Oddball transmission ideas

ISPKI

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I got this F-Superduty with an E4OD and ive been mulling over getting rid of the transmission for...reasons.

What kind of transmission swaps can be done within some level of reason? Some fabrication not an issue, welding on bellhousings easily done.

Ive heard it is possible to swap in an Eaton manual transmission that was found in schoolbuses or something? Eaton 8LL maybe? I dont recall the details but if I can find a junked donor and make it work, id be interested in researching it.
 

u2slow

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The easiest is the ZF5 swap. Its too readily available to ignore IMHO.

If you insist on something different... I would look at IDI transmission pairings in heavier International trucks. This thread has some details...
https://www.binderplanet.com/forums/index.php?threads/ih-7-3-to-ih-5spd.87015/

EDIT: My experience with MDTs is the dual-range trans (8+ gears) don't usually show up until the truck is a tandem, or possibly a single-axle 'tractor package' truck. 5spds are often paired with single or 2spd axles, and 6-7 speeds came later to avoid the 2spd axle.
 

Farmer Rock

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If you want something different and heavier built, the spicer 5 speeds that are behind medium duty IDIs (international trucks and buses) would be a good choice . Being that your truck is 2wd like the internationals, it should be basically bolt up (except for mounts) with the MDT adapter. I had the the 5 speed spicer in my international, it is more of a 4 speed with a granny gear. I really liked the granny gear and the gear spacing.




Rock
 

franklin2

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None of these "big" transmission fit under the stock floorpan do they?
 

Farmer Rock

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None of these "big" transmission fit under the stock floorpan do they?
I don't have any first hand experience swapping a mdt tranny into a ldt, but I have heard of people using them in bricknose and obs trucks during an engine swap. Just eyeing it up, I don't see why the spicer 5 speed wouldn't fit with "some modification".




Rock
 

u2slow

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The bigger fit issue can be the flywheel-housing/bellhousing. In a MDT, these often house a 14" clutch and have mounts out the side to the frame.
 

ISPKI

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The easiest is the ZF5 swap. Its too readily available to ignore IMHO.

If you insist on something different... I would look at IDI transmission pairings in heavier International trucks. This thread has some details...
https://www.binderplanet.com/forums/index.php?threads/ih-7-3-to-ih-5spd.87015/

EDIT: My experience with MDTs is the dual-range trans (8+ gears) don't usually show up until the truck is a tandem, or possibly a single-axle 'tractor package' truck. 5spds are often paired with single or 2spd axles, and 6-7 speeds came later to avoid the 2spd axle.

Yeah im just looking for other possible options other than the ZF5. They seem to be skyrocketing in price around my area and I am interested in seeing what other options are out there. I see old medium duty service vehicles getting junked and abandoned all the time. I certainly could ZF5 swap but the transmission will easily run me 1000$+ for a unit that probably functions and to be honest, it makes me a little worried putting that behind a truck that is going to be potentially moving a huge amount of weight.
 

notenuftime

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Yeah im just looking for other possible options other than the ZF5. They seem to be skyrocketing in price around my area and I am interested in seeing what other options are out there. I see old medium duty service vehicles getting junked and abandoned all the time. I certainly could ZF5 swap but the transmission will easily run me 1000$+ for a unit that probably functions and to be honest, it makes me a little worried putting that behind a truck that is going to be potentially moving a huge amount of weight.
I left behind a ZF5 tranny at my local junk yard when I got my spare motor out of a 94 idit. Already have a spare tranny and didn't want to spend the extra cash. Seems around me I can come across them easy enough. Good luck on the search.
 

ISPKI

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I left behind a ZF5 tranny at my local junk yard when I got my spare motor out of a 94 idit. Already have a spare tranny and didn't want to spend the extra cash. Seems around me I can come across them easy enough. Good luck on the search.

Well Pennsylvania still seems to have some decent U-Pull it yards still. CT and MA I think did away with them completely. The last one I knew about was chuck and Eddie's in Southington which I believe no longer lets you go out into the yard.
 

ISPKI

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The bigger fit issue can be the flywheel-housing/bellhousing. In a MDT, these often house a 14" clutch and have mounts out the side to the frame.

What are the sizes on the Ford transmissions (ZF5/E4OD)? 12.25? or something about there? What exactly is an "MDT"? Medium Duty Truck?

so I guess the issue that would be encountered would be that I would need a flywheel that bolts to the 7.3 crank and a clutch setup that fits the transmission but isnt too large for the flywheel. Seems that the bellhousing dimensions in the Ford trucks are around 16+ ID if this chart im looking at is accurate.

I imagine that fabbing vertical brackets with gussets on either side of the transmission and welding those verticals directly to the factory trans crossmember would be sufficient for a mounting solution. Depends on where the transmission ends up along the frame. Then theres the situation of building a new driveshaft, figuring out the U-Joints, etc but that hardware is usually cheap and easy to figure out.
 
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ISPKI

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Based on the site posted earlier, it looks like the big complication is the adapter plate. Might be somewhat different setup than how our trucks are setup.

Looks like there is an additional separate housing that contains the flywheel and bolts directly to the block and has the starter bolted thru it.

Then there is an adapter plate similar to what is bolted between our bellhousing and block. That adapter might have the hole patterns for the flywheel housing on one side with the transmission pattern for the other. The plot thickens...

I am gathering that any of the International harvester medium duty trucks from the 80s thru the early 90s should be possible donors for a few different options.

4300 and 4900 may also be a donor.
 

Booyah45828

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The flywheel housing is bolted to the engine. That adapts the back of the block to the md transmission and will have what they call an "sae 2" pattern that the transmission will bolt to. Often times, the transmission will utilize a smaller "sae 3" pattern, which will require an thin sae 2 - sae 3 adapter ring between the transmission and flywheel.
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This pic gives you an idea of the sae housing variations. You'll typically find that the transmissions with more gears will have the larger # housings.

A lot of my idi experience comes from the IH world, as that's the vehicle/engines that I own. So if you have questions, ask away.
 

ISPKI

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A lot of my idi experience comes from the IH world, as that's the vehicle/engines that I own. So if you have questions, ask away.

Nice, that is a much better chart than the one I was looking at.

As of now I am looking to put together a list of donor vehicles and their associated transmissions. To start off, I am researching which medium duty vehicles came equipped with the 6.9, 7.3idi, and the 444E.

Right now I just have the following;

Most likely all of the predecessors of these vehicles dating back to the mid 80s would also be possible donors.
 

subway

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You can fit an SAE2 in our transmission tunnel without modification. I swapped my engine and with that am running a medium duty transmission with it. One item to consider is that single shaft overdrive transmissions are not really common. I did manage to find a FSO-6404A which is like a ZF-5 with an extra low gear. So far I really like it.

Another consideration is the clutch disengagement, the stock slave cylinder is not just going to bolt up without a custom mount.
 

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