling it the "emergency brake" decades ago, for this ^^^^^^ exact reason.

 

[Clayton]

I'm using the same setup in my truck. Had to have the driveshaft shortened and the f450 yoke put on the front as the u-joint is much larger. Thinking about ditching it for a T-case, Just so I will have a 2 low option.

 

[79jasper]

Depending on future plans ie swapping to 4X4 sometime, would be the deciding factor.
If no plans to ever go 4x4, you could make money off that Trans and still have a good profit after buying a 2wd Trans.
Around here the 2wd versions can go 200-400 or so and the 4X4 version around 500-1200.

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[Kistthesky]

Yeah i'll probably be putting it up for sale since I don't have the time to mess with it at the moment, won't be converting this truck to 4wd & my garage is already packed to the rafters! Might just go with the 7.3/T-19 for now to get her back on the road asap, Thanks for all the info!